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GRAND CANYON'S MALIS NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Zach Malis has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for April 18 through April 24. Malis, a freshman first baseman from Tucson, Ariz. (Desert Christian HS), posted three multi-hit games in a three-game sweep at North Dakota. His best game came on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs and an RBI. He also drove in three runs in Sunday's sweep-clinching win.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield designated hitter Chance Gusbeth hit .417 with eight RBIs as the Runners won a WAC series against NM State … Chicago State infielder Andy Gertonson was 8-for-18 as the Cougars won two-of-three against Northern Colorado … North Dakota outfielder Miles Lewis collected six hits with a pair of runs against Grand Canyon … Northern Colorado outfielder Dan Reese was 2-for-5 in the Bears' Sunday win at Chicago State … Sacramento State shortstop Trent Goodrich had hits in all four games the Hornets played, recording a team-high three steals … Seattle U infielder Sean Sutton had three multi-hit games as the Redhawks beat rival Washington and took two-of-three at Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Jacob Huckaby posted his second three-hit game of the season in Saturday's first game … Utah Valley outfielder Craig Brinkerhoff hit a two-run home run against in-state rival Utah to clinch a three-game sweep against the Utes.
SEATTLE U's MESERVEY NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Nick Meservey has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for April 18 through April 24. Meservey, a sophomore lefthander from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Saguaro HS), earned both a win and save on the week. Against crosstown rival Washington, he pitched the final two-third innings to earn the save before returning to the mound on Saturday at Utah Valley. Against the Wolverines, he struck out eight and walked two, allowing two unearned runs over six innings to earn the win.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's AJ Monarrez recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in a win over NM State … Chicago State's Jake Perkins struck out 12 and walked two over seven innings in a 7-1 win over Northern Colorado … Grand Canyon's Tyler Wyatt earned his first collegiate win with a career-high five strikeouts … NM State's Joe Galindo allowed just one hit over two and one-third innings of relief to push his scoreless streak to 10 and one-third innings pitched … Northern Colorado's Nick Tannner struck out three over six innings to earn the win at Chicago State … Sacramento State's Tyler Beardsley allowed just four hits in five innings of relief in the Hornets' 15-inning win over UTRGV … UT Rio Grande Valley's Robert Quinonez struck out 10 Hornet batters in 10 innings of work in Saturday's nightcap against Sacramento State … Utah Valley's Kyle Valgardson earned the save in a 9-8 win over Seattle U on Friday night.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U continues to lead the WAC in team batting, holding a .298 batting average. The Redhawks are also the top pitching team with a 3.30 staff ERA while UT Rio Grande Valley is the top defensive team with a .972 fielding percentage. Individually, CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey is hitting .398 in 133 at-bats. Seattle U's Nick Meservey is the top pitcher, holding a 1.21 ERA through 52.0 innings pitched. SU's Sheldon Stober is tied for the WAC lead in both hits with NMSU's Austin Botello (57) and doubles with UVU's Greyson Bogden (15). NM State's Daniel Johnson leads the league in runs scored (40) and triples (5) while teammate Dan Hetzel holds the lead in RBIs (37). Northern Colorado's Brett Minnick and Chicago State's Andy Gertonson lead the WAC in home runs with six each. Utah Valley's Danny Beddes holds the strikeout lead with 69 in 69.0 innings pitched.
In WAC-only play, Seattle U is hitting .329 to lead the league. Sacramento State hold a 2.20 ERA in league games while UTRGV is fielding at a WAC-best .977 clip. CSUB's Frailey holds the individual batting lead in league play as well, hitting .417. Utah Valley's Kyle Valgardson and Sacramento State's Tyler Beardsley have yet to allow an earned run in WAC play through 17.0 and 15.0 innnings respectively.
WINNING WAYS
Seattle U is the only team in the WAC this season that has won all five series they have played, having defeated CSU Bakersfield, Chicago State, North Dakota, Grand Canyon and Utah Valley.
SACRAMENTO SWEEPS
Sacramento State has also been dominent early this season, having swept home series against North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Chicago State.
JUST KEEP PLAYING
By the time UT Rio Grande Valley and Sacramento State finished up their final game of their three-game WAC series, the game tied for the longest conference-game in WAC history after going 15 innings in a game that started at about 6 p.m., was suspended due to rain around 10 p.m., resumed around 1:30 p.m the next day and finally finished about 2 p.m. local time.
GREEN BEATS RED
Utah Valley completed the season sweep of in-state rival Utah on April 19 for the first time that either team has swept a season series of three game or more against each other since UVU moved to NCAA Division I in 2004.
LONG WAY HOME
After 20 games on the road to open the 2016 season, North Dakota finally played in Grand Forks on April 9 against Seattle U
NINE RUNS? NO PROBLEM
Utah Valley put together one of the most improbable comebacks of the season against North Dakota. Down 9-1 headed into the bottom of the ninth, the Wolverines rallied for nine runs for a 10-9 walk off win.
SNOW MEANS NO GO
After a blizzard shut down Denver International Airport for just the third time ever, the WAC series between UT Rio Grande Valley and Northern Colorado was cancelled after the Vaqueros were unable to secure a flight to Colorado for the tilt in Greeley.
HOME SWEET HOME
Sacramento State went 9-4 during a school-record 13 game homestand. It was also the longest in the WAC this season.
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 shutouts 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.