Rick McCarty enters his eighth season in the spring of 2026 as the head coach at Abilene Christian University after being announced on June 12, 2018. McCarty came to ACU after spending 16 years as an assistant coach.
Throughout those seasons, the programs he has been with have won 40 or more games 10 different times. As an assistant, McCarty tallied 618 wins, for an average of 38 wins per year. He has seen programs participate in nine regional tournaments and two College World Series.
McCarty is just the fourth head baseball coach at ACU since the university re-instated the program in 1991, following Bill Gilbreth, Jimmy Shankle and Bonneau, who resigned May 19, 2018 after 22 seasons as the head coach. McCarty takes over a program that in 2021 will be in its eighth season of NCAA Division I play and fourth season of full eligibility for Southland Conference and NCAA postseason play.
In his first season with the Wildcats, McCarty and his staff improved the win total from 21 to 26, but most importantly, more than doubled the Southland Conference win total from five to 13. ACU ended its season on an incredibly high note, sweeping the Nicholls Colonels at The Crutch in a three-game series to eliminate their visitors from the league tournament. ACU finished a game back of eighth place, the requirement to get to Sugar Land for the conference tournament.
McCarty coached another Major League Baseball draft pick in Luis Treviño, who was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year, after a historic season in 2019. The ACU catcher was drafted in the 40th round by the Tampa Bay Rays after earning Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Second Team All-America, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-America, and NCBWA Third Team All-America honors. Treviño was named to the ABCA/Rawlings First Team Division I All-Midwest Region, and earned First Team All-Southland honors as well. McCarty also coached senior Dalon Farkas, who was named Second Team All-SLC as an outfielder, and made the All-Academic squad as well. Joining those two on the all-conference list were pitchers Brennan Lewis (honorable mention) and Spencer Chirpich (honorable mention). McCarty's staff set the tone for an exciting future of ACU Baseball.
Year two was an unusual one, as was the case around the country. ACU played just 15 games, going 7-8, ending the season with a loss to the Texas Longhorns in Austin. ACU did not get to play past that due to the COVID-19 situation that closed down the entire spring season across the nation.
The program made an all-time re-build come to life in the spring of 2021. It might just be the quickest turnaround in all of college baseball. ACU won five Southland Conference games in the spring of 2018, and just a few months later they brought in McCarty. The change was eminent, and the results came quickly. And it all came together in the spring of 2021 with the first-ever Southland Conference championship, a school-record 36 wins, and one of the great offenses in Wildcat history. ACU baseball arrived on the landscape of Division I college baseball this spring, and it plans to stay there awhile.
The strength of the 'Cats during the 2021 season was the offense, but in key moments the pitching was outstanding as well. It all came together during a historic 11-game winning streak that catapulted ACU to the top of the Southland Conference standings. Then the thought turned from just making the conference tournament to maybe winning a league title. ACU won 17 of its last 21 games to close out the season, and when the season ended, ACU had the Southland Hitter of the Year (Colton Eager), the Southland Newcomer of the Year (Grayson Tatrow), and the head man himself won the league's Coach of the Year honor.
ACU went 2-2 at the Southland Conference Tournament, appearing in the post-season at the Division I level for the first time. The 'Cats beat Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to advance to the semifinals before falling to Sam Houston to end their season. It was a season that included seven all-conference players as well, including three on the first team (Mitchell Dickson, Colton Eager, Bash Randle), one on the second team (Grayson Tatrow), and two on the third team (Tommy Cruz, Brett Hammit). Hunter Gieser and Brett Hammit were each named to the All-Tournament Team as well. Dickson and Eager earned all-academic first team honors too, and Gieser and Miller Ladusau were named to the second team all-academic.
ACU set plenty of records in 2021, including 36 wins, 25 Southland wins, and 11-game winning streak, a 3.45 fall GPA , a 3.36 cumulative GPA, 473 strikeouts, seven all-conference players, and a 104 final RPI.
Year four for McCarty featured a new direction, as ACU headed into a new era as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Wildcats finished with 30 wins yet again, going 30-29 including 14-16 in the WAC play. ACU finished fourth in the Southwest Division of the conference, and after falling to top-seed and nationally-ranked Grand Canyon in the first round of the tournament, the team rattled off four wins in three days to advance to the WAC Championship Game. It was the first appearance for the program in a title game at the Division I level. ACU beat GCU twice in that stretch, including 6-5 in a walk-off thriller, and 15-8 the very next afternoon to advance to the championship. The Wildcats dropped a 7-1 game to NM State in the championship game.
ACU did the unthinkable in 2022, winning five games against Power 5 opponents, including a three-game sweep of Michigan State at home, as well as wins at TCU and at Texas Tech. More history was made with the latter two wins; ACU won its first-ever game against a ranked opponent on March 29 in Fort Worth, topping No. 12 TCU, 6-2. The 'Cats then did one better on May 3 in Lubbock, picking up its first-ever top-10 victory with an 8-5 win over No. 9 Texas Tech.
ACU broke 71 school records as a team or individually in 2022, most in the offensive category. Bash Randle finished as an all-conference performer, and was named to the all-defensive team at shortstop as well. The Wildcats set records for the season for slugging percentage (.484), games played (59), at-bats (2,074), doubles (124), hits (610), home runs (83), walks drawn (283), runs batted in (417), total bases (1,003), most times hit by pitch (92), most stolen bases (80), most strikeouts per nine innings as a pitching staff (10.35), most inning pitched (511.1), and most strikeouts as a staff (588).
The game most remember is the 10-home run, 23-run performance against Marist on March 5. The 10 homers set a new record and the 23 runs is the second-most for the program.
Grayson Tatrow and Mitchell Dickson each set records for most runs scored in a single season (67 and 56, respectively), while Bash Randle had the highest stolen base percentage in a single season for ACU at .929. Tatrow's 67 runs scored, 17 homeruns hit, 47 walks drawn, and 66 runs batten in all set new records in 2022, while Genner Cervantes broke a single season mark with 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings.
Year five of McCarty's tenure was another memorable one. In the Wildcats' second year in the WAC, the program finished with the second-most wins in program history with 35-24 overall record on the season. It also improved its record in the WAC with 16 conference wins and a fifth place finish overall in the WAC standings. In the postseason, the Wildcats made it all the way to the consolation semifinals and finished with two additional WAC tournament wins.
The team also added four more Power 5 wins to the program's resume. Wins included a 2-0 overall series win against Big 12 team Baylor, earning a 5-2 11-inning win in Waco, then a 9-8 win in Abilene. The team also took down Nebraska in a 5-3 showdown in Abilene. The most memorable Power 5 win in the 2023 season came against 2022 College World Series runner-up Oklahoma, where the Wildcats walked-off the Sooners, 9-8, in a extra-inning thriller played at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Under McCarty's direction, Grayson Tatrow finished his final season earning the crown jewel of postseason awards, the WAC Player of the Year Award. In conference play, Tatrow was a fixture at the top of WAC offensive statistical standings over 29 conference starts, ranking first in home runs (23), slugging percentage (.804) and total bases (156), third in runs scored (39), fourth in RBI (38) and fifth in base hits (47) and on-base percentage (.492). He finished the season with 25 home runs, a new single-season ACU record, and he is the program's all-time career leader as well with 52. Tatrow had 23 multi-hit games, 19 multi-RBI games, and three games with multiple home runs in 2023. As for other conference honors, Tatrow was also named to the All-WAC First Team list, while Logan Britt was named on the WAC All-Defensive Team.
McCarty also continued setting a new standard in creating MLB draft prospects. For the first time in program history, three Wildcats were selected in the MLB draft. Riley Bauman was selected in the 13th round by the Los Angeles Angels. Tyler Morgan was selected in the 14th round by San Diego Padres with the 431st pick. Finally, Logan Britt was selected 17th round to the Los Angeles Angels who used the 504th pick. Shortly after the draft ended, Breck Eichelberger signed an undrafted free-agent contract with the San Diego Padres. Morgan and Eichelberger have both seen action in the minor leagues as pitchers.
In his sixth season, McCarty has made even more ACU history. The Wildcats finished the 2024 season with a 33-24 overall record and the program best 18-12 finish in WAC play. This also allowed the Wildcats to see the best WAC finish in program history, finishing second in the conference standings. The Wildcats once again made it all the way to the consolation semifinals in the WAC Tournament.
The Wildcats saw two more Power 5 wins in the 2024 season. First, the Wildcats saw their third straight win against Baylor in a 6-4 early season win in Waco. The second win came at home against the TCU Horned Frogs. The win was highlighted by a seven-run first inning, which allowed ACU to finish the game with a dominate 8-3 win. It was the program's second win against the Horned Frogs since McCarty took over the program.
At the end of the season, three Wildcats earned six different WAC postseason awards. First among them was Brett Lanman, who earned the WAC Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards. Lanman led the WAC with a 3.16 earned run average, 6.85 hits allowed per nine innings, and was second with 9.88 strikeouts per nine innings. He shared the league lead in wins at seven with teammate Iain Campa. Lanman was also named on the All-WAC First Team.
Two other Wildcats were named on the All-WAC First Team. First was Gino D'Alessio. In his first and only season as a Wildcat, D'Alessio finished fifth in the league with a .362 batting average. D'Alessio also led the league with 61 RBIs and nine sacrifice flies, which was also among the top in the entire NCAA. He also earned a spot on the WAC All-Defensive Second Team for his work at first base.
The final Wildcat in 2024 that earned a spot on the All-WAC First Team was Miller Ladusau, McCarty's first recruit when he took over the program. Ladusau finished the regular season leading the Wildcats and second in the WAC with a .365 batting average. He also led the Wildcats with a .475 on-base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, runs, extra base hits and walks during the season. Ladusau also broke multiple program records in his final year under McCarty. The individual career records that Ladusau broke included most ACU career hits, doubles, games played and games started. He also finished second in most ACU career runs, total bases, RBIs and walks.
In his seventh season at the helm in 2025, McCarty once again etched his name in ACU Baseball history. The Wildcats closed the year with a 34-23 record, marking the program’s fifth consecutive 30-win season, and claimed the regular-season WAC championship—ACU’s second straight title after sharing the crown with California Baptist and Utah Valley in 2024. The team advanced to the championship game of the conference tournament but fell to Utah Valley, who secured the league’s NCAA Tournament berth. Five Wildcats—Chandler Benson, Diego Cardenas, Zandt Payne, Dominick Reid, and Grant Watkins—earned spots on the WAC All-Tournament Team.
Three Wildcats also collected All-WAC honors, with Reid and Payne named First Team All-WAC and freshman Braden Regala landing on the WAC All-Defensive Team. Weekly conference accolades rolled in as well, with Cardenas and Reid sharing WAC Player of the Week honors on May 18, and Brett Lanman earning WAC Pitcher of the Week on March 24.
Following the season, two of McCarty’s pitchers made the jump to professional baseball. Dominick Reid became the third-round, 90th overall pick of the Chicago Cubs—ACU’s second-highest draftee in program history, behind Bill Gilbreth’s 67th overall selection in 1969. Reid, an Oklahoma State transfer, delivered a dominant campaign with 112 strikeouts (11.4 per nine innings), a 3.26 ERA, and 88.1 innings pitched over 15 appearances, leading the WAC in both strikeouts and innings while ranking in the nation’s top 25 in strikeouts. Joining him in the Cubs organization, Henry Cone signed as an undrafted free agent after recording four saves and 20 strikeouts in 15 innings across 15 outings. Cone’s first appearance as a Wildcat featured an immaculate inning against Prairie View A&M, and he later notched the save in the regular-season finale against Cal Baptist to clinch the conference title. With Reid and Cone’s signings, McCarty has now coached nine players who have either been drafted or signed professional contracts during his tenure.
In the classroom, ACU has averaged a 3.36 cumulative GPA ever since Rick McCarty took over the Wildcat baseball program. The team put together a 3.44 cumulative GPA in the 2023-24 academic year. In the five season before, the team average grew each year, with the best average under McCarty's tenure being a 3.47 cumulative team GPA in the 2022-23 academic year. Previous to the 2022-23 year, ACU had a 3.41 cumulative team GPA during the 2021-22 academic year, improving from a 3.35 the year before. ACU had a 3.17 GPA in 2018-19, and improved to 3.21 in 2019-20.
A 2003 graduate of Murray State (B.S. Health and Physical Education), McCarty began his distinguished coaching career with the Racers before joining the 2004 Delta State staff as a graduate assistant pitching coach. He was met with immediate success in this role as the Statesmen (54-11) won the NCAA D2 National Championship over Grand Valley State and set a program record for wins.
McCarty went on to earn his Master's in Education from Delta State in 2005, and again was part of a 50-win team that qualified for the Division II College World Series. The Statesmen averaged 47 wins per year and compiled a record of 236-65 during his time in Cleveland.
After Delta State, McCarty moved to Southeast Missouri State University. His two seasons (2009-10) in Cape Girardeau, Mo., were followed by a four-year revitalization of the Campbell program (2011-14), a one-year stay at Louisiana Tech (2015), and three NCAA postseason campaigns at Dallas Baptist (2016-18).
Under McCarty's guidance, the 2018 Patriots once again were at or near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference rankings in several pitching categories. Led by Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-America and MVC Pitcher of the Year Trevor Conn, DBU ranked first in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.49) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.64), was second in WHIP (1.39) and third in ERA (4.53) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.87). The team's K-to-BB ratio also was 42nd among all 297 D1 schools.
Conn (8-2, 3.15 ERA, 57K) additionally was one of four Patriot pitchers to make an all-conference team. He and relief pitcher Kragen Kechely (7-1, 3.76, 53K) each were tabbed to the first team, while second team honors were awarded to freshman Luke Eldred (7-3, 3.28 ERA, 43K) and Jarod Bayless (3-3, 3.12, 71K, 4SV).
Eldred later was named to Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-America Team, and 2018 Missouri Valley Conference First Team nods went to Bayless and Kechely.
Over a three-year span as the DBU pitching coach, McCarty has helped produce eight pitchers selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including a pair of top 10 round selections in 2017 in Seth Elledge (4th round - Seattle Mariners) and Dalton Higgins (7th round - New York Yankees). Gavin Fritz was also taken in the 2017 MLB Draft when the Miami Marlins selected him in the 16th round.
In 2018, DBU had three pitchers drafted, including junior left-hander Kody Funderburk (15th round – Minnesota Twins), senior RHP Sean Boyle (25th round – New York Yankees) and junior RHP Parker Towns (37th round – Seattle Mariners).
DBU's Colin Poche and Darick Hall were each selected in the 14th round of the 2016 Major League Draft, as Poche was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Hall went to the Philadelphia Phillies. Senior left-hander Sean Stutzman also signed a professional contract as a free agent with the Houston Astros in 2016. Colin Poche made his Major League debut for the Tampa Bay Rays in June 2019.
A native of Campbellsville, Ky., McCarty is known for his recruiting and player development. He has had a player reach the big leagues at each of his coaching stops. During his coaching stints at DBU, Louisiana Tech, Campbell, Southeast Missouri State, and Delta State, McCarty helped recruit/develop seven pitchers who made the major leagues: Campbell's Matt Marksberry (Atlanta Braves), Jake Smith (San Diego Padres), and Ryan Thompson (Tampa Bay Rays), Southeast Missouri State's Shae Simmons (Atlanta Braves, Seattle Mariners), Delta State's Brent Leach (Los Angeles Dodgers), Louisiana Tech's Phil Maton (San Diego Padres) and Phil Diehl (Colorado Rockies), and DBU's Colin Poche (Tampa Bay Rays) and Seth Elledge (St. Louis Cardinals).
While at Campbell, McCarty recruited and coached the first Big South Pitcher of the Year in school history in Ryan Thompson. In 2013, Thompson's school record 0.88 ERA ranked tops in the nation and also established a new single-season record in the Big South Conference. Thompson went on to become the school's first All-American pitcher, as he broke the school's single-season saves record in both 2013 and 2014. The Houston Astros drafted Thompson in the 23rd round following the 2014 season. Four pitchers were drafted in McCarty's four years in Buies Creek, two of which have already made their Major League debuts. McCarty recruited all four of Campbell's All-Americans plus three academic All-Americans. He also coached 17 All-Big South Conference performers, including a school record nine All-Conference selections in 2013. While on staff at Campbell, the Fighting Camels won 40+ games in three straight seasons, including a school-record 49 victories in 2013.
On the diamond, McCarty starred as a pitcher for two seasons as the closer for Murray State, where he notched eight saves in 2001, tying a single-season school record. Prior to his two years at Murray State, McCarty played at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill.
McCarty is married to the former Rayna Netherland of Campbellsville, Ky. They have three children: Mya, Myles and Mia.
