ARLINGTON, Texas - Abilene Christian baseball was voted atop the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, the conference announced Tuesday. Three Wildcats — designated hitter
Diego Cardenas, first baseman
Grant Watkins and outfielder
Braden Regala — landed on the Preseason All-WAC Team.
The Wildcats received 33 votes in the Preseason Coaches' Poll with three of seven first-place votes. ACU has been picked to finish fourth or better in each year in the WAC, including a first-place selection atop its division in its debut season in 2022.
ACU matched Tarleton State for the most student-athletes represented on the All-Conference Team. The Wildcats placed three players on the All-WAC Team for the third time in their five years in the conference, last doing so in 2023 and 2022.
ACU opens the 2026 season this weekend at Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark with a four-game series versus St. Thomas. The Wildcats and the Tommies get started at 3 p.m. Friday ahead of a Saturday doubleheader, beginning at 1 p.m. The series wraps up at 1 p.m. Sunday.
ACU BASEBALL SEASON AND SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!
The Wildcats are on the heels of a 34-win campaign that featured a share of the WAC regular season title, their first championship in the conference. ACU won 13 of its final 15 WAC games in 2025, including three consecutive sweeps, to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, where it advanced to the championship game.
ACU returns eight position players that appeared in at least 45 games last year and two anchors of its starting rotation in
Brett Lanman and
Cade McGarrh.
Cardenas developed into one of the most prolific hitters in the conference in his first season with the Wildcats in 2025. He topped the WAC with 19 home runs while tying for second with 67 runs batted in. Cardenas' .687 slugging percentage was good for second in the conference.
Cardenas' 65 hits tied for the team lead, while his .328 batting average was second-highest for ACU. With the fifth-most walks in the WAC at 37, he sported its eighth-ranked on-base percentage at .454.
Watkins started all but one game for the Wildcats in 2025, banging out 60 hits at a .287 clip in his first year in Abilene. He followed in a tie for fourth in the conference with 14 home runs while ranking seventh with 55 RBI and a .593 slugging percentage. Watkins paced ACU with 39 walks, third-most among WAC players.
Regala started 54 games as a freshman last season and quickly became the top base-stealer in the conference, nabbing a league-leading 29 bags on 33 attempts. He landed on the WAC All-Defensive Team with error-free baseball in the outfield while batting .295 with 57 hits at the plate.
2026 WAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Abilene Christian (3) |
33 |
| 2. |
Utah Valley (1) |
29 |
| 3. |
California Baptist (1) |
27 |
| 4. |
Sacramento State (2) |
22 |
| 5. |
Tarleton State |
15 |
| 6. |
Utah Tech |
11 |
| 7. |
UT Arlington |
10 |
2026 WAC Preseason Player of the Year
Ryan Kroepel, Jr., 3B/RHP, Utah Tech
2026 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Cody New, Jr., LHP, California Baptist
2026 Preseason All-WAC Team
C – Sergio Guerra, Sr., Tarleton State
1B – Grant Watkins, Sr., Abilene Christian
2B – Slade McCloud, Sr., Tarleton State
3B – Ryan Kroepel, Jr., Utah Tech
SS – Chris Ramirez, So., California Baptist
OF – Braden Regala, So., Abilene Christian
OF – Rayner Heinrich, So., Tarleton State
OF – Xander McAfee, Sr., UT Arlington
DH – Diego Cardenas, Sr., Abilene Christian
SP – Cody New, Jr., LHP, California Baptist
SP – Caylon Dygert, Jr., RHP, UT Arlington
RP – Ryan Kroepel, Jr., Utah Tech
