The Wildcats will take a 3-4 record into the third week of the 2025 season. The team will play five games throughout the week, including one game against Oklahoma State University in Cleburne at Cleburne Railroaders Stadium and four games against the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff in Abilene.
Pleased with the results of their first two series, Head Coach Rick McCarty still wants his team to put it all together and perform better as a team.
“I’ve been pleased in multiple areas in different ways,” McCarty said. “It just hasn’t been consistent enough to play all three phases in one game to this point.”
Playing all three phases refers to having success pitching, fielding and hitting as a team. The Wildcats have played well in each phase throughout their first seven games but have had lapses in other areas as well.
The matchup on Wednesday with OSU will be the sixth meeting between the programs, with the Cowboys winning all five of the previous meetings.
“I enjoy playing those dudes just because they’re a top contender for the College World series,” said Maddox Miesse, junior catcher from Adkins. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The last meeting between the Wildcats and the Cowboys came in February of 2024 where the Wildcats scored four runs through the first two innings but failed to score in the next seven innings. The team fell by a final score of 8-4.
“We’re going to go in there and try to prove who we are and win,” Miesse said.
Despite the opponent, location or previous games, McCarty has the same keys and message to his team.
“We want to play clean and we want to be aggressive,” McCarty said. “We talk all the time about always hunting, never hunted. That mentality has played well for us in the past with other power five (conference) games.”
McCarty also said the team will need to “do simple well” early in the game despite the size of the game or venue.
“If we can give ourselves a chance to win in the last three innings, I like where we’ll be,” McCarty said. “In the past our guys have thrived in these opportunities so we’ll see how the game goes.”
After the single game in Cleburne, the Wildcats will have a one-day break from gameplay before hosting the Golden Lions in a four game series in Abilene.
The last meeting between the Golden Lions and Wildcats occurred in 2019, where the Wildcats completed a three game sweep, scoring 30 runs in the three games.
With the season in full swing, this series will begin to test the durability and condition of the team. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they will play in the state of Texas until they take on Utah Valley University March 28-30 in Orem, UT.
“We’ve got 14 games before we start conference play,” McCarty said. “We’ve got 17 straight nights in our own bed.”
Miesse also acknowledged the convenience and importance of resting with the team and working on building relationships.
“As soon as the game’s done, just getting off your feet,” Miesse said. “Hanging out, building relationships. It doesn’t even have to be about baseball. It could be about their golf swing or whatever’s going on at the moment. Just enjoying being around those dudes.”
The Wildcats’ Wednesday matchup is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, while the weekend games have start times of 6:05, 1:05 and 4:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
