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ABILENE – The final week of the regular season is upon us, and the ACU baseball will play for the final time at Crutcher Scott Field on Tuesday night when it hosts UTSA for the first time in program history. The Wildcats (31-20) will line up against the Roadrunners (36-15) for the first time since 2018 at 4:05 p.m., before taking off for the state of Washington to take on Seattle U to close the regular season Thursday-Saturday, May 18-20. Tuesday night's game will air on ESPN+.
GAME #52
ACU (31-20, 15-12 WAC) vs. UTSA (36-15, 19-7 C-USA)
Tuesday, May 16 | 4:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
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A LOOK AT ACU
The Wildcats enter the week with a 31-20 record and a 15-12 mark in WAC play. ACU is looking to build off a weekend series win over Tarleton, and takes a two-game winning streak into the Tuesday matchup with UTSA. The Wildcats are closing out a stretch of eight of nine games at home and open the final week of the regular season with the last game at Crutcher Scottt Field on Tuesday. ACU is in a four-way tie for fourth place in the WAC standings with California Baptist, Seattle U, and UT Arlington heading into the final weekend.
SCOUTING UTSA
The Roadrunners enter the week with a 36-15 record and a 19-7 mark in Conference USA action. UTSA is looking to snap a three-game losing streak that featured the wrong end of a series sweep at home against Dallas Baptist. It is the first losing streak of the season for the Roadrunners, who come to Abilene for the first time ever on Tuesday. Offensively, Anthony Valdez leads the team in 10 categories, including average (.395), slugging (.695), on-base percentage (.483), extra-base hits (31), and RBI (63).
INSIDE THE SERIES
All-Time: 4th meeting (UTSA leads, 2-1)
ACU at Home: n/a
ACU on the Road: UTSA leads, 2-1
ACU at Neutral Site: n/a
Series Start: 2002
Last Meeting: UTSA 5, ACU 0 (5/15/18 - San Antonio)
Last ACU Win: ACU 7, UTSA 2 (3/20/02 - San Antonio)
Last ACU Loss: UTSA 5, ACU 0 (5/15/18 - San Antonio)
Last ACU Road Win:ACU 7, UTSA 2 (3/20/02 - San Antonio)
Last ACU Road Loss: UTSA 5, ACU 0 (5/15/18 - San Antonio)
Current Streak: L2
McCarty (at ACU) vs. UTSA: 0-0
ACU TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM TARLETON
After dropping a pair of games to Texas Tech on Tuesday and falling in the opener on Friday to Tarleton, the Wildcats bounced back with wins on Saturday (8-4) and Sunday (12-1) to secure the series victory.
Adam Stephenson gave up a two-run home run in the ninth inning of the opener to lose 7-5, but
Tyler Morgan's performance out of the bulllpen catapulted an 8-4 win to even the series on Saturday.
Grayson Tatrow's two homers powered a run-rule, 12-1 win on Sunday to take the series, giving ACU its second consecutive weekend win. The Wildcats hit .344 for the weekend and put together a team ERA of 3.96 in three games. ACU scored 25 runs on 32 hits with four homers and 24 runs driven in. ACU outscored Tarleton 13-0 in the middle three innings of the games.
BULLPEN LOCKS DOWN THE TEXANS
The bullpen threw 13.2 innings against Tarleton over the weekend and six pitchers combined for a 1.98 earned run average. ACU's relief pitchers allowed three earned runs on 10 hits with 13 strikeouts to just three walks.
Blake Anderson logged 3.1 innings in relief, and the highlight was a 7.0 inning outing from
Tyler Morgan on Saturday to log the win. Morgan struck out six and allowed just one earned run.
Zach Smith earned his seventh save of the season in the win on Saturday as well.
RECORD WATCH
Individual Career Records
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - .631 slugging percentage (D1 only)
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - 170 runs scored (D1 only)
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - 48 home runs (All-time)
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - 165 runs batted in (D1 only)
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - 391 total bases (D1 only)
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - 107 walks (D1 only)
· #1:
Tyler Morgan - 243 strikeouts (D1 only)
· #2:
Max Huffling - 13 wins (D1 only)
· #2:
Tyler Morgan - 227 innings pitched (D1 only)
Individual Season Records
· #1:
Grayson Tatrow - .785 slugging percentage (D1 only)
· T-#1:
Grayson Tatrow - 142 total bases (D1 only)
· T-#1:
Grayson Tatrow - 21 home runs (All-time)
· #2:
Logan Britt - 30 stolen bases (All-time)
· #2:
Tyler Morgan - 83 strikeouts (D1 only)
· #3:
Grayson Tatrow - 54 runs scored (D1 only)
· #3:
Logan Britt - 5 triples (D1 only)
· #3:
Grayson Tatrow - 61 runs batted in (D1 only)
THE FIFTH INNING
ACU is outscoring its opponents by an insane margin of 57-16 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 (11 in the sixth). ACU outscored Tarleton 7-0 in the fifth over the weekend.
HOME RUN BREAKDOWN
ACU has hit 56 home runs this season, led by Tatrow's 21, Britt's 11, and Tweedt's 9. Of the 56, 32 are solo shots and 14 are two-run homers. 22 have come with two outs in the inning, and another 20 have come with no one out. 35 have come off right-handers, while 21 have come off south paws. Tatrow has three multi-homer games this season, while Tweedt and Britt have one as well. Tatrow has hit 9 of ACU's last 12 homers.
AN EYE ON THE STREAKS
Miller Ladusau leads ACU with a 13-game hitting streak, while Tatrow has a hit in 12 straight games. Tatrow has reached base in 14 consecutive games, while Ladusau has reached safely in 13 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 130 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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