Baseball season is here.
2026 WAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. Abilene Christian (3) 33
2. Utah Valley (1) 29
3. California Baptist (1) 27
4. Sacramento State (2) 22
5. Tarleton State 15
6. Utah Tech 11
7. UT Arlington 10

I'm not a fan of preseason polls, but to be last place is a kick to the crotch.

It also seems odd when we had one of the two preseason pitcher of the years. Unless they think he's going to lose a lot of games 2-1 or something like that, a pitcher alone should be worth more than last place.

Maybe a last place preseason poll ranking will make UTA less of a shopping destination for portal/NIL raiders.

Polls always seem to me to be wrong anyway. This one suggests the Wildcats will be strong and I think that is true -- lots of good players back including some formidable pitchers, but baseball is just not very dependable when it comes to following the scrip. New stars emerge and sometimes previous star players fail to deliver. However, I do think ACU will be in the top half at least. We have a great coach who somehow unifies the team. BTW, I would not have put UTA last. Something feels wrong about that ranking.

What are the expectations for Tarleton and ACU this year? I see we have y'all on the schedule.

We've been pretty bad the last two years, so expectations are pretty low. Hopefully we right the ship and get back to our old ways.

(02-13-2026 11:05 AM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  What are the expectations for Tarleton and ACU this year? I see we have y'all on the schedule.

We've been pretty bad the last two years, so expectations are pretty low. Hopefully we right the ship and get back to our old ways.

I think RCI can answer more precisely than me, but with a large portion of our lineup returning, I think we should be very similar to last year. Of course, our pitching is really yet to be determined.

Ahh so it'll be a crapshoot then lol

(02-13-2026 12:09 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  Ahh so it'll be a crapshoot then lol

How good are our dice?

ACU takes the first game against St. Thomas 7-1. It was even until the last couple of innings and then the Cats just ran away with it. There is going to be rain overnight until at least late morning. So, wonder what will happen with the double header tomorrow. Will it drain enough for them to just maybe delay it a little and then finish it out?

(02-13-2026 11:05 AM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  What are the expectations for Tarleton and ACU this year? I see we have y'all on the schedule.

We've been pretty bad the last two years, so expectations are pretty low. Hopefully we right the ship and get back to our old ways.

you guys always seem pretty good. I can't imagine you all being below average for very long.

UTA, on the other hand, can't figure out how to score. Lost 3-2 in 14 innings yesterday. Dygert may be all-conference, but he can't score for the Mavs.

Meanwhile, former Mav Tyce Armstrong tied a DI NCAA record with three grand slams in one game. He'll likely have more RBI personally than UTA will have as a team when the month of March starts.

(02-14-2026 06:52 PM)FoUTASportscaster Wrote:  UTA, on the other hand, can't figure out how to score. Lost 3-2 in 14 innings yesterday. Dygert may be all-conference, but he can't score for the Mavs.

Meanwhile, former Mav Tyce Armstrong tied a DI NCAA record with three grand slams in one game. He'll likely have more RBI personally than UTA will have as a team when the month of March starts.

This is tough to watch, if I remember correctly we used to have some pretty good teams especially under Mcbroom. Am I correct?

Yes, we have a proud baseball history. Lots of postseason appearances. Sadly the last NCAA tourney came in 2012, when we beat the Big 12 two games for every one we lost.

The COVID year ruined a potential top 25 caliber team. Some SBC years a good team choked in the tourney. Our best non-COVID SBC team was beat by the weather as the conference tournament was delayed so poorly that it became single-elimination.

Since then, it has been rough, particularly offensively. Every year, we lose out top 2-3 bats from the previous year to the portal and watching them either do well or sit out half the games rubs me the wrong way.

Tarleton goes 3-0 against Le Moyne.

Le Moyne is in year three of their transition from D2 but wins are wins.

ACU goes 1-1 on the double header with St. Thomas yesterday. They won the first game 6-5. Then they took the second game to the 10th inning but couldn't come up with the win and fell 10-11. They came back big time today to win 13-2. So, that puts them at 3-1 against St. Thomas to start the season.

(02-15-2026 07:30 PM)Outsider Wrote:  ACU goes 1-1 on the double header with St. Thomas yesterday. They won the first game 6-5. Then they took the second game to the 10th inning but couldn't come up with the win and fell 10-11. They came back big time today to win 13-2. So, that puts them at 3-1 against St. Thomas to start the season.

And St. Thomas is the champion of the Summit League, a highly respected conference.

Tarleton loses to 10th ranked Arkansas, 3-1 today at Globe Life Field.

Tonight, (Tuesday), top of the 3rd inning, UTA leads TCU 9-3 at Globe Life Field. Since Mavs are lowest preseason rated in WAC, it would be sweet to defeat the #7 Frogs.

(02-17-2026 09:24 PM)wewererebels Wrote:  Tonight, (Tuesday), top of the 3rd inning, UTA leads TCU 9-3 at Globe Life Field. Since Mavs are lowest preseason rated in WAC, it would be sweet to defeat the #7 Frogs.

That would be a sweet defeat and huge for the WAC.

(02-17-2026 10:19 PM)Outsider Wrote:  

(02-17-2026 09:24 PM)wewererebels Wrote:  Tonight, (Tuesday), top of the 3rd inning, UTA leads TCU 9-3 at Globe Life Field. Since Mavs are lowest preseason rated in WAC, it would be sweet to defeat the #7 Frogs.

That would be a sweet defeat and huge for the WAC.

UTA wins 11-8. Mavericks needed that 9 run first inning!