The Wildcats will set their eyes on an April weekend series with the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, Indiana. With the team’s midweek contest against the Texas Tech Red Raiders being postponed due to predicted inclement weather on Tuesday, the game has been rescheduled for April 22 at 5:05 p.m in Abilene.

Before Tuesday night’s ballgame was postponed, the Wildcats were set to have one of the most difficult weeks on their schedule: a week in the middle of conference play when the team would only play Power Four programs. Still, the team will play four consecutive games against P4 programs before resuming Western Athletic Conference action.

“Each week is its own week,” Head Coach Rick McCarty said. “This is a week of opportunity. We’re playing four games against teams that, on paper, we’re not supposed to beat… I love those weeks.”

Ahead of the weekend in Bloomington, the Wildcats dropped 2-of-3 on the road to Tarleton State to fall to 2-4 in WAC play. With the slow start to conference action, McCarty said he attributes part of the team’s struggles to inconsistency, but believes they have the right people to be successful down the stretch.

“Championship margins are so tight,” McCarty said. “If we want to continue to become a more consistent championship program, then consistency has to follow.”

Now at 18-18 through the first two weeks of April, the Wildcats will look to get a series win on the road, something they haven’t done since March 27-29 when the team took 2-of-3 from McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Wildcats are 6-8 on the road this season while winning 11 of 19 at home.

“I think the team has done really well with the travel,” Watkins said. “It’s been nice to get the team together.”

Grant Watkins has continued to shine for the Wildcats. The senior first basemen from Los Alamos, New Mexico, entered the week in the top five in the county in home runs hit with 18. Watkins has driven in 38 runs this season while hitting .254 on the year.

“It’s just been flushing the results,” Watkins said. “I don’t think about them. Stick with the process of what I’ve been doing, and if it doesn’t work out, as long as I start my process, it’s a win. Results have been paying out so far, so it’s been nice.”

In the weekend series against TSU, Watkins homered twice, including the fourth in as many consecutive batters for the Wildcats in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game. Diego Cardenas, senior designated hitter from El Paso, has also continued a dominant effort at the plate. Cardenas sits just one home run behind Watkins, finding himself with 17 and sixth in the nation.

“There’s definitely a friendly competition,” Watkins said. “Diego and I love it. Last year was a race for it, and this year the race started early.”

The Hoosiers enter the series with a 14-21 record and just 6-12 in Big Ten play. Most recently, the team suffered a 2-1 series loss to Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The team started a six-game non-conference stretch on Wednesday with an 8-6 win over Indiana State Evansville.

Indiana’s been powered by three key sophomore bats through the season so far. Caleb Koskie has led the Hoosiers offensively through his 31 games, getting on base 42 times via the hit and entering the weekend with an OPS of 1.093. Jake Hanley and Denny Hogan each add an OPS of 1.045 atop the Hoosiers stat sheet. Hanley leads the team in home runs with 11 and in RBI with 39, while Hogan leads the team in doubles with 12 and an OBP of .454.

“It’ll be a really cool environment,” Watkins said. “It’s nice to hopefully go up there and get some redemption.”

Last season, the two teams met in Abilene for a three-game series in which the Hoosiers got the better of the Wildcats 3-0. Now the Wildcats return the trip, looking for opposite results.

“I think if we play our brand of baseball, with punchouts on the mound and slug at the plate, I think we’ll have a really good chance to win a series,” Watkins said.

First pitch from Bloomington Friday night is set for 5:05 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.