A little good news ...

So how about some positives? I thought I’d give you a spring update with some good things happening, especially this weekend in ACU sports.

First, ACU’s baseball team swept through its first four Lone Star Conference games this weekend with four wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Wildcats, who dropped to No. 24 in the nation after beginning the season ranked eighth, responded with an 8-1 win Thursday night, 3-2 and 2-1 victories Friday, and then closed with a 15-5 pounding Saturday.

If you missed it, Friday’s second game that went extra innings saw potential history from ACU pitcher Preston Vancil. The senior right-hander struck out the final eight batters and finished with a career-high 13. The NCAA Division I record for consecutive strikeouts is 10 accomplished by Barry Zito (currently with the San Francisco Giants) back in 1996 for UC-Santa Barbara.

In softball’s home opening weekend, ACU defeated No. 25-ranked St. Mary’s Thursday night 13-11. Then, Friday the Wildcats split with a loss to Emporia and a win over Northeastern State. All-American Jessica Shiery already making an impact for ACU hitting .636 with two homers and nine RBI eight games into the season.

Today, we’re awaiting the score from Poly Wells Field as ACU looks to upset No. 8-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State. Grant Boone and I are in San Angelo and received word that the score was 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Speaking of San Angelo, the Wildcat basketball teams are at Stephens Arena for a Lone Star Conference South Division doubleheader against Angelo State. For the women, a win would mean that they could finish no worse than second place in the LSC South. At 6-1, the Wildcats are looking to sweep ASU for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Rambelles enter the contest at 4-3 in league play.

For the men’s team, Jason Copeland’s Wildcats are trying to stay mathematically in the race for the LSC postseason tournament. ACU is sixth place in the LSC South with a 2-5 record in league play while the Rams are third place with a 5-2 mark in conference.

I’ll try to update this post and let you know how the softball and basketball games progress on this Valentine’s Day.