WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield (10-12, 3-3 WAC)
Bakersfield went 2-1 in a three-game series at home against North Dakota ... the ‘Runners won game won 4-1 and game two 8-6 ... CSUB dropped the finale 6-3 to UND ... Max Carter led Bakersfield to a 3-1 week … Carter went 2-for-4 with a run scored against Cal State Northridge and allowed one hit over the final three innings against the Matadors to earn the save … in the series opener against North Dakota, Carter was 2-for-4 with an RBI and he pitched the final inning of the 4-1 victory against UND … the middle game of the series saw Carter go 4-for-6 with four RBI’s and two runs scored … in the series final, Carter was 1-for-4 … Taylor Aikenhead stuck out a career high 10 as he led the ‘Runners to a 4-1 WAC victory over North Dakota Mar. 21 … Aikenhead did not allow a run in eight innings of work, scattering five hits … he walked just four batters … he has not given up an earned run in his last 17 innings.
Chicago State (9-10, 0-0 WAC)
Chicago State went 3-3 last week ... the team dropped a 7-1 decision to Valparaiso to open the week before knocking off UIC 14-12 in game two of the week ... the Cougars then defeated Holy Cross 7-5 ... the team then went 1-2 in a three-game series at home against South Dakota State ... the Cougars won the opener 2-1 before dropping the next two games by scores of 2-1 and 10-6 ... CSU’s Jerry Silva was impressive on the mound last week ... he pitched in all five games, picking up a win and a save ... he did not give up a single earned run, compiled four strikeouts and walked just one batter in 8.2 innings of work ... the Cougars play first ever WAC contests this week at Grand Canyon after Chicago State’s first WAC series with Seattle U was canceled due to snow ... CSU enters this weekend’s series with GCU holding nine wins, one short of the 10 they recorded all of last year.
Grand Canyon (11-11, 2-1 WAC)
The Antelopes won two of their four games over the last week, defeating 2012 College World Series Champion Arizona, 3-1, on March 18 before dropping two of three games at UC Irvine over the weekend ... Ethan Evanko did not factor into the win over the Wildcats, but tossed 6.0 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits with 4 strikeouts ... Scott Serigstad recorded his first-career win in the game, while Jorge Perez picked up his first save of the season…after being shutout in back-to-back games at Irvine, GCU’s offense exploded for 13 hits and 9 runs in the series finale as Coley Bruns improved to 4-0 on the season with his second straight complete game victory ... Michael Pomeroy went 5-for-13 (.385) with a run and 2 RBI over the week ... the ‘Lopes welcome Chicago State to Brazell Stadium for their first home conference series of the season and first since also competing as members of the WAC from 1995-98.
New Mexico State (10-13, 2-1 WAC)
New Mexico State went 2-1 in a three-game series at Texas-Pan American last week ... the Aggies dropped a 9-4 decision in the series opener before winning the next two games by scores of 7-4 and 3-2 ... Michael Medina led the Aggies to two wins in WAC play this weekend over UTPA ... he had a team leading four hits, batting .400 on the weekend ...he also recorded a double, a triple and three RBI. Medina struck out just twice and stole a base ... Riley Barr saw action in two games this past weekend, helping the Aggies to a pair of wins ... in four innings of work over the weekend, Barr allowed no hits and an unearned run, while striking out one batter ... in the series finale, Barr faced 10 batters, not allow a single hit ... the Aggies take on I-25 rival New Mexico, Tuesday, March 25 at 3 p.m., than host their first WAC series of the season March 28-30, as Sacramento State comes to town.
North Dakota (3-12, 3-3 WAC)
North Dakota went 1-2 at Bakersfield to even its conference record at 3-3 for the season ... junior Jeff Campbell picked up his second straight complete-game win, going the distance allowing three runs in Sunday’s win ... in non-conference action, Campbell hammered a pair of homers in a Wednesday game at UNLV to give him a team-leading three on the year ... senior Taylor Petersen collected three more doubles this week to give him eight for the season, easily the most on the club ... junior Ryan Reese continues his hot hitting, now batting a team-best .373 through 15 games ... North Dakota hosts Northern colorado in a three-game WAC series this week ... the series opener will begin Friday at 1 p.m.
Northern Colorado (5-19, 0-3 WAC)
Northern Colorado went 0-3 last week in a three-game series at Sacramento State ... the Bears dropped the three games by scores of 9-2, 16-1 and 3-1 ... Nick Miller led the Bears at the plate during the series, batting .600 with six hits, two runs scored, two doubles, an RBI and a walk ... Brandon Vaughn hit .455 at the plate over the three games with five hits, two doubles and an RBI ... Chris Hammer had an impressive outing on the mound for the Bears, working 8.0 innings while giving up only three runs ... he tallied an impressive nine strikeouts and only walked three ... Northern Colorado returns to WAC play this week as the team travels to play North Dakota in a three-game series.
Sacramento State (12-11, 3-0 WAC)
Sacramento State outscored Northern Colorado 28-4 in its 3-game sweep ... the Hornets hit .396 over the series with four home runs and 28 runs scored with a .491 on-base percentage ... the Hornet pitchers had a 1.44 ERA in the series with a .207 opponent batting average while allowing just four runs ... the team allowed just six total runs over four games during the week ... David Del Grande made just four outs in 18 at-bats during the week with a .778 on-base percentage hitting second in the Hornet lineup to help the team go 4-0 ... he had a slugging percentage of .909 and hit .750 with an .857 OBP in three games against Northern Colorado ... Alex Pasha pitched in three games and earned wins over Pacific and Northern Colorado without allowing a run ... this week Sacramento State concludes a season-long 9-game home stand with two midweek contests vs Air Force before traveling to New Mexico State.
Seattle U (7-11, 0-0 WAC)
Seattle U enjoyed a rare complete week off, as the Redhawks took winter quarter finals during the week before having a conference weekend off ... in fact, the Redhawks will have 13 days between games due to the March 14-16 series scheduled at Chicago State being postponed due to accumulation of snow ... Landon Cray leads the team and is third in the conference as of March 22 in batting average at .351, while Brian Olson is tied for third in the WAC with 16 runs batted in ... on the mound, Grant Gunning leads the WAC with a 0.50 earned run average, with Connor Moore sixth at 2.73 ... Mac Acker is tied for seventh in the conference with 26 strikeouts so far this season ... Seattle U returns to action with midweek games at Oregon State March 25 and at Portland March 26, followed by a three-game WAC series against Texas-Pan American March 28-30.
Texas-Pan American (10-13, 0-0 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 1-4 last week ... the Broncs opened the week with a pair of losses in a double-header at Texas A&M Corpus Christi ... the team then opened its three-game series at home against New Mexico State wieh a 9-4 win in the series opener ... the team then dropped the next two games to the Aggies by scores of 7-4 and 3-2 ... Alex How hit .467 on the week, collecting seven hits, three runs, four doubles, eight RBI, four walks and a stolen base ... Sam Street was impressive on the mound, pitching a complete game victory ... Street retired 18 of the first 21 batters he faced ... he threw a career-high 151 pitches, 99 of which were strikes ... Street is now 6-0, the second best mark in the nation ... this week, UTPA travels to play TCU on Tuesday and Wednesday ... the team then travels to play Seattle U in a three-game WAC series.
Utah Valley (7-16, 1-2 WAC)
After dropping a midweek game at Utah on Tuesday, Utah Valley took two of three at Dallas Baptist over the weekend ... the Wolverines won the opener, 10-5, jumping out early and then warding off a Patriot comeback in the latter innings ... in Saturday’s second game, UVU trailed 3-1 in the ninth but rallied for five runs to come back and win 6-3 ... DBU won Sunday’s finale 4-1 ... sophomore Craig Brinkerhoff hit .429 during the week including .500 (5-for-10) in the series win at former WAC baseball school Dallas Baptist ... it was the first series win for Utah Valley so far this season ... this week, Utah Valley plays at UNLV on Tuesday night before returning home to host Bakersfield in a three-game series that begins on Friday.
WAC NOTES
SACRAMENTO STATE’S DEL GRANDE NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Sacramento State center fielder David Del Grande has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for March 17-23.
Del Grande, a senior from Eureka, Calif. (St. Bernard’s HS), hit .636 (7-for-11) on the week with six runs, three RBI, two stolen bases, five walks and a home run to lead the Hornets to a perfect 4-0 record last week. Del Grande made just four outs in 18 at-bats during the week and registered a .778 on-base percentage. He had a slugging percentage of .909 and hit .750 in three WAC games against Northern Colorado.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Bakersfield freshman second baseman Max Carter … Grand Canyon senior infielder Michael Pomeroy … New Mexico State senior outfielder Michael Medina … North Dakota junior outfielder Dalton Leuschke … Northern Colorado senior infielder Nick Miller … Texas-Pan American senior right fielder Alex Howe … Utah Valley sophomore outfielder Craig Brinkerhoff.
BAKERSFIELD’S AIKENHEAD NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Bakersfield left-hander Taylor Aikenhead has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for March 17-23.
Aikenhead, a senior from Lancaster, Calif. (Bakersfield College), struck out a career-high 10 as he led the ‘Runners to a 4-1 WAC victory over North Dakota. He did not allow a run in eight innings of work, scattering five hits. He has not given up an earned run in his last 17 innings.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Chicago State junior Jerry Silva … Grand Canyon junior Coley Bruns … New Mexico State junior Riley Barr … North Dakota junior Jeff Campbell … Northern Colorado senior Chris Hammer … Sacramento State junior Alex Palsha … Texas-Pan American senior Sam Street … Utah Valley senior Andrew Freter.
WAC TOURNAMENT HEADS TO MESA, ARIZONA’S CUBS PARK
The WAC has awarded Mesa, Ariz. the WAC Baseball Tournament for the 2014 season. The event will be played at the Chicago Cubs new Spring Training complex in Mesa. Visit Mesa, the destination marketing organization for the city, worked to secure the event which will feature the WAC’s top six baseball teams in May. In May of 2014, the City of Mesa will host the double-elimination tournament with the winner earning the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The top six teams from the WAC’s regular season standings will advance to the tournament.The WAC Baseball Tournament is no stranger to the state of Arizona and the City of Mesa. The league’s championship has been played in Arizona 12 times (1963, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 2010, 11, 12) and the event was held in Mesa in 1971, 1973, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The $99 million new winter home of the Chicago Cubs is major league baseball’s newest stat-of-the-art spring training venue. The stadium will feature a 15,000 seat ballpark reminiscent of historic Wrigley Field; a state-of-the-art team clubhouse facility; a cluster of top-notch baseball practice fields; pristine youth soccer fields and a sparkling public lake that will boast an exciting new design.