ACU to celebrate Scott Field
2/5/2010 11:10:02 AM | Baseball
ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats will open the 2010 baseball season Saturday with a doubleheader against Harding University at Crutcher Scott Field.
The first game of the doubleheader is set for a 2:05 p.m. start with the second game to follow immediately after the first game. Sunday's doubleheader will get started at 12:35 p.m.
This weekend's games are the kickoff of the Wildcats' 20th season at Crutcher Scott Field. To commemorate the event, ACU vice president Dr. Gary McCaleb, former head coach Bill Gilbreth and longtime ACU baseball supporter Al Scott (the son of Crutcher Scott) will throw out the first pitch before Saturday's season-opener.
The ACU Alumni Office will also help celebrate the 20th season on Saturday by providing free hot dogs to the first 250 alumni who come through the gates at Scott Field. All fans will be allowed to enter a drawing for authentic Wildcat baseball gear, T-shirts and other prizes during the day. Admission to all ACU baseball games throughout the regular season is free, thanks to the generosity of MasterScapes.
ACU's administration – pushed by Dr. McCaleb – decided to bring baseball back in 1990 after a 12-year absence, and on Feb. 23, 1991, the Wildcats played their first game in their new stadium. ACU beat Tarleton State, 2-1, in 10 innings that day as fans stood on flatbed trailers that had been brought in to ring the stadium and serve as stands.
Gilbreth, the former ACU and Major League Baseball pitcher, was the first head coach and served in that capacity from 1991-95, leading ACU to the 1993 Lone Star Conference championship. And, thanks to the generosity of the Scott family, the Wildcats are now able to play in one of the finest facilities in all of college baseball.
The stadium has served as the host of seven Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournaments, four NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournaments, and has seen the Wildcats claim LSC championships on its field in 1993, 2002 and 2009.
ACU has played 620 games in 19 seasons at Crutcher Scott Field and has piled up a remarkable 455 wins against just 164 losses and one tie in that time for a winning percentage of 73.5 percent.
