Bears Host ACU in Midweek Tilt

Story Lines

• The Bears are in the midst of a seven-game homestand and are set to face Abilene Christian in a midweek contest on Wednesday, March 13 at 6:35 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark. 

• The Bears are coming off a 1-2 weekend, salvaging the series vs. Nebraska with a big 10-3 victory on Sunday.

HOW TO WATCH AND STREAM

The midweek contest vs. ACU will be streamed live for free at facebook.com/baylorbaseball. 

Projected Pitching Matchup

Wednesday, March 13 • 6:35 p.m. CT • RHP Luke Boyd vs. TBA

Luke Boyd gets the call for his first start of the season, and first since Feb. 20, 2017. It has been 750 days since Boyd took the ball in a starting role, and on Feb. 20, 2017 he threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks and two strikeouts against Nevada. In 2019 he has appeared exclusively out of the pen, throwing 9.0 innings over six innings, striking out 15 while walking seven. He is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA. For his career he has made 22 appearances, 21 of those out of the pen. 

Last Weekend Recap

The Bears went 1-2 last weekend in a home series against Nebraska. The series was originally supposed to be in Lincoln, but due to inclement weather expected in the area during the weekend, both sides elected to move the series to Waco. The Bears fell 12-4 in game one of the series on Friday, as the Huskers touched up starter Hayden Kettler for seven runs (six earned) in 4.1 innings of work. The offense was playing catch up after a four-run first inning and was never able to close the gap. On Saturday, the Bears had a tough time getting the offense rolling against Husker starter Nate Fisher, and dropped a close pitchers’ duel, 2-0. The Bears were no-hit through 8.2 innings before Davis Wendzel broke up the combined no-hitter. It was the first time the Bears have been one-hit at Baylor Ballpark. On Sunday, the bats woke up in a big way for the Bears, as they tied they cranked out 10 hits and tied their season-high of 18 hits in a 10-3 victory to salvage the season. Eight-of-nine in the starting lineup had hits on the day, with six having multi-hit performances. Andy Thomas, Mack Mueller and Richard Cunningham each had three hits on the day and Thomas also drove in a team-high three runs on a personal-best three doubles. Baylor’s bullpen held the Huskers scoreless through the final six frames and hitless through the final 3.2. 

ABILENE CHRISTIAN 

The Bears and Wildcats are set to meet for the first time on the diamond since March 25, 1968. The sport was reinstated at ACU in 1991 and the Wildcats are in their sixth season of NCAA Division I play. Out of the Southland Conference, the Wildcats are led by first-year head coach Rick McCarty, former DBU pitching coach. The Wildcats are 9-7 entering the midweek tilt, coming off a series win over Northwestern State as they won the rubber match on Sunday, 6-2. They also boast series sweeps over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Hartford. The Bears and Wildcats have one common opponent so far on the season in Texas A&M, and the Wildcats lost 9-3 to the Aggies on March 6. They are led at the plate by Luis Trevino, who is hitting .410 on the year with 17 RBI and 4 home runs. Overall as a team they are hitting .269. On the mound, the Wildcats have a team ERA of 5.58 with 122 strikeouts in 140.00 innings of work.