Tarleton baseball is headed to Abilene for its last road games of the season, a three-game set with the ACU Wildcats.
 
The three games will be Tarleton's last on the road this season as they return to Stephenville for a four-game stretch to close the season out following this weekend.
 
Friday and Saturday's game times have been moved up with first pitch on Friday set for 2:05 p.m. CT and Saturday at 2:05 p.m. CT. With bad weather looming in Abilene, game times could be altered again. Stay posted on TarletonSports.com and @TarletonBase on Twitter for updates.
 
The Teams: Tarleton Texans (23-22, 7-15 WAC) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (29-19, 13-11 WAC)
Where: Abilene, Texas
Stadium: Crutcher Scott Field
Day and Time: Friday at 2:05 p.m. CT, Saturday at 2:05 p.m. CT, Sunday at 1:05 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: WACinternational.tv
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (MAY 12-14):
TAR RHP Hunter Day (Jr., 59.0 IP, 5-2, 4.73 ERA) vs. ACU RHP Tyler Morgan (Jr., 63.1 IP, 2-4, 6.25 ERA)
TAR LHP Dylan Delvecchio (So., 51.2 IP, 2-4, 7.49 ERA) vs. ACU RHP Breck Eichelberger (Sr., 52.1 IP, 5-2, 4.13 ERA)
TAR TBD vs. ACU RHP Austin Glaze (Jr., 45.1 IP, 2-1, 6.55 ERA)

Matchup Notes
•  Tarleton and ACU are set for a three-game Western Athletic Conference series in Abilene from Friday through Sunday.
•  The series opener on Friday will be the 44th meeting all-time between the two schools and ACU leads the series 24-19. Last season the two teams played six games with one series in Stephenville and one in Abilene. Tarleton took two of three in Abilene and ACU took two of three in Stephenville.
•  ACU enters the series the loser of two straight games, both to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. In the Wildcats last WAC series, they took two of three from Utah Tech in Abilene.
•  Tarleton enters the series the loser of six consecutive games. The Texans last win was April 28th in the series opener at Seattle U. They were swept by the GCU Lopes in Stephenville last weekend.
 
Quick Hits
 
•  Tarleton's Jack Wagner was named a National Player of the Week on Monday, May 8, by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after Wagner's performance in games at Texas A&M and vs. Grand Canyon. The Wichita, Kansas, product mashed four home runs last week, hitting one at Texas A&M and three in the weekend series vs. Grand Canyon. He finished the week 6-16 (.375) with four home runs, 11 RBI and four runs scored. The award is the second of the season as he picked up WAC Hitter of the Week honors on April 17.
•  Trace Morrison continued his impressive season at the plate in the series with GCU. The outfielder from Stephenville posted five hits, hitting .417 with an on-base percentage of .462 and scored four runs. He added to his season tally of 53 hits, 20 RBI and a team-high .376 batting average.
•  Alec Williams continues to pace the Texans hitting-wise in WAC play. The Huntsville, TX, native is hitting .390 with 23 hits, 15 runs scored and 10 RBI to pair with a team-high 10 stolen bases. Trace Morrison leads Tarleton with 29 hits in WAC play while Jack Wagner leads the team with 21 RBI and seven home runs in conference play.
•   Tarleton is 8-3 in Hunter Day's 11 starts on the mound this season and he will get the ball Friday night.
 
Notables
 

TEAM COMPARISON	TARLETON	ACU
Batting Average	.298	.285
Slugging	.463	.447
Walks to Strikeouts	208/338	194/352
On-Base %	.400	.375
Stolen Bases-Attempts	94-126	66-82
Home Runs	44	52
Doubles	86	74
Triples	16	14
Runs Scored	339	308
PITCHING
ERA	5.59	6.66
WHIP	1.56	1.65
Opponent Batting Average	.262	.280
Strikeouts to Walks	402/222	416/234
Hit Batters/Wild Pitches	75/48	55/51

FIRST POWER 5 VICTORY
With a 6-2 win over Baylor in Waco on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Tarleton baseball picked up its first win over a Power 5 team in program history. The Texans took struck first in the first inning and never gave the lead up. Piercen McElyea played a big part in the win, striking out a season-high 10 in 5.0 innings of work, walking none. McElyea threw a first pitch strike to 18 of 23 batters he faced.
 
STRICTLY WAC
Tarleton has had some strong performers in conference play, with four different relievers holding an under 5.00 ERA in WAC games. Zane Badmaev has posted a 2.45 ERA and 18 strikeouts to three walks in 14.2 innings. Zach Poe holds a 1.69 ERA in eight appearances. Jake Burcham has a 2.79 ERA in seven appearances, Reece Elston has a 3.46 ERA in six appearances.
Offensively, Alec Williams leads the way in WAC play with a .390 average to pair with a .508 on-base percentage and 10 stolen bases. Trace Morrison is hitting .345 and has a team-high 29 hits in league play. Jack Wagmer has driven in the most runs with 21 RBI followed by Mason Hammonds with 14.
 
MOWING 'EM DOWN
Zane Badmaev has been hot as can be out of the bullpen this season for the Texans. The senior RHP has 42 strikeouts compared to just six walks while holding a 2.42 ERA and has allowed just one run in his last eight outings. Badmaev has walked just three batters in 14.2 innings of work in conference play. He has featured primarily late in games for Tarleton as the de facto closer.
 
STACKING UP IN THE WAC
Tarleton is first in team on-base percentage (.405), stolen bases (92) and hit by pitch (60), second in team batting average (.300), triples (16) and walks (202) and third in slugging (.465) and runs scored (325). On the pitching side the Texans are second in opponent batting average (.259), third in ERA (5.37) and fourth in strikeouts (376).

Kooper Shook is second in the WAC with 22 stolen bases. Jack Wagner is tied-first in slugging (.747), third in home runs (15) and fourth in RBI (54), Trace Morrison is fourth in batting average (.376). Hunter Day is tied 10th with five wins, has the 11th best ERA (4.73).
 
NEXT UP 
Tarleton will host the Baylor Bears at 6:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday night in Stephenville.