The softball team will play on home turf for the first time this season on Saturday and Sunday against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-9).
During the 2015 season, ACU went 7-13 at home and in the 2014 season, they went 12-10 at home.
The Wildcats current overall record is 3-11 after snatching up a third win on the road last weekend in Austin. Redshirt sophomore Hannah Null pitched a complete 7.0-inning game, giving up just one run and two hits while sophomores Holly Neese and Peyton Hedrick each scored one RBI, securing the 2-1 win against the University of Tulsa.
“We’ve played a very tough schedule up to this point,” head coach Bobby Reeves said. “We’ve done it to improve ourselves, to get ourselves better, because we’ve seen a lot better pitching and a lot of great hitters. We’ve made some strides. Beating Tulsa was huge, and almost beating Texas, that was good for us. Hopefully this weekend, we’ll be able to relax and play and get some confidence going into Conference play next weekend.”
Sophomore Briana Barnhill was a big player in last weekend’s games, as she recorded 13 total hits and one home run in five games. Sophomore Baylee Travers also smashed a two-run homer in the game against the University of Illinois, though ACU ended up losing the game.
Junior Taylor Brown is currently hitting .372 (16-for-43) and holds ACU’s record for most triples with 15, after hitting one in last weekend’s game against the University of Texas. She hit three triples as a freshman and an impressive 11 triples as a sophomore, which was an ACU single-season record as well as a Southland Conference record. She has also been successful in four stolen base attempts so far this season.
This weekend’s games will not only be the first home games of the season for the Wildcats, but it’ll also be the first games the team gets to play on the new turf field that was installed last semester. Reeves said playing at home should help give the Wildcats an advantage for several reasons.
“It’s where you workout everyday so you’re very familiar with the field,” Reeves said. “You’re sleeping in your own bed and coming out to play instead of sleeping in a motel, you’re eating food that you want to eat instead of where we take you. You rest better, you feel more comfortable, you got home fans so you have more fans than the other team does.”
The Wildcats will play at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday, before Southland Conference play starts next weekend in Hammond, Louisiana.
