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DALLAS – Abilene Christian baseball will make its first road trip of the year versus Dallas Baptist, one of the nation’s premiere mid-major programs, at Horner Ballpark at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Wildcats look to continue their momentum from a season-opening series versus St. Thomas that saw them take three of four games.

Logan Young will earn the starting nod against the Patriots in his Wildcat debut. The sophomore right-handed pitcher began his career at Dallas College Eastfield, where he built a 3-0 record with a 2.83 ERA over 28.2 innings in six starts. He struck out 33 batters.

Dallas Baptist has established itself as one of the most successful programs in the nation this century under head coach Dan Heefner. It is one of five teams to reach each of the past 11 NCAA Tournaments, averaging 42.5 wins per season since 2015 to rank seventh in the country. ACU head coach Rick McCarty was the Patriots’ pitching coach from 2016-18 before making his way to the Big Country.

The Wildcats haven’t visited Dallas since 2017. Last season, they picked up a 7-1 win over the No. 17 Patriots in Abilene as Diego Cardenas went 4 for 4 and drove in runs with Braden Regala and Sam Hardcastle. Blaine Palmer was credited with the victory for logging two hitless frames.

ACU found different ways to win across its trio of victories. The Wildcats took advantage of eight walks and three hit batters in a 7-1 win on Opening Day, then closed the weekend in run-rule fashion with a 13-2 triumph in seven innings. ACU split Saturday’s doubleheader, using a late rally to grab a 6-5 win before falling in extra innings, 11-10.

The Wildcats averaged nine runs per game through Opening Weekend with seven players batting .300 or higher. ACU banged out six home runs with 17 extra-base hits while remaining disciplined at the plate with 25 walks and eight hit batters.

Maddox Miesse led the way for the Wildcats, collecting five hits in six at-bats for a conference-leading .833 batting average. The senior utility player drove in five runs behind a grand slam that kickstarted Sunday’s offensive barrage.

Miesse paces the Western Athletic Conference in slugging (1.500) and on-base percentage (.818) for a 2.318 OPS. Brady Ladusau shined in his first appearance at the collegiate level, going 4 for 6 at the plate with a trio of extra-base hits. The freshman is second in the WAC behind Miesse in each piece of his slash line.

Grant Watkins charged ACU with a pair of home runs. He and Diego Cardenas each went yard in the eighth inning of Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader to rally the Wildcats from a 5-1 deficit.

ACU earned strong outings from a pair of transfer pitchers in Aidan Coleman and Evan Whiteaker. Coleman, a Pittsburgh transplant, started Saturday’s first game and logged seven innings, surrendering just one earned run on four hits, no walks and five strikeouts.

Whiteaker, a Xavier transfer, issued four scoreless frames in relief on Friday, giving up just one hit with a couple of punshouts. He entered for returning starter Brett Lanman, who allowed just one run in five innings. Whiteaker limited the Tommies to an .071 batting average with the fewest hits and walks allowed among eligible WAC pitchers.