Thursday, April 2
Abilene, Texas
6 p.m.
Abilene Christian
15-15, 0-1
1
vs
5
California Baptist
25-5, 1-0
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
California Baptist
0
0
1
1
3
0
0
0
0
5
7
0
Abilene Christian
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
4
1
Photo by: Kaylee Kahn
Watkins Hits 16th Home Run of Season in Loss to California Baptist
4/2/2026 9:26:00 PM | Baseball
ABILENE - Grant Watkins crushed his 16th home run of the season as Abilene Christian baseball dropped a 5-1 decision to California Baptist at Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark on Thursday night. Through 30 games, he's matched his home run output from last season, set in 56 games.
The Wildcats continue their conference-opening series at home at 12 p.m. Friday. First pitch was rescheduled due to expected inclement weather. Saturday's first pitch was also rescheduled to 11:30 a.m. Saturday will feature a postgame Easter egg hunt.
Watkins fended off a shutout with a leadoff solo shot in the bottom of the ninth while maintaining his spot atop the conference's home run leaderboard.
On the other side of the ball, Gavin Brzozowski delivered a dazzling defensive play in the top of the sixth with a leaping grab over the left-field wall to take a home run away from the Lancers.
Between Watkins and Cardenas, who touts 14 long balls, the Wildcats are the only program in the country with two batters in the national top 10 for home runs.
Following six innings from Brett Lanman, David Jeon pitched the final three frames in relief, allowing no runs with a pair of strikeouts.
The Wildcats continue their conference-opening series at home at 12 p.m. Friday. First pitch was rescheduled due to expected inclement weather. Saturday's first pitch was also rescheduled to 11:30 a.m. Saturday will feature a postgame Easter egg hunt.
Watkins fended off a shutout with a leadoff solo shot in the bottom of the ninth while maintaining his spot atop the conference's home run leaderboard.
On the other side of the ball, Gavin Brzozowski delivered a dazzling defensive play in the top of the sixth with a leaping grab over the left-field wall to take a home run away from the Lancers.
With a first-inning single, Diego Cardenas extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Zandt Payne singled in the fifth inning to reach base safely in his 24th consecutive game. Ryan Jones added a third-inning double for ACU.OH MY GAVIN BRZOZOWSKI 🤯💥#ATO | #GoWildcats | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/lVaAiTUbVd
— ACU Baseball (@ACU_Baseball) April 3, 2026
Between Watkins and Cardenas, who touts 14 long balls, the Wildcats are the only program in the country with two batters in the national top 10 for home runs.
Following six innings from Brett Lanman, David Jeon pitched the final three frames in relief, allowing no runs with a pair of strikeouts.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Malki, Michael (6-0)
L: Lanman, Brett (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Castelli, Ben 1
HR: McFeely, Bryce 1
RBI: Ross, Connor 1 ; Ramirez, Chris 1 ; McFeely, Bryce 2
SH: Eberhard, Carter 2
SF: Ross, Connor 1 ; Ramirez, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Castelli, Ben 1 ; Hansen, Cole 1 ; Chavez, Matt 2 ; McFeely, Bryce 1
SB: Castelli, Ben 1
CS: Chavez, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: Jones, Ryan 1
HR: Watkins, Grant 1
RBI: Watkins, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Watkins, Grant 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
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