It’s that time of the year again for softball fans as ACU softball will begin its season this Friday as they face Colorado State in the Bobcat Classic.

Last year the Wildcats finished 23-26 overall including notable wins against Texas Tech and North Texas. However their season was ultimately cut short as they fell to the Northwestern State Demons 4-3 in the first round of the Southland Conference tournament.

Outfielder redshirt junior Donelle Johnson will be a key player to watch this season for the Wildcats. Last season she led the team with a .306 batting average starting all 49 games giving her the honors of Third-team All-Conference. Going into 2019, she has been awarded preseason Second-team All-Conference, the only Wildcat to be named preseason All-Conference.

The defending regular season conference champion, Nicholls, is favored to repeat this season according to preseason polls. The Colonels have six preseason First-team All-Conference players and eight in total. They finished last season at 40-15 making it to the conference championship, but falling short to McNeese 4-2.

While the Wildcats are ranked 8th in the preseason conference rankings, there is much to be excited about entering a new season.  ACU lost three out of its five most efficient batters, but the incoming freshman class is hopeful to fill the shoes of ACU alum and revive the offense.

This team is so young, in fact, that out of all the 19 players on the roster, not one is a senior. Wildcat softball will have many new faces on the field this year and the fanbase will enjoy seeing them for years to come.

Abilene Christian will be home for the first time this season after three tournaments in February to face Maine the first of March at 4 p.m. to start a four game series against the Black Bears.