WAC NOTES
DALLAS BAPTIST’S MCALPINE AND UTSA’S SIMS NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Dallas Baptist third baseman Duncan McAlpine and UTSA right-hander Matt Sims have been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 13-19.
McAlpine, a senior from North Richland Hills, Texas (Birdville HS), led the Patriots to a 2-2 record last week, highlighted by a win at 18th-ranked Oklahoma. McAlpine hit .550 (11-for-20) with 11 RBI, seven runs, four home runs, three doubles and two walks. He set and then re-set the all-time DBU record for career home runs with four last week, raising his career total to 48. The senior registered 26 total bases and recorded a slugging percentage of 1.300 and an on-base percentage of .591.
Sims, a junior from Cypress, Texas (Cy-Fair HS), picked up two saves in his two appearances last week. He struck out four of the seven hitters he faced, earning his seventh save of the year on Thursday at Louisiana Tech. He entered Thursday’s game with bases loaded and struck out the potential tying run on four pitches to secure the shutout. Two days later, Sims picked up his eighth save after hurling the final two frames of the game. He entered the contest with a runner on first and no outs in the eighth. He picked off a runner at first and then proceeded to strike out the following batter and induce a groundout to end the panel. In the ninth, he gave up a leadoff single and then retired the next three, including two on strikeouts to clinch the series sweep for the Roadrunners. For the week, Sims allowed only one hit and limited opposing batters to a .143 batting average. He now has not allowed a run in 10 of his last 13 appearances.
The other hitter of the week nominations: New Mexico State senior Bobby Lecount ... Texas State sophomore Garrett Mattlage ... UT Arlington junior Matt Shortall ... UTSA sophomore Horacio Correa.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: CSU Bakersfield senior Scott Brattvet ... Seattle U sophomore Kyle Doyle ... Texas State junior Kyle Finnegan.
WAC TO LIVE STREAM BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
The WAC has announced it will stream the 2013 WAC Baseball Tournament live from Grand Prairie, Texas. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WACsports.tv. The tournament will be held May 22-26 at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. The top eight teams qualify for the tournament and will feature pool play with the top two teams advancing to play one title game on Sunday, May 26. All teams will play three games in this format and each team will have a day off during one of the first four days. Games will begin at 11:00 a.m. (CT), 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day with the championship game starting at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Every game of the tournament can be viewed for a single subscription price of $12.95. More information and how to subscribe to any of these video streaming events can be found at www.WACsports.tv.
POSTSEASON AWARDS AND ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED
The Western Athletic Conference released its 2013 all-WAC baseball teams and postseason awards as selected by the league’s head coaches. The awards were handed out at the league’s pre-tournament banquet on May 21 in Grand Prairie, Texas. Below are this year’s honorees.
Player of the Year: Tyler Shryock, Jr., CSU Bakersfield
Pitcher of the Year: Jeff McKenzie, Sr., CSU Bakersield
Freshman of the Year: Chris Lewis, Fr., DH, Sacramento State
Coach of the Year: Bill Kernen, CSU Bakersfield
FIRST TEAM ALL-WAC
Tyler Shryock, Jr., INF, CSU Bakersfield
Robert Lecount, Sr., INF, New Mexico State
Oscar Sanay, Jr., INF, CSU Bakersfield
Duncan McAlpine, Sr., INF, Dallas Baptist
RJ Perucki, Jr., INF, UTSA
Nate Roberts, Sr., INF, Seattle U
Tanner Rust, Jr., INF, New Mexico State
Cody Lovejoy, So., OF, Texas State
Cael Brockmeyer, Jr., C, CSU Bakersfield
Michael Miller, Jr., C, Dallas Baptist
Chris Lewis, Fr., DH, Sacramento State
Matt Shortall, Jr., DH, UT Arlington
Scott Brattvet, Sr., P, CSU Bakersfield
Brennan Leitao, So., P, Sacramento State
Phil Maton, So., P, Louisiana Tech
Jeff McKenzie, Sr., P, CSU Bakersfield
Sutter McLoughlin, Fr., P, Sacramento State
Michael Smith, Sr., P, Dallas Baptist
SECOND TEAM ALL-WAC
Mylz Jones, Fr., INF, CSU Bakersfield
Andrew Ayers, Sr., INF, Sacramento State
Garrett Mattlage, So., INF, Texas State
Matt Carroll, Jr., INF, San Jose State
Austin Listi, Fr., INF, Dallas Baptist
Ronnie Mitchell, Sr., OF, Dallas Baptist
Michael Medina, Jr., OF, New Mexico State
Kevin Sah, Sr., OF, Texas State
Andre Mercurio, So., OF, San Jose State
Daniel Rockett, Sr., OF, UTSA
Riley Good, Jr., OF, UTSA
Greg McCall, Jr., C, UT Arlington
Brock Hartson, Fr., P, UTSA
Kyle Hassna, Sr., P, San Jose State
Lucas Humpal, Fr., P, Texas State
Hunter Lemke, Jr., P, Texas State
Evan Mott, Sr., P, New Mexico State
Brad Vachon, Jr., P, UT Arlington
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
CSU Bakersfield (35-21, 18-9 WAC)
CSU Bakersfield wrapped up regular season play by going 1-3 last week ... the team opened the week with a 10-4 setback at Cal Poly ... the team then dropped two of three contests at San Jose State ... CSUB dropped game one 2-1, picked up a 14-6 win in game two, and then dropped the series finale 8-5 ... despite the two losses last week, CSUB did win a share of the WAC’s regular season title and takes the No. 1 seed into this week’s WAC Tournament ... Tyler Shryock advanced to the newest Wallace Watch List ... the award, emblematic of the top shortstop in Division I, is down to the final 14 ... Dylan Christensen advanced to the newest Olerud Award Watch List ... the award is emblematic of the top two-way player in Division I ... Taylor Aikenhead appeared in the first two games of the SJSU series, the 24th and 25th appearances of the year for the junior lefty, a new school record.
Dallas Baptist (28-28, 13-14 WAC)
Dallas Baptist went 2-2 last week ... the Patriots opened the week with a 6-4 win over nationally-ranked Oklahoma ... the team then dropped two of three games at Texas State to wrap up regular season play ... DBU dropped the first game of the series against Texas State 7-6 in 15 innings ... DBU then won game two, 12-5 ... the Patriots lost in the series finale, 12-8 ... Duncan McAlpine was named the WAC’s hitter of the week for his performance last week ... the senior third baseman set and re-set the all-time DBU record for career home runs by slugging four home runs on the week and raising his career total to 48. The senior also had three doubles and drove in 11 runs in the four games with a slugging percentage of 1.300 ... DBU takes the No. 7 seed into this week’s WAC Tournament ... the team will face UT Arlington on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT in the team’s first tournament game.
Louisiana Tech (19-37, 6-21 WAC)
Louisiana Tech wrapped up its season last week at home ... the team went 1-3 last week ... the Bulldogs opened the week with a 7-2 non-league win over Northwestern State ... the team then went 0-3 in a three-game series against UTSA ... Louisiana Tech wraps up its final year in the WAC with a 19-37 overall record and a 11-19 league mark to finish 10th ... Taylor Terrasas led the team at the plate during the season with a .292 average, compiling 59 hits, 25 runs, 16 doubles, 24 RBI and 15 walks ... Tyler Ervine led the team with 28 RBI on the year ... Phil Maton led the team on the hill, recording a 6-6 record with a 2.70 ERA ... Maton pitched 96.2 innings and registered 89 strikeouts ... Louisiana Tech heads to Conference USA next season.
New Mexico State (27-24, 12-12 WAC)
New Mexico State went 1-2 last week to wrap up regular season play for the 2013 season ... the Aggies dropped its first game of a three-game series at Seattle U by a acore of 15-2 ... NM State then picked up a 4-0 win in game two before dropping the finale, 7-6 ... Kyle Phillips led the Aggies at the plate over the three games, batting .400 with four hits, two runs and a walks ... Parker Hipp hit .333 with thre hits, one run, one home run, three RBI and a pair of walks ... Robert Lecount hit .200 with two hits, one run, one home run and one RBI ... Christopher Bradle pitched 6.1 innings without giving up a single run last week in a win over Seattle U ... Bradle also had six strikeouts and only gave up three hits ... NM State heads into WAC tournament play this week as the No. 6 seed ... the Aggies will take on third-ranked Texas State on Thursday in the team’s first tournament game.
Sacramento State (33-23, 14-13 WAC)
Sacramento State went 1-3 last week ... the Hornets opened the week with a 3-1 win at Pacific ... the team then got swept in a three-game series against UT Arlington at home ... the Hornets lost to UT Arlington by scores of 15-7, 3-2 and 6-5 ... Nathan Lukes led the Hornets at the plate, batting .333 with five hits, five runs, one double, one home run, four RBI and one hit by pitch ... Scotty Burcham hit .286 with four hits and two runs scored ... Andrew Ayers hit .267 with four hits, three runs, one double and an RBI ... Zach Morgan picked up the win on the mound, going 8.1 innings while giving up only one earned run ... Morgan also had a pair of strikeouts ... Sacramento State now heads to the WAC Tournament, where it reached the championship game last season.
San Jose State (17-38, 11-16 WAC)
San Jose State went 2-2 last week ... the Spartans took two of three games from CSU Bakersfield to clinch a spot in the upcoming WAC baseball tournament in Grand Prairie ... the Spartans opened the week with a 14-3 loss at San Francisco ... the team then defeated CSU Bakersfield 2-1 in game one of the series ... the Spartans dropped game two 14-6 before winning the series finale 8-5 ... Andre Mercurio led the Spartans at the plate over the four games, batting .429 with six hits, three runs, one double, one triple and two RBI ... Michael Gerlach hit .353 with six hits, four runs, two douubles and an RBI ... Sheldon Daquioag hit .333 with five hits, three runs and a pair of RBI ... Matt Carroll led SJSU with four RBI on the week ... Kyle Hassna worked 6.0 innings on the mound without giving up an earned run ... Hassna struck out six ... SJSU opens tournament against Bakersfield Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT.
Seattle U (19-32, 8-15 WAC)
Seattle University won its fourth WAC series of the season, taking two of three games from New Mexico State over the weekend ... thursday, the Redhawks scored two runs in the first and three runs in the second to take the early 5-0 lead ... Andrew Olson pitched five shutout innings, and then Seattle U erupted for 10 runs in the fifth inning, starting with a three-run home run from freshman Austen Brand, the first of his collegiate career ... the Redhawks would go on to earn a 15-2 run-rule victory. After collecting 16 hits Thursday, Seattle U was held to four hits Friday as New Mexico State posted a 4-0 shutout ... Saturday, the Redhawks fell behind 3-0 and 6-2, but two runs in the second closed the deficit ... Eric Yardley came on for his 11th save of the season as SU finished the regular season with a 7-6 victory ... SU finished a half-game behind SJSU for the eighth and final spot in the WAC Baseball Tournament.
UT Arlington (30-25, 18-9 WAC)
UT Arlington went 3-1 last week to wrap up regular season play ... the Mavs the UT Arlington Mavericks earned a share in the WAC at TCU before sweeping a three-game series at Sacramento State ... UTA defeated the Hornets in the three games by scores of 15-7, 3-2 and 6-5 ... the Mavericks earned a share in the WAC regular season title with CSUB, the first for head coach Darin Thomas ... it marks the third regular season crown in program history with the last coming in 1992 in the Southland ... the Mavs swept Sacramento State in their final conference series to earn the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament ... UT Arlington will face No. 7 Dallas Baptist Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, Texas to start their time in the WAC Tournament.
Texas State (27-28, 16-11 WAC)
Texas State took two of three from Dallas Baptist this past week to secure the third seed in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament ... after winning a 15-inning marathon, the Bobcats dropped Friday’s game, but bounced back Saturday to win 12-8 with a six-run rally in the sixth inning ... in the Thursday game, Texas State fell behind a run in the top of the 15th, but rebounded in the bottom of the inning to win it in walk-off fashion ... Garrett Mattlage scored two runs in three of four games this week, and one run in the fourth game ... hit above .500 in three of the four games played, including a 4-for-7 performance with a home run and a sacrifice bunt on Thursday ... had twice the amount of hits of anyone on the team, leading in hits, runs, total bases and assists on a 2-1 weekend against Dallas Baptist to secure the third seed.
UTSA (31-23, 15-11 WAC)
UTSA won three of its final four games of the regular season ... the Roadrunners started the week with a 4-3 loss at Baylor last Tuesday, but wrapped up the week with three consecutive wins at Louisiana Tech ... UTSA, which is 7-3 in its last 10 contests, swept its final two WAC series (New Mexico State and LA Tech) to wrap up the regular season ... the hot streak allowed the Birds to clinch the fourth seed in this week’s conference tournament ... UTSA also surpassed the 30-win mark for the first time since 2009 ... Jason Marshall became just the second head coach in program history to win 30 games in his first season as the Roadrunners’ skipper ... UTSA’s pitching staff was dominant in a sweep against Louisiana Tech ... the five pitchers allowed only one earned run (four runs total), limited the Bulldogs to a .193 batting average and posted a shutout in the series opener.