Tweet
Contributed by Lance Fleming, ACU Associate Director of Athletics for Media Relations
ABILENE - The first two years of transition to full NCAA Division I status haven't been easy ones for the ACU baseball program. The Wildcats won 18 games in 2014 and followed that with a 17-win campaign in 2015.
Last year's club, however, was a much-improved unit, one that played No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 2 TCU and No. 1 Texas A&M to one-run games, beat Arizona and Hawaii in the season's final two games and more than doubled its Southland Conference win total, going from six wins in 2014 to 13 in 2015.
So while the pollsters still don't think much of the 2016 version of the Wildcats (they finished 11 th in both the coaches' and media polls released earlier this month by the Southland Conference office), ACU head coach Britt Bonneau believes he's got a team that will make some noise in the conference in 2016.
"We've got great leadership on this team, and it's a group that's fun to be around and a group that has great chemistry," said Bonneau, who is 706-398-1 as he enters his 20 th season at ACU. "We've been a young team for the last two seasons, but now we've got guys who are familiar with their surroundings and won't be surprised by anything when we take the field each day."
The Wildcats have a strong core of upperclassmen led by returning everyday players in juniors Aaron Draper (third base) and Russell Crippen (infield / outfield) and seniors Alex Copeland (catcher), Kyle Carroll (infielder / pitcher) and Heath Beasley (designated hitter / reserve outfielder).
And ACU also returns a solid core of pitchers, led by seniors Garrett deMeyere, Aaron Mason, Nate Cole and Nick Palacios, and juniors Brandon and Austin Lambright. Carroll was one of the surprises of the off-season, moving from shortstop to the pitcher's mound where he could see some innings in 2016.
"I'm looking forward to having guys on the mound who have pitched a lot of innings and won't be flustered by the ups and downs of a ballgame," Bonneau said. "And then you mix in guys like Draper and Crippen - guys who can do a lot of good things offensively - and I think we've got a good combination."
Add to the recipe as talented a group of freshmen that ACU has signed in some time and the mix could be right for something special in 2016. Local products Derek Scott (centerfielder from Abilene High), Mark Pearson (shortstop from Abilene High) and David Ruot (infielder / pitcher from Abilene Cooper), along with Hunter Markwardt (outfielder from Argyle), Willie Harris (outfielder from Golden, Colo.) and Joseph Goetze (pitcher from Coppell) form the core of a group that should be entering its prime in 2018 when the Wildcats are finally eligible for post-season tournament play.
"When we first announced the move to NCAA Division I affiliation, I knew I wanted to use those four years (2014-17) to build this thing the right way," Bonneau said. "We went hard after freshmen the last two years and we're finally seeing that pay off. I've seen the improvement over the last two seasons, and this group of freshmen should continue that improvement.
"Even our experienced guys are noticing the talent and depth that we have has increased across the board," Bonneau said. "The good thing is that I've seen these veterans really reaching out to lead these young guys in the right way. These young guys are going to have to play and our older guys are the ones teaching them how to do that. When you have that on a team, you've got something special."
The schedule is once again loaded with quality opponents with as many as six teams ranked in the top 40, depending on which pre-season poll one chooses to follow. Another three opponents are "receiving votes" for the top 40 in two different polls, meaning that nine of the Wildcats' 2016 opponents have received national recognition in the pre-season.
ACU will take on TCU (as high as No. 11 in the country) in Fort Worth and at renovated Crutcher Scott Field in Abilene, and they'll also play Dallas Baptist (as high as No. 31 in the country) in Dallas and in Abilene. The Wildcats will host Texas Tech in Abilene and take on the Red Raiders in Midland, and they'll be on the road for games against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Arizona.
The Wildcats will host Texas Rio Grande Valley in the first four games of the season (Feb. 19-21) and then go to OU for a single game on Tuesday, Feb. 23, before returning home for another four-game set against Northeastern (Mass.) Feb. 26-28.
ACU will host Southland Conference pre-season favorite Southeastern Louisiana at Crutcher Scott Field, as well as defending conference tournament champion Houston Baptist, Lamar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans in a 30-game home slate. Those 30 home games will be played in a stadium celebrating its 25 th anniversary season in 2016, and one that has undergone a radical facelift during the off-season.
AstroTurf replaced the existing grass and dirt surface, a new outfield fence was added - cutting the right field wall down from 335 feet away from the plate to 310 feet - a home bullpen was built behind the right field wall and major league padding was added around the entire field. The "new" Crutcher Scott Field makes ACU's home park one of the best in the Southland Conference, if not this part of the country.
"I know I've got a great institution to sell to recruits, and now I know I've got the best field in the league," Bonneau said. "We're getting ready to compete to be in the top four in this league and have a chance to win a conference tournament in a few years and go to an NCAA regional.
"I like our home schedule," he continued. "We've got the top team in the league (Southeastern Louisiana) coming here, as well as the team that won the conference tournament and went to a regional last year (HBU). This whole thing comes down to pitching and team chemistry and I feel good about both of those areas."
More...