2021 ACU Baseball Schedule Preview
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Led by third-year Head Coach Joe McDonald, the 2021 Arizona Christian University baseball team will look to build off of a shortened 2020 season in which the team finished with an 18-9 overall record and a 6-6 conference record.
The 2020 team’s playoff hopes were ended along with every other NAIA baseball program when the season was suspended last March before ultimately being cancelled. With last year now in the rearview mirror, this year’s team is looking forward to what could be, with the road to Lewiston always in mind.
In fact, the road to Lewiston has not just been a figurative thought for Coach Mac, but instead, he has quite literally grinded every mile it takes to travel from Glendale to Lewiston. Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic halted his team’s promising 2020 campaign, Coach Mac took it upon himself to run the 1,196 miles it would take to get from ACU’s campus to Harris Field, home of the NAIA Baseball World Series, in Lewiston, Idaho. It was a 272-day quest, but it has him and his team as fired up as ever to get their season started tomorrow evening.
“We are so grateful to have been blessed with a full, 55-game schedule for the 2021 season,” said Coach Mac, ” Our players deserve every inning after these last 11 months. We are gonna enjoy each day as it comes and work towards being our best self.”
That long-awaited-for schedule begins this week as ACU hosts its third-annual Coach Calderone Invitational with hosting help from both OUAZ and Benedictine – Mesa. Nine total teams are set to participate in the tournament, with ACU facing four – Taylor University (Ind.), which is receiving votes, College of Idaho, Panhandle State University (Okla.), and Midland University (Neb.).
Despite several changes having already been made to the 2021 schedule, and with the schedule being subject to change, Coach Mac and his coaching staff have established what looks to be a very competitive schedule following the Coach Calderone Invitational.
The Firestorm face perennial baseball powerhouse and No.24-ranked Lewis-Clark State, Bethesda University of California, and Louisiana State University – Alexandria for their non-conference schedule, and will face OUAZ and The Master’s only for GSAC competition. To view the full 2021 ACU baseball schedule, CLICK HERE.
