A native of Beaumont, Texas, Ault was a varsity baseball star at Texas Tech. He was signed by the Rangers in 1976 as an amateur free agent and played nine games in his first season. Ault joined the new Blue Jays franchise through the 1976 expansion draft. On April 7, 1977, in front of 44,649 Opening Day spectators at Exhibition Stadium, Ault delivered Toronto's first homer with a first-inning blow off Chicago White Sox left-hander Ken Brett. Ault homered again in the third inning, this time was a two-run shot that tied the score at 4-4 in a game the Blue Jays went on to win, 9-5.