RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The ACU softball team earned its third straight Western Athletic Conference series win, beating California Baptist on Saturday, 5-2.
The Wildcats (15-34, 11-10) are now above .500 in conference play for the first time at any point of a season since 2022. After this weekend, ACU and CBU are tied for third place in the WAC with the Wildcats holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. ACU finishes the regular season by hosting conference-leader Grand Canyon on Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3. The Lancers will be in Stephenville to play second place Tarleton State.
"I am just so proud of this team and these girls," first-year head coach Jo Koons said. "But we're not done yet."
ACU jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Saturday behind
Catrin Hoffman's bat. She had a single that brought two runs in, and hit a solo home run.
Taylor Bachmeyer then smacked a 2-RBI double down the left field in the fourth inning to score
Miranda Lista and
Valerie Ornelas.
Hoffman, a redshirt senior from Emory Rains H.S., has recorded six hits, three home runs and seven RBI in ACU's last four games.
Hoffman, Bachmeyer and
Audrey Lacina each went 2-for-4 at the plate on Saturday.
Starter
Lina Russo threw her fifth consecutive complete game as she allowed just two runs and struck out four Lancers.
ACU suffered a hard-luck loss in the series opener on Friday, but rallied to earn 5-2 victories in games two and three.
"They were disappointed with the loss on Friday because they knew they could've won," said Koons. "But that disappointment fueled them to respond, and they have responded really well this season, especially in conference play."
This series continued the Wildcats' trend of getting back up after they've been knocked down. ACU is 1-6 in WAC series openers, but is a league-best 6-1 in series finales.
This weekend's results guaranteed ACU's spot in the WAC Tournament which will be played May 7-10 at California Baptist's John Funk Stadium. It will be the program's first postseason appearance in three years.
The Wildcats are scheduled to travel to Lubbock to face nationally ranked Texas Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ACU gave the Red Raiders a competitive game when the two teams played in Abilene on April 2. Texas Tech won that game 7-3.
ACU will then close out the regular season with a three-game home series versus Grand Canyon. Friday's doubleheader begins at 2 p.m., and there will be a single-game Saturday at 12 p.m. Senior Day ceremonies for the team's eight seniors will take place following the series finale.
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