NORTHERN COLORADO’S VAUGHN NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Northern Colorado’s Brandon Vaughn has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for Mar. 16 - Mar. 22.
Vaughn, a senior infielder from Louisville, Colo., had an outstanding week for the Bears, picking up multi-hit games in all four wins. He went 8-for-18 on the week with 11 RBIs, five runs scored, three home runs and a double. His best game came in the WAC-opener with Chicago State, going 2-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored in a 9-8 win.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Grand Canyon’s Brandon Smith drove in eight RBIs on the week as the Lopes snapped a five-game losing streak with a sweep of North Dakota…Utah Valley’s Jake Atkinson hit the game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning of Friday’s game and the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of Saturday’s win…Seattle U’s Brock Carpenter helped Seattle U take two of three games from Utah Valley, going 5-for-10 with four runs scored…Sacramento State’s Scotty Burcham reached base in more than half of his at-bats, scoring in each game as the Hornets went 3-1 on the week…Texas-Pan American’s Logan Landon hit .400 on the week in series at top-ranked TCU and Sacramento State…North Dakota’s Tyler Follis was 7-for-13 from the plate as UND was swept by Grand Canyon in Phoenix.
GRAND CANYON’S BRUNS NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon’s Coley Bruns has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for Mar. 16 - Mar. 22.
Bruns, a senior right-hander from Phoenix, pitched a gem in a 13-3 win over North Dakota on Friday night. He struck out 11 while allowing just three runs on seven hits to earn his third win of the season. The 11 strikeouts represent a new career-high for the veteran.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Utah Valley’s Jackson Cofer allowed just one run over five innings in Saturday’s win at Seattle U…Seattle U’s Tarik Skubal pitched six shutout innings to earn his first collegiate win in Sunday’s 7-1 win over Utah Valley..Sacramento State’s Justin Dillon made a pair of appearances for the Hornets, allowing just seven hits, all singles, over nine innings pitched…Texas-Pan American’s Blake English threw his second-straight complete game in a pitchers dual at Sacramento State before taking the loss in a 4-2 decision…Northern Colorado’s Nick Tanner allowed just one unearned run over 7.1 innings against Regis and Chicago State.
BY THE NUMBERS
Grand Canyon continues to lead the WAC in batting, hitting at a .289 average. Sacramento State holds the top team ERA at 2.88 while the Hornets are also the top defensive team with a .979 fielding percentage.
Individually, Logan Landon of Texas-Pan American leads the conference with a .453 batting average. Sacramento State’s Brennan Leitao holds the top ERA at 1.85. Landon also leads the conference in hits with 33 while Grand Canyon’s Paul Panaccione holds the lead for runs scored with 24. GCU’s Brandon Smith is the conference leader in RBIs at 22. Three players are tied for the lead in doubles at seven while Sacramento State’s Scotty Burcham and Bakersfield’s Ryan Grotjohn lead the WAC in triples with four each. Seattle U’s Skyler Genger leads the conference in strikeouts with 49 in 40.1 innings pitched.
WIN, LOSE AND DRAW
The first WAC baseball series of the season resulted in a win, a loss and a tie for both Bakersfield and New Mexico State as the Roadrunners and Aggies earned the rare three-game series split with a 6-6 tie on March 15 due to Bakersfield travel plans. It was the first tie in WAC conference play since April 11, 2010 when Nevada and New Mexico State played to a 10-10 tie, also in Las Cruces. BYU and Hawai’i played to ties in WAC games in 1988 and 1990 for the only other ties in WAC play.
TRIPLE THE FUN
Texas-Pan American turned the first triple play of the season in the top of the third of the series finale with Arlington Baptist. New Mexico State turned a triple play in 2014 in a 2-0 loss at Arizona State for the last WAC defensive trifecta.
SACRAMENTO STATE FAVORITE TO WIN WAC TITLE IN 2015
After winning its first ever WAC regular season and tournament title in 2014, Sacramento State is the favorite to win the conference crown again, earning eight first place votes in a survey of the league’s 10 head coaches. Grand Canyon earned the two remaining first place votes and will enter 2015 as the favorite to take second in the league table.
Bakersfield, the 2014 preseason favorite, was selected third with 60 points. Seattle U earned the fourth place nod by a single point over Utah Valley while New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American tied for sixth in the preseason poll. Chicago State is predicted eighth, followed by North Dakota and Northern Colorado.
DE LA GUERRA, LEITAO HIGHLIGHT PRESEASON ALL-WAC HONORS
Grand Canyon second baseman Chad De La Guerra and Sacramento State pitcher Brennan Leitao were selected as 2015 Preseason All-WAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year respectively. In addition to the individual honor, both players were named to the 2015 Preseason All-WAC Team, as voted upon by the 10 WAC coaches.
Sacramento State led the way with five honorees as Nathan Lukes, Sam Long, Sutter McLoughlin and Scott Burcham joined Leitao. Grand Canyon had three Lopes selected with David Walker and Andrew Naderer joining De La Guerra. Bakersfield was represented by Soloman Williams and Mylz Jones and Seattle U earned recognition from Brian Olson and Landon Cray. New Mexico State’s Derek Umphres and Utah Valley’s Mark Krueger rounded out the 14-player team.
SACRAMENTO STATE’S LEITAO NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Sacramento State pitcher Brennan Leitao has been named to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Third Team, as selected by Collegiate Baseball. Leitao, the all-time leader in wins at Sacramento State with 24, is a two-time First Team All-WAC performer. Last season, he helped lead the Hornets to the NCAA Tournament, starting and clinching the WAC Tournament championship game against Utah Valley. In NCAA Regional play, he started against Arizona State and allowed just one run over seven innings in a 5-4 win over the Sun Devils. He ranked second in the WAC in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts and wins as a junior. In addition to his outstanding performance on the diamond, Leaitao is also a three-time Academic All-WAC honoree.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO HOHOKAM STADIUM
For the second straight season, the WAC Baseball Tournament will take place in a new Spring Training Complex in Mesa, Ariz. as the 2015 championship heads to the new Hohokam Stadium, preseason home of the Oakland Athletics. Improvements to Hohokam Stadium are immediately noticeable as the exterior and entrance gates has been painted and re-branded with the familiar Oakland Athletics green and gold color scheme. The stadium also features refurbished seating, a state-of-the art scoreboard and a new and expanded clubhouse. The bleachers along the left field and right field foul lines have been replaced with party decks. 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 13 times (1963, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 2010, 11, 12, 14) and the event was held in Mesa in 1971, 1973, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Sacramento State won the 2014 tournament, earning the WAC’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
It seems fitting at that WAC schools will face off against 2014 NCAA Baseball Tournament participants, not including WAC-participant Sacramento State, 64 times this season, including 14 games against College World Series teams.
WAC vs. College World Series Teams
Feb. 24 - Texas-Pan American at Texas
Feb. 26 - Sacramento State at Texas Tech
Feb. 27 - Sacramento State at Texas Tech
Feb. 28 - Sacramento State at Texas Tech
Mar. 1 - Sacramento State at Texas Tech
Mar. 10 - New Mexico State at Texas Tech
Mar. 11 - New Mexico State at Texas Tech
Mar. 17 - Texas-Pan American at TCU
Mar. 18 - Texas-Pan American at TCU
Mar. 20 - Bakersfield at UC Irvine
Mar. 21 - Bakersfield at UC Irvine
Mar. 22 - Bakersfield at UC Irvine
Apr. 28 - Grand Canyon at Texas Tech
Apr. 29 - Grand Canyon at Texas Tech
WAC vs. Super Regional Teams
Mar. 13 - Grand Canyon at Oklahoma State
Mar. 14 - Grand Canyon at Oklahoma State
Mar. 15 - Grand Canyon at Oklahoma State