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ABILENE – The ACU baseball team is set to play its final weekend series at home this season when it welcomes in Tarleton to The Crutch. It's senior weekend, graduation weekend, and Mother's Day all in Abilene this weekend, and it's the pivotal penultimate WAC weekend of the season, with the Wildcats (29-19, 13-11 WAC) currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in teh standings. Due to expected weather all weekend long, the ACU athletic department has announced a change to the start times to the games. As of Thursday, May 11 the games will begin at 2:05 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, with the original start time of 1:05 p.m. still set for Sunday. All three games will air on WAC International.
GAME #49
ACU (29-19, 13-11 WAC) vs. TARLETON (23-22, 7-15 WAC)
Friday, May 12 | 2:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Tyler Morgan (2-4, 6.25 ERA) vs. RHP Hunter Day (5-2, 4.73 ERA)
Watch: WAC International
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GAME #50
ACU (29-19, 13-11 WAC) vs. TARLETON (23-22, 7-15 WAC)
Saturday, May 13 | 2:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Breck Eichelberger (5-2, 4.13 ERA) vs. LHP Dylan Delvecchio (2-4, 7.49 ERA)
Watch: WAC International
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GAME #51
ACU (29-19, 13-11 WAC) vs. TARLETON (23-22, 7-15 WAC)
Sunday, May 14 | 1:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Austin Glaze (2-1, 6.55 ERA) vs. TBD
Watch: WAC International
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A LOOK AT ACU
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 29-19 record and a 13-11 mark in WAC play. ACU is looking to bounce back after suffering a pair of losses on the road to Texas Tech on Tuesday night, but looks to continue building off its series win last weekend at home over Utah Tech. The Wildcats are in the middle of a stretch of eight of 10 games at home, and will have the three this weekend against Tarleton before hosting UTSA next Tuesday for the final home game of the year.
SCOUTING TARLETON
The Texans enter the weekend with a 23-22 overall record and a 7-15 mark in WAC play. Tarleton is looking to snap a six-game losing streak that included a series loss at Seattle U, a road midweek loss at Texas A&M, and a home sweep by Grand Canyon. This weekend is Tarleton's final road games of the season before returning home for four next week to close the regular season.
ACU DROPS PAIR TO TEXAS TECH
In one of the longest stoppages between pitches in ACU history, it was Texas Tech who came out on top of both games in a unique doubleheader at Rip Griffin Park on Tuesday night. The Wildcats led 6-0 when the lightning struck in the bottom of the fourth inning on April 25 in Abilene, and after the restart in Lubbock on Tuesday, eventually built up a 9-0 advantage at the end of sixth inning. However, the Red Raiders scored 15 runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined to eventually win 15-11, and then dominated game two, 13-3, in seven innings to complete the sweep in 12 innings of play.
SERIES WIN OVER UTAH TECH
The weekend got off to a tough start as the Trailblazers took it to the Wildcats, 14-6, in the opener on Friday. ACU bounced back with an 8-6 win, holding on in the ninth to what was an 8-2 lead. The Wildcats then won the series with a 4-2 win in the rubber match on Sunday.
Grayson Tatrow hit a huge three-run home run in the seventh inning to take the lead on Sunday, and
Zach Smith finished the deal with a save to secure the huge series win. The Wildcats hit .274 for the weekend with
Logan Britt leading the way with a .545 average. Tatrow hit .444 for the weekend with three home runs and six runs driven in. Britt stole five bases as well to lead the offense.
Breck Eichelberger went 5.0 innings to earn the win on Saturday, while
Blake Anderson got the win on Sunday with a career-high 3.2 innings pitched.
TATROW AT THE TOP
Grayson Tatrow broke his own single-season Division I program record last Sunday with his 18th home run. Tatrow hit 17 last year, and holds the top two spots in the record book in that stat. Tatrow is already ACU's all-time leader in career home runs with 45.
THE FIFTH INNING
ACU is outscoring its opponents by an insane margin of 50-16 in the fifth inning this season. Of ACU's 52 home runs this season, nine of them have occurred in the fifth inning, the second most in any inning this season (10 in the sixth).
HOME RUN BREAKDOWN
ACU has hit 52 home runs this season, led by Tatrow's 18, Britt's 11, and Tweedt's eight. Of the 52, 30 are solo shots and 13 are two-run homers. 22 have come with two outs in the inning, and another 20 have come with no one out. 31 have come off right-handers, while 21 have come off south paws. Tatrow has two multi-homer games this season, while Tweedt and Britt have one as well.
AN EYE ON THE STREAKS
Miller Ladusau leads ACU with a 10-game hitting streak, while Tatrow has a hit in nine straight games. Tatrow has reached base in 11 consecutive games, while Ladusau has reached safely in 10 in a row.
PRESEASON POLL / AWARDS
The Western Athletic Conference announced the preseason poll and the preseason all-conference selections for the season, and the Wildcats are picked tied for fourth in the 13-team league. Seniors
Grayson Tatrow and
Tanner Tweedt were all named to the all-conference list as well prior to the season. Grand Canyon was picked to win the conference, followed by Sam Houston and California Baptist. ACU tied with UTRGV and Sacramento State for fourth overall.
D1BASEBALL PRESEASON
D1Baseball released its preseason picks for the Western Athletic Conference, and ACU was picked sixth in the league. It also highlighted the top draft prospects from the conference, and in the 2023 draft, Eichelberger was the sixth-best prospect in the league, while Texas A&M transfer
Logan Britt was ninth overall out of the outfield spot. Morgan, back for his junior season, came in at 13 on the list as well. In the 2024 draft, Byrd was listed fourth in line in the league. Tatrow, the Southland Newcomer of the Year and on the second team in 2021, was labeled #138 in the top 150 outfielders in the country.
BACK TO ONE BIG LEAGUE
The WAC is moving back to a traditional format in 2023. All 13 teams will be in one standings list, and there will be no divisions this season. There will be 30 league games against 10 of the 12 possible opponents, and the 2023 WAC Tournament will start May 24 in Mesa, Ariz.
A GLANCE AT THE TOUGH SCHEDULE
The 2023 slate encompasses 55 games, including 30 Western Athletic Conference games (10 three-game series), and another 25 non-conference games (four series and 11 single games). Overall, the team will host 35 times at Crutcher Scott Field, the most in the
Rick McCarty era. ACU will play 21 games against teams that finished in the top 100 in RPI in 2022, nine games against Power 5 opponents (Oklahoma, TCU x2, Baylor x2, Nebraska, Texas Tech x2, Texas), and 14 games against 2022 regional teams (Oklahoma, Southeast Missouri, Oral Roberts, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas, Grand Canyon). There are five first-time opponents on the slate (Southeast Missouri, Sacramento State, Nebraska, California Baptist, Utah Tech), and there are four home games against Power 5 opponents (Nebraska, TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor).
THE COACH
Head Coach
Rick McCarty is in his fifth season as the head man at ACU and earned his 100th career win on Opening Day. He sits at 128 career victories in his time at ACU, which includes a regular-season championship and a runner-up finish at the tournament. McCarty ranks second in all-time wins at ACU.
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