WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield (6-6, 0-0 WAC)
Bakersfield went 0-3 in a three-gamer series against UC Riverside ... the ‘Runners dropped the three games by scores of 9-6, 4-3 and 7-6 ... centerfielder Jordie Hein hit .455 with a .571 on-base percentage and a .455 slugging percentage during the UC Riverside series March 1-2 ... freshman Max Carter hit a three-run home run as a pinch hitter in the 9-6 loss to UC Riverside March 1 ... Carter then pitched two scoreless innings against the Highlanders in game one of the Mar. 2 doubleheader ... Carter completed the series by making his first start in the field at second base and was 1-of-5 with an RBI to complete the Sunday doubleheader ... Bakersfield rebounded to defeat Cal State Northridge 3-1 on Tuesday ... Bakersfield continues play this week at Portland for a three-game series starting on March 7.
Chicago State (4-6, 0-0 WAC)
Chicago State went 3-1 last week at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. ... the team opened play at the Classic with a 5-4 win over St. Bonaventure ... the Cougars then split a pair of games against Omaha, winning 2-1 and falling 13-10 ... Chicago State then closed out the Classic with an 8-1 win over Lehigh ... Julian Russell hit .417 with five hits, five runs, a double and an RBI ... he was also hit by a pitch three times ... Sanford Hunt hit .400 with six hits, three runs scored, one double, one triple and a walk ... Evan Davis also batted .400 with six hits, four runs scored, a double, five walks and five RBI ... Andrew Wellwerts pitched 6.1 innings in a victory, striking out five ... Chicago State continues play this week at home against UIC on Wednesday.
Grand Canyon (4-7, 0-0 WAC)
Grand Canyon went 0-3 last week at the Bourland-Ardoin Classic hosted by Abilene Christian ... the ‘Lopes were originally scheduled to play a three-game series against the Wildcats, but Kansas State and Missouri State joined the two after weather in the Midwest cancelled their scheduled series ... Grand Canyon dropped two games to Kansas State and lost in 10 innings to Abilene Christian ... their game against Missouri State on March 2 was cancelled due to weather in Abilene ... Humberto Aranda connected for his first homer with the ‘Lopes on Feb. 28 versus Kansas State ... Ethan Evanko tossed a career-high-tying 6.0 innings on March 1 versus Abilene Christian, his second straight outing at that number ... Grand Canyon now returns home for a three-game series against Nebraska-Omaha beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Brazell Stadium.
New Mexico State (7-5, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State went 1-3 in a four-game series against Oakland ... the Aggies dropped the first three games by scores of 8-3, 4-11 and 7-3 ... the Aggies won the series finale 17-2 in seven innings ... Kent Blackstone led the Aggies this past weekend against Oakland ... he hit .538 overall with seven hits on 13 at bats, including five runs scored, five RBI, a double and his first home run of the season ... Blackstone earned WAC Hitter of the Week honors for his efforts ... Kyle Kilgore earned his first win of the season this past weekend in a 17-2 win ... Kilgore pitched five complete innings, allowing two runs, only one of them earned. He gave up five hits, while striking out four Oakland batters ... the Aggies will hit the road for the first time in 2014 this weekend, when they travel to Lubbock, Texas the face Texas Tech, March 6-9 ... the Aggies are hitting .291 as a team with 10 homeruns.
North Dakota (0-4, 0-0 WAC)
North Dakota went 0-4 at Central Arkansas this past week, falling twice to host UCA and twice to Illinois State ... junior Jeff Campbell whacked his first homer of the season Friday ... Zach Muckenhirn made his collegiate debut, firing 6.1 innings of four-hit ball without an earned run in a no decision Saturday ... the North Dakota bullpen combined to throw 11 innings, allowing just two earned runs (1.63 ERA) with 11 hits ... Taylor Petersen had three hits, all doubles ... North Dakota travels to Saint Louis next weekend for a four-game set that starts on Friday.
Northern Colorado (2-10, 0-0 WAC)
Northern Colorado went 0-4 in a four-gamer series at New Mexico last week ... the team dropped the four games by scores of 5-2, 17-1, 12-3 and 8-1 ... Colby Harrison hit .333 with three hits, one run scored and a pair of doubles ... Brett Stone also hit .333 with three hits, a walk and a stolen base ... Nick Miller and Andrew Coffman each led the team with two RBI over the four games ... Joe Ekman led the team with two runs scored ... Ross Johnson pitched two innings of scoreless baseball as he gave up only one hit in the process ... the Bears continue play at home against North Dakota State ... the team will play four games against NDSU.
Sacramento State (6-6, 0-0 WAC)
Sacramento State went 2-2 last week ... the team defeated Nevada 7-4 at home before falling to San Francisco 9-1 at home ... the Hornets then split a pair of games at San Francisco, winning 6-2 before taking a 9-5 setback ... at 6-6, Sacramento State does not have a winning or losing streak longer than two games ... the Hornets are 2-0 in midweek games with wins over Fresno State and Nevada ... arainout on Friday pushed that game to Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday against San Francisco ... junior Rhys Hoskins returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained ankle and went 1-for-3 on Saturday and 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs on Sunday ... Sacramento State hit three home runs last week after not hitting one through the first eight games of the season ... the Hornets continue play this week against Fresno State on Wednesday and then play at UC Riverside for on Friday and Saturday.
Seattle U (5-8, 0-0 WAC)
Seattle U was swept in a three-game series against BYU at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George, Utah ... after a four-hour delay in the start time of Thursday’s series opener, the Redhawks fell behind 4-0 after two innings and could not recover, losing 7-3 ... Brian Olson and Cash McGuire each went 2-for-4 to lead the team offensively, while Skyler Genger struck out the side in the eighth inning ... Friday, the teams agreed to play a doubleheader due to a forecast of rain for Saturday ... in the first game, BYU scored twice in the second inning and six times in the third inning on its way to an 8-2 victory ... Chase Fields and Brock Carpenter each collected two hits for Seattle U ... the Cougars jumped ahead in the third game, 3-0, before Seattle U came back with two runs in the sixth ... however, Seattle U left 11 men stranded on base, including the bases loaded in the seventh inning, as BYU held on for a 4-2 victory ... SU also fell 10-2 and 4-3 at Oregon on Tuesday.
Texas-Pan American (6-6, 0-0 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 1-3 last week ... the team dropped a 2-1 decision at Texas to open the week ... the Broncs then dropped two of three games at Lamar ... UTPA won the series opener at Lamar 4-1 before dropping the next two games by scores of 5-3 and 7-0 ... the Broncs took a 1-0 lead against Texas into the ninth inning before falling 2-1 ... Sam Street pitched his second-straight complete game victory in a 4-1 win over Lamar ... Street scattered eight hits and one walk while striking out nine ... he earned WAC Pitcher of the Week honors for his efforts for a second consecutive week ... Dillon Engelhart posted his first-career three-hit game on Saturday, going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored ... Engelhart went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Friday’s 4-1 win ... UTPA continues play this weekat UTSA on Wednesday ... the team then hosts Arlington Baptist for three games, Fri.-Sun.
Utah Valley (3-9, 0-0 WAC)
After losing the first three games of a series at Pacific, Utah Valley won the finale on Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader ... Mark Krueger hit a sixth-inning home run to break a 1-1 tie in the scheduled seventh-inning finale ... the Wolverines broke it open with a six-run seventh, which included a two-run single by Riley White ... Spencer Gothberg led off the inning with an infield single and later scored the first run ... he then drove in the final run of the inning on another infield single, scoring White ... UVU travels to California, again, for a three-game series at Long Beach State beginning Friday before a single game on Monday at Cal State Northridge ... the Wolverines are playing their first four weekends of the season in California, three times in Southern California.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S BLACKSTONE NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State infielder Kent Blackstone has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter and for February 24-March 2.
Blackstone, a sophomore from Vienna, Va. (George C. Marshall HS), hit .538 (7-for-13) on the week with five runs, five RBI, one double, one home run and three walks. Blackstone stood out in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader as he went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored. He doubled and had a home run in the game. He was also impressive in game two of Saturday’s twin bill, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with one run and a hit-by-pitch.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Chicago State junior infielder Chase Matheson … Grand Canyon junior infielder Chad De La Guerra … Sacramento State freshman Ryan Lock … Texas-Pan American senior infielder Dillon Engelhart … Utah Valley first baseman Mark Krueger.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN’S STREET NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Texas-Pan American right-hander Sam Street has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for February 24-March 2.
Street, a senior from Melbourne, Australia (St. Leonard’s College), pitched his way to a 9.0 inning complete game 4-1 victory on the road against Lamar. Street tallied nine strikeouts in the game and allowed only one run and one walk. Of the 139 pitches he threw, 102 were strikes (73.4 percent). The game marked his 10th career complete game and second complete game of the season.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Chicago State junior Andrew Wellwerts … Grand Canyon freshman Ethan Evanko … New Mexico State senior Kyle Kilgore … North Dakota freshman Zach Muckenhirn … Sacramento State junior Alex Palsha … Utah Valley senior Devin Nelson.
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.