ABILENE - On the heels of a historic 2025 campaign that featured a share of the Western Athletic Conference regular season title, Abilene Christian baseball hits the ground running in 2026 with a four-game set versus St. Thomas at home this week.
The Wildcats open the season with the Tommies at Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark at 3 p.m. Friday. The teams will stage a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. before wrapping up the series at 12 p.m. Sunday.
Friday's season opener will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Sunday's finale will be streamed on WAC International.
ACU enters its eighth season under head coach
Rick McCarty, who has elevated the program to new heights with over 200 victories across his tenure in the Big Country. The Wildcats' 102 wins across the past three seasons are their most in a three-year stretch in the Division I era and their most since amassing 118 victories from 2009-11. ACU has won four of six season-opening home series under McCarty.
The Wildcats look to build upon 2025's 34-win season and their first championship in the WAC. ACU won 13 of its final 15 conference games, including three consecutive sweeps, to earn the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament, where it advanced to the championship game.
ALL EYES ON ACU – ACU was voted atop the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. It received 33 votes in the Preseason Coaches' Poll with three of seven first-place votes. Three Wildcats — designated hitter
Diego Cardenas, first baseman
Grant Watkins and outfielder
Braden Regala — landed on the Preseason All-WAC Team. ACU matched Tarleton State for the most student-athletes represented on the All-Conference Team. It 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.
FAMILIAR FACES – A rarity in today's college athletics landscape, the Wildcats retained plenty of experience from last season's championship squad to craft a veteran lineup in 2026. ACU returns eight position players that appeared in at least 45 games last year, including four — Watkins, Cardenas, Regala and
Nick Arias — that started at least 50 contests.
Benjamin Greer, who started each of last season's 57 games as a graduate student, was the lone starter that departed. The Wildcats bring back 74.9% of last season's hit production (415/554) and 74.4% of their runs (332/446).
ROTATION RETURNERS – On the mound, ACU welcomed back two anchors of last season's starting rotation in
Brett Lanman and
Cade McGarrh. The pair combined for 149.0 innings pitched with 15 starts apiece. Lanman recorded the fourth-most strikeouts in the WAC with 84 and tied for second with seven wins. McGarrh ranked 10th in the conference with 77.0 innings pitched and eighth with 70 strikeouts. Five of the Wildcats' seven leaders in innings in 2025 are back in 2026, including
Brady Coe,
Caden Greanead and
Blaine Palmer. Coe tied for the team lead and sixth in the WAC last season with four saves.
LOOKING BACK ON 2025 – 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. RHP
Dominick Reid and SS
Zandt Payne garnered All-WAC First Team honors, while Regala landed on the WAC All-Defensive Team as a freshman.
ABILENE TO OMAHA – ACU has adopted the mantra of "ATO," or "Abilene to Omaha," under head coach
Rick McCarty, referencing the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The motto recognizes the Wildcats' intent to establish themselves on the national stage as a mid-major program. Recent runs to the CWS by mid-major programs such as Murray State in 2025 and Oral Roberts in 2023 are examples of such success stories.
LONE STAR SHOWDOWNS - The Wildcats have 22 matchups scheduled versus 10 different programs from the state of Texas in 2026. ACU's home slate features games against historic powers such as TCU (April 7), Texas Tech (April 14) and Dallas Baptist (April 28). The Wildcats have road games on the docket versus each team as well. ACU hosts 2003 College World Series champion Rice for a three-game series on March 6-8. The Wildcats also take on Texas State in the College Baseball Series in Cleburne, Texas on Feb. 27 and March 1.
ABILENE NATIVES - ACU's 2026 roster features a local flair with four student-athletes hailing from the Big Country. Regala and Resse Borho are former Wylie High School Bulldogs, as is Rutgers transfer
JT Thompson.
Blaine Palmer is a native of Buffalo Gap, just south of Abilene, and attended Jim Ned High School in Tuscola.
NEW DIGS - The 2026 campaign marks ACU's first in the new Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark. The stadium completed renovations during last season to become one of the top facilities not just in mid-major baseball, but on a national level. The Autrey Family Pavilion – an open-air pavilion roof along the first-base line – greets fans when they step off the elevator or stairway.  It also provides shade for new chair-backed seats. New artificial turf was installed before the 2025 season, and LED lights brighten the playing surface at night.
On the first floor below the stands, the Wessel Family Player Development Center houses the team's new locker room and the McCaleb and Miller Team Room, along with the Bourland Family Classroom, coaching offices and a founder's suite. The Mabee Courtyard offers an open space to enjoy the game down the right field line.
LAST RUN IN THE WAC - The Wildcats enter the final season of the Western Athletic Conference before it is rebranded into the United Athletic Conference, beginning with the 2026-27 athletic year. ACU will join the UAC alongside WAC partners UT Arlington and Tarleton State. The Texas trio will join Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Little Rock, North Alabama and West Georgia.
WILDCATS AT THE NEXT LEVEL - Two ACU players advanced to the professional ranks following the 2025 season as
Dominick Reid and
Henry Cone joined the Chicago Cubs system. Reid was selected in the third round of the MLB Draft with the 90th pick, while Cone was picked up as an undrafted free agent. Reid became the second-highest draftee in program history since the late Bill Gilbreth, an ACU Sports Hall of Famer, was taken with the 67th overall pick in the second round in 1969. Reid is the 16th draft pick in team history. Reid and Cone made it eight Wildcats in the past three seasons to sign with a Major League franchise.
