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SEATTLE U'S ANDREYCHUK NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Griffin Andreychuk has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for March 7 through March 13. Andreychuk, a junior shortstop from Nanaimo, B.C., Canada (Dover Bay HS), played just two games on the week but he made them count, going 5-for-6 in a pair of wins over Minnesota. In the series opener, he was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. He followed that up with a 3-for-4 effort on Saturday night, hitting his second triple of the season and driving in two RBIs in a 5-4 win.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Christian Deaton hit .455 on the week, including 3-for-4 in Sunday's win against UC Riverside … Grand Canyon's Thomas Lerouge had a walkoff double against Cal Poly on Sunday to cap a 7-for-12 week at the plate … NM State's Joseph Koerper had four doubles and six RBIs on the week … North Dakota's Miles Lewis had a three-hit game and a four-hit game as the Fighting Hawks went 1-2 on the week … Northern Colorado's Dan Reese hit .375 with three extra-base hits in five games against Nebraska and South Dakota State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Joseph Collazo went 5-for-9 against Arlington Baptist to push his hitting streak to five games.
NM STATE'S ERWIN NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
NM State's Tyler Erwin has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for March 7 through March 13. Erwin, a junior left-hander from Chandler, Ariz. (Hamilton HS), pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless baseball on the week. In a mid-week game, he struck out three over two innings to earn the win over Rio Grande rival New Mexico. He throw 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts, in Friday's win over Baylor and he followed that up with four strikeouts and just one walk over 3.0 innings in Sunday's win over Baylor, earning the save. He has not allowed a run in 10.1 innings and finished with 12 strikeouts on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon's Jake Repavich allowed just four hits over seven scoreless innings in Sunday's 3-2 win over Cal Poly .. Northern Colorado's Allen Coock made four appearances on the week, earning the win in Sunday's 7-6 victory over South Dakota State … Sacramento State's Max Karnos struck out four over five innings to earn the win over South Dakota State on Tuesday … Seattle U's Ted Hammond earned his third victory of the season on Saturday, striking out 10 Minnesota batters over seven innings to earn the win … UT Rio Grande Valley's Johnny Gonzalez earned the win in Friday's series opener against Arlington Baptist, striking out six and allowing just three hits over six innings … Utah Valley's Logan Hold pitched 5.2 scoreless innings in losses to Portland.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in hitting (.312 batting average) and pitching (1.82 ERA). CSU Bakersfield is the top defensive team with a .974 fielding percentage. Individually, CSUB's Dustin Frailey has a WAC-high .458 batting average. SU's Nick Meservey holds the low ERA at 0.56 through 16.0 innings pitched.
Utah Valley's Greyson Bogden is tied with NM State's Austin Botello for the lead in hits (26). CSUB's David Metzgar leads the league in RBIs (15) while Grand Canyon's Garrison Schwartz is the league-leader in doubles (8). Five players are tied with two triples this season and Bogden holds the early home run lead with three. Chicago State's Justin Wyant leads the WAC in strikeouts with 33 in 26.0 innings of work.
MARCH MADNESS
When CSU Bakersfield makes its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon against Oklahoma, it won't be the first time the Runners will have faced off against the Sooners this week. The Oklahoma baseball team will be in Bakersfield for a four-game series beginning on Thursday.
HOME SWEET HOME
Sacramento State, who has only played on game on campus this season, will open up a school-record 13 game homestand this week when they host William Jessup on Tuesday.
WAC>PAC
There is still a lot of baseball left to play but after three weekends of action, the WAC currently holds a 7-6 record against the Pac-12. The conference also has a winning record against the Big East (3-1), Colorial (3-0), Horizon (5-2), Mid-American (7-1), Mountain West (2-1), Southwestern (2-0) and Summit (6-3).
GEAUX HORNETS
When Sacramento State defeated fifth-ranked LSU, 5-4, on Feb. 27, it was the Hornets' second win over a top-five opponent in the last three years. They earned a 7-6 win over fourth-ranked Oregon in 2014.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
Seattle U swept Bowling Green for the Redhawks' first four-game sweep over an opponent since returning to intercollegiate action in 2010. SU outscored the Falcons, 26-3, and picked up three shutotus over the weekend.
TROJAN HORSE
North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn seemed to play the role of Odysseus on opening night, shutting down the Southern California Trojans from 60 feet, 6 inches away. The junior from Delano, Minn. struck out nine and walked just one as USC, ranked as high as 12th in the national polls, was held scoreless for Muckenhirn's second career shutout. He was named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, as well as a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball News.
SKKKKKKKKKKKKKUBAL
Seattle U sophomore Tarik Skubal opened up 2016 in spectacular fashion, setting a new school record for strikeouts in a game with 13 in just seven innings of work. He was named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball News
DAM GOOD WIN
Utah Valley picked up a signature win on opening weekend, upsetting eigth-ranked Oregon State, 12-9, on the second day of the season. The Wolverines picked up 13 hits against the Beavers, including two from left fielder Ryne Edmondson, who led UVU with four RBIs on the game.
WAC COACHES SELECT GCU, PANACCIONE, LONG AS PRESEASON FAVORITES
Grand Canyon is the preseason favorite to win the 2016 Western Athletic Conference baseball title and Lopes' shortstop Paul Panaccione and Sacramento State pitcher Sam Long were selected WAC Preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 10 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Lopes received five of 10 first place votes to edge out Sacramento State, who received four first place votes. Seattle U grabbed the remaining first place vote to take third in the preseason poll, followed closely by 2015 WAC Tournament champion CSU Bakersfield in fourth. NM State was selected fifth and Utah Valley earned the sixth position. UT Rio Grande Valley was selected seventh, followed by Northern Colorado, North Dakota and Chicago State.
Panaccione and Long highlighted the Preseason All-WAC squad. Grand Canyon led the way with five honorees as Garrison Schwartz, Brandon Smith, Jake Repavich and Mick Vorhof joined Panaccione. Sacramento State had two Hornets selected as Vinny Esposito joined Long. Seattle U and CSU Bakersfield each had two honorees as well with Tarik Skubal and Dalton Hurd representing the Redhawks and David Metzgar and Joey Sanchez representing the Roadrunners. Chicago State catcher Cody Freund earned selection, as did Utah Valley outfielder Mark Krueger and UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Cole Loncar.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO HOHOKAM STADIUM
For the third straight season, the WAC Baseball Tournament will take place in Mesa, Ariz. as the 2016 championship returns to renovated 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 14 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, 2014 and 2015. CSU Bakersfield won the 2015 tournament, earning the WAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.