WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield (16-22, 8-7 WAC)
Bakersfield went 1-3 last week ... the ‘Runners fell 9-1 at home to third-ranked Cal Poly before dropping two of three WAC games at Texas-Pan American ... CSUB dropped the opener at UTPA 2-1, won game two 3-2 and fell 5-1 in the finale ... junior catcher Ross Hough hit .400 in three appearances last week ... Hough posted a .455 on-base percentage and did not committ an error in 21 chances during the week ... James Barragan picked up the win in 5.2 innings of relief at UTPA Saturday ... Barrgan struck out six during his stint ... Bakersfield played its highest ranked opponent in school history Apr. 15 when the ‘Runners lost 9-1 to then No. 3 Cal Poly ... this week, Bakersfield opened the week with a 5-2 win at Kansas State ... CSUB continues play at Kansas State on Tuesday before hosting Sacramento State for a three-game WAC series that begins on Friday.
Chicago State (12-24, 2-10 WAC)
Chicago State went 2-3 last week ... the Cougars dropped a pair of games at home to Northwestern by scores of 6-1 and 4-2 ... the team then won two of three games at home against league foe North Dakota ... Sanford Hunt Went 7-for-12 vs. North Dakota, hitting .438 with three runs, two doubles, one triple and five RBI ... he had game tying RBI in the ninth on Saturday vs. North Dakota ... starting pitcher Eric Hall now has three wins this year after picking up a win last week ... he had three total wins over his first two years ... Chicago State’s series win over North Dakota was the Cougars’ first series win at new Cougar Stadium ... the Cougars committed just three errors in five games last week ... the Cougars host Wabash on Tuesday before hosting Texas-Pan American for a three-game WAC series.
Grand Canyon (21-17, 10-5 WAC)
The Antelopes went 3-2 on the week, which included a midweek victory at Big 12 Conference member Kansas on April 15 and getting their fourth WAC series sweep after taking two of three at Northern Colorado ... Malcolm Purdy had two solid outings for the Lopes, getting the win at Kansas and securing his first save of the season in the series clinching win over Northern Colorado on April 20 ... Ethan Evanko pitched 6.0 solid innings in that win on April 20, the seventh time this season he has allowed two or fewer runs when tossing at least 6.0 innings ... Chad De La Guerra led the offensive effort over the week, hitting .571 (12-for-21) with four doubles, two triples, a home run, seven RBI, and eight runs scored ... Jon Kealoha had a great series at UNC, hitting .444 (4-for-9) with six runs scored and three RBI ... GCU will welcomes New Mexico State to Brazell Stadium for a three-game WAC series beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
New Mexico State (16-20, 7-5 WAC)
New Mexico State went 3-1 last week ... the Aggies took three of four games from Seattle U at home ... NM State won the opener of the series 7-4 before dropping game two 9-3 ... NMSU then won the final two games by scores of 6-5 and 5-3 ... senior outfielder Michael Medina started in four games against Seattle U last week hitting .462 (6-of-13) ... Medina reached base a total of 12 times as he also picked up five walks and was hit once while scoring six runs and posting three RBI ... sophomore Zach Freeman made two appearances against SU last week and picked up a win ... he finished the week working 3.2 innings, striking out two batters while allowing only two walks, three hits and no runs ... NM State plays a three-game WAC series at Grand Canyon this week.
North Dakota (7-18, 7-5 WAC)
North Dakota dropped a 10-9 non-conference decision at South Dakota State before losing two of three at Chicago State ... it was the first time CSU won a series against UND in the five-year history between the schools ... Zach Muckenhirn had a no-hitter through four innings and took a one-hitter into the ninth Saturday at CSU, going 9.1 innings, allowing five hits with just one run and four strikeouts ... he lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.95 ... Taylor Petersen hit his first homer of the season and drove in a season-high four at SDSU Tuesday ... Petersen has now reached base in 12 straight games ... UND will finally play its first game in its home park this week beginning Friday in the opener of a three-game set with Seattle U, the start of eight games at Kraft Memorial Field still left on the docket.
Northern Colorado (6-33, 1-14 WAC)
Northern Colorado went 1-2 last week in a three-game series at home against Grand Canyon ... the Bears won the series opener 8-6 before dropping the final two games by scores of 12-5 and 14-3 ... senior right-hander Chris Hammer pitched a complete game Friday against GCU, leading his team to an 8-6 win and snapping an 18-game losing streak ... Hammer scattered 10 hits and allowed six runs, but only three were earned and he added eight strikeouts and no walks ... Brandon Vaughn hit .667 at the plate with four hits, one double, two RBI and was hit by a pitch ... Rob Cashel also hit .667 with two hits ... the Bears play at Air Force on Tuesday ... the team then travels to play Utah Valley in a three-game WAC series.
Sacramento State (25-15, 12-3 WAC)
Hornet pitching did not allow an extra base hit in the series against Utah Valley (19 singles) and in four games last week allowed just one extra-base hits ... the Hornets crushed rival UC Davis 15-7 on Tuesday, recorded shutout wins over Utah Valley on Thursday and Friday, and took a 6-0 loss to UVU in the series finale ... sophomore leadoff hitter Nathan Lukes is on a WAC-best 20 game winning streak as of Tuesday …the Hornets defeated third-ranked Oregon State on Monday and continue play at home against the Beavers on Tuesday ... OSU is the highest-ranked opponent for the Hornets since 2008 ... Sacramento State already has three wins this season over ranked teams ... the Hornets continue play against OSU on Tuesday before traveling to play Bakersfield in a three-game series on Friday.
Seattle U (17-18, 7-5 WAC)
Seattle U extended its winning streak to five games with a 9-4 victory over Portland last Tuesday, winning the season series over its Pacific Northwest rival, 3-2 ... it was also the second five-game winning streak put together by the Redhawks this season ... Seattle U banged out 15 hits in the victory ... SU then saw its winning streak snapped Thursday with a 7-4 loss to New Mexico State ... Friday, Seattle U broke away in the first game of a doubleheader with four runs in the fifth inning, going on to a 9-3 victory ... Will Dennis and Andrew Olson combined to keep the Aggie offense at bay, while five different Redhawks collected two hits apiece ... in the nightcap, SU fell behind 6-0 and couldn’t recover, falling to the Aggies 6-5 ... in a non-conference game Saturday, Seattle U lost to New Mexico State, 5-3 ... Brian Olson had 11 hits and drove in eight runs during the week, while Griffin Andreychuk scored nine times thanks to a .600 on-base percentage. Seattle U hosts Washington Tuesday before heading to North Dakota.
Texas-Pan American (17-24, 7-8 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 2-1 in a three-game series at home against Bakersfield ... the Broncs took game one 2-1, dropped game two 3-2 and won the finale 5-1 ... Alex Howe led the Broncs at the plate during the series, batting .300 with three hits, three runs, one double, and two walks ... Howe is riding a 14-game hitting streak, during which time he’s 20-for-58 (.345) with six doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored ... he has also his safely in 24 of his last 26 games ... Sam Street took the win on the mound in the first game of the series ... Street now has an NCAA-leading seven complete games thi season ... he is a perfect 9-0, which also ties him for the NCAA lead ... he retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced in his win ... UTPA plays at Texas on Tuesday and then travels to play a three-game WAC series at Chicago State.
Utah Valley (15-22, 8-7 WAC)
Danny Beddes notched his first career shutout and Utah Valley’s first since the 2012 season in a 6-0 win over Sacramento State on Sunday, avoiding a sweep at the hands of the league-leading Hornets ... Beddes allowed just four hits, all singles, in his performance and did not give up a hit over the final five innings in his 130-pitch outing ... after being shut out in the first two games of the series, Utah Valley put up five runs in the third to take early control of the game ... the Wolverines scored the five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter while also benefitting from two Sac State errors ... Jordy Hart finished 3-for-5 for UVU in the win.
WAC NOTES
GRAND CANYON’S DE LA GUERRA NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon second baseman Chad De La Guerra has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter for April 14-20.
De La Guerra, a junior from Santa Maria, Calif. (Pioneer Valley HS), hit .571 (12-for-21), to lead Grand Canyon to a 3-2 record last week. He scored eight runs, including a career-best four runs in GCU’s 12-5 win over at Northern Colorado on Saturday. He was just a single short of the cycle in that game, getting a triple, home run, and a double in that order. De La Guerra had four doubles, two triples and a home run while also recording seven RBI in five games. He had back-to-back multi-hit games in the two contests at Kansas, going 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI in the win at Kansas on Tuesday, and followed that with a 2-for-4 performance in the following game against the Jayhawks. In the two games at Kansas, De La Guerra boasted a .875 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base percentage. In the three games at Northern Colorado, his slugging percentage was an impressive 1.077, while he reached base with a .600 clip.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Chicago State freshman infielder Sanford Hunt ... New Mexico State senior outfielder Michael Medina … North Dakota senior designated hitter Zach Trygstad … Sacramento State junior left fielder Kyle Moses … Seattle U junior catcher Brian Olson … Texas-Pan American senior right fielder Alex Howe.
UTAH VALLEY’S GEDDES NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley right-hander Danny Beddes has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for April 14-20.
Beddes, a sophomore from American Fork, Utah (American Fork HS), recorded his first career complete-game 9.0 inning shutout in a 6-0 win at Sacramento State on Sunday. The performance by Beddes marks the first shutout for Utah Valley since May 12, 2012. Beddes allowed just four singles and kept league leader Sacramento State without a hit over the final five innings of the game. He gave up only two hits in the first inning and just two infield singles the rest of the way.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Chicago State junior Ean McNeal … Grand Canyon senior Malcolm Purdy … New Mexico State sophomore Zach Freeman … North Dakota freshman Zach Muckenhirn … Northern Colorado Senior Chris Hammer ... Sacramento State freshman Sam Long … Seattle U sophomore Skyler Genger … Texas-Pan American senior Sam.
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.