ACU baseball and softball seasons were inching closer to conference play when the Southland Conference made the decision to cancel all remaining spring sports.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” head coach Abigail Farler said. “When we found out our upcoming series got canceled, it got pretty serious pretty fast.”
Softball had played 24 out of their 51 scheduled games, going 7-17. It was Farler’s first year as the head coach for the Wildcats.
“We really didn’t think it was going to go this far,” Farler said. “I had told the players not to panic and hope for the best. Once we got back to Abilene, they shut down the season, and that was a shock to us all.”
Throughout this uncertain time, Farler said she wants her team to stay connected as much as possible.
“At this point we are just trying to stay as unified as possible through group chats, but I think the seniors are still processing a lot and what it means for them,” Farler said.
This Wildcat softball team has five seniors on their roster. With the NCAA mulling its options, the world of college sports is still unsure if players will be granted a redshirt season.
“I’m encouraging everyone not to make a decision until we really know what that looks like with the NCAA,” Farler said. “So I’m just telling them to slow down before making any long-term decision.”
Looking at the ACU baseball team, head coach Rick McCarty is also coming to terms with the announcement.
“It’s tough man,” McCarty said. “There’s a lot of different layers to it. Both personally and professionally, I’m trying to figure out what the best move is.”
McCarty and his staff are still trying to unravel how recruiting will be impacted after the NCAA banned any recruiting until April 15.
“We don’t know yet,” McCarty said. “There’s still a lot to be figured out in that regard. We’ll have a few holes we need to fill, and we’ll see when we can.”
ACU baseball played its final game of the season against Texas, March 11. The Wildcats ultimately finish the season with a 7-8 record.
“On the ride home from Austin, we started seeing all these things getting canceled and postponed,” McCarty said. “Our weekend game got canceled, and everything started to break loose after that.”
Along with baseball and softball, all spring sports competitions have been canceled. The next event is scheduled to take place in August.
