Wildcats set to take on Rambelles

ACU to take on defending national champs in first regional game

SAN ANTONIO -- Abilene Christian's record-setting 2005 season continues this weekend as the Wildcats tread into uncharted waters with their first bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament.

The six-team tournament kicks off Thursday with four games, including ACU's 1:30 p.m. contest against defending NCAA Division II national champion Angelo State.  The game will be broadcast on KSLI 1280 AM.  The Wildcats and Rambelles split a pair of games this season as ASU won the Lone Star Conference South Division title with a win over ACU in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The other teams in the field are top-seeded St. Mary's, No. 2 Central Oklahoma, No. 3 Angelo State, No. 4 Midwestern State and No. 5 Regis (Colo.).  St. Mary's won the 2002 NCAA Division II national title, and lost in last year's regional championship game to Angelo State.

ACU is 7-7 against the other five teams in the tournament field, having played every team in 2005 except Central Oklahoma.  The Wildcats of second-year head coach Chantiel Wilson were 3-2 against Midwestern State, 2-2 against Angelo State, 1-3 against St. Mary's and 1-0 against Regis.

ACU is 30-20 under second-year head coach Chantiel Wilson, who last month was named the LSC South Division Coach of the Year.  Wilson led ACU to a 13-7 conference mark, setting a school record for most wins in a conference season.  ACU had a chance to win the LSC South Division in the last game of the season, but dropped an 8-3 decision to Angelo State to give the Rambelles the title.

Still, though, the Wildcats had the LSC South Division Player of the Year in senior first baseman Katie Bryan, and will now be playing in the regional tournament for the first time in school history.

ACU has undergone a quick rebuilding phase under Wilson, who took over after the 2003 season ended with a 24-31 record.  Prior to the 2005 season, ACU had not recorded a winning season since a 31-22 mark in 1998, which also marked the last time ACU had won 30 games in a season.

"I don't know that I'm really surprised that we're here, mainly because we had the talent on the roster to get ourselves in position to do this," she said.  "Then we went out and added some girls who expect to get into the post-season and into regional and national tournaments every year.  When we started working in the fall, I knew we would have a team that could reach the regional tournament."

ACU's offense is the reason for its turnaround season, and Bryan has been the catalyst.

Bryan finished second in the LSC batting race at .428, but she led the LSC in home runs (16), RBI (55), walks (34), runs scored (53) and total bases (127).  She is ACU's all-time leader in each of those categories, as well as hits and games played.  Senior third baseman Valerie Malkinson finished ninth in the batting race at .370, and her 13 home runs are the third-best total in the league.  Junior rightfielder Jade Wilson drove in 52 runs during the season to finish second in the league to Bryan.

"We know that our offense is the strength of our team, and that no pitcher is going to go out and totally dominate us and shut us down," Wilson said.  "The thing we've worked on the last couple of weeks is being aggressive early in the count and getting ahead so that the pitcher has to throw pitches that we can handle."

Wilson is contemplating moving Bryan into the leadoff spot in the order, up from No. 3, giving her best hitter more opportunities to get on base, and making it less likely that teams will intentionally walk her.  In a mid-April series against Texas Woman's in Abilene, she was intentionally walked eight times.

ACU's pitching staff is much-improved over the last few years and is led by junior righthander Jennifer Leal, who is 21-11 with a 4.18 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 209 innings of work.  Sophomore Allison Crouse is 8-7 with a 5.15 ERA and figures to see action on the mound this weekend.