The Wildcats are set for a three-game homestand against the Vaqueros of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this weekend, and head baseball coach Rick McCarty’s squad is looking to build on last weekend’s success in the conference after sweeping the Utah Tech Trailblazers.
The upcoming series marks the first of three to end their season and is one of two against teams in the bottom half of the Western Athletic Conference.
The Vaqueros have had an up-and-down season, sitting just above .500 after winning last weekend’s series against Stephen F. Austin at home.
UTRGV holds a 10-11 conference record, sitting in seventh place and teetering on the edge of a WAC tournament berth in Mesa, Arizona. A series win against the Wildcats, which are ranked third in the conference, would steer them in the right direction to end their season.
Despite their opponent’s record, this weekend will be important for McCarty and the Wildcats. The Wildcats have a lot of momentum despite losing 8-6 to BYU on Monday. Their series sweep at Utah Tech showed that they can win the first game of a conference series, something they had failed to do in their first six conference series.
The probable starters for ACU include its usual three-game sequence. Graduate student and right-handed pitcher Austin Glaze will get the ball against UTRGV on Friday night.
“He has had a really good month leading up to last week,” McCarty said. “For whatever reason, we’ve fallen on the wrong side of it.”
Game two will feature Iain Campa, a junior from El Paso, who has a 6-2 record, posting a 3.58 ERA in 50.1 innings this season. UTRGV will start Francisco Hernandez. The 6-foot-3 redshirt junior is hot off a win against Stephen F. Austin last weekend, where he went seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out nine.
Game three will feature Rick McCarty’s stand-out pitcher, Brett Lanman. Lanman, a freshman from Fairview, has posted a 2.68 ERA in 57 innings this season, striking out 63 batters and allowing only a .205 opponent batting average. Tyler Valdez, a senior pitcher from Austin, will get the start for the Vaqueros. Valdez started game three against Stephen F. Austin last weekend, earning the win after a six-inning performance where he did not allow a run to score and only gave up two hits.
Ahead of game one, McCarty hopes the team will continue to pitch well and give its team quality starts. McCarty said he is confident in his starters and believes they can win tough Friday games.
