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NM STATE'S JOHNSON NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
NM State's Daniel Johnson has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for April 25 through May 1. Johnson, a junior outfielder from Vallejo, Calif. (Northeast Oklahoma A&M), was the driving force behind the Aggies' sweep of Sacramento State. For the week, he went 12-for-20 with two doubles, four home runs, eight runs scored and 14 RBIs. His best game came in the series finale against Sacramento State, driving home six RBIs on a pair of home runs. In the two earlier games against the Hornets, he was 4-for-5 in each, totaling seven RBIs.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon outfielder Garrison Schwartz hit .385 on the week as the Lopes took two of three from Chicago State … North Dakota outfielder Miles Lewis collected six hits and was on base 11 times as the Fighting Hawks played four at home … Northern Colorado infielder Brett Minnick was 4-for-13 with five RBIs as the Bears earned the sweep at North Dakota … Seattle U utilityman Curtis Perrin went 3-for-7 in four games on the week as SU went 3-1 … UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Cole Loncar recorded his first four-hit game of the season on Saturday at Seattle U … Utah Valley shortstop Greyson Bogden led the Wolverines to their first WAC series sweep of the season, hitting .545 against CSU Bakersfield.
NORTHERN COLORADO'S TANNER NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Northern Colorado's Nick Tanner has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for April 25 through May 1. Tanner, a junior lefthander from Foothill Ranch, Calif. (Trabuco Hills HS), earned the win in the series finale at North Dakota to secure the sweep. He allowed seven hits over seven and a third innings, allowing just one run and striking out eight. He was also 4-for-13 from the plate during the series with one extra base hit and an RBI.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon's Tyler Wyatt earned his second straight win, allowing just four hits over five innings against Chicago State … NM State's Kyle Bradish earned his team-leading sixth win of the season in a 6-2 decision over Sacramento State … Sacramento State's Tanner Olson allowed no runs on four hits and no walks over six innings in the Hornets' win over Fresno State … Utah Valley's Jake Mayer earned the win with five and one-third shutout innings of relief in Friday's series opener against CSU Bakersfield.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in both team batting (.294 batting average) and team pitching (3.23 ERA). UT Rio Grande Valley is the top defensive team with a .974 fielding percentage. CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey leads all hitters with a .390 average while Seattle U's Nick Meservey is the best on the mound with a 1.24 ERA. NM State's Daniel Johnson leads the league in hits (65), runs scored (48), home runs (8), total bases (107), and stolen bases (22) and he is tied with Frailey for the lead in triples (5). Utah Valley's Greyson Bogden and Seattle U's Sheldon Stober share the doubles lead with 16 while NM State's Dan Hetzel has the most RBIs with 41. On the mound, North Dakota ace Zach Muckenhirn and Utah Valley ace Danny Beddes are shared for the lead in strikeouts with 72 each.
In WAC-only games, Seattle U is still the leader in hitting with a .322 average but Grand Canyon is the best on the mound, holding a 3.40 ERA. UTRGV has a .980 fielding percentage in conference play to lead that list. NM State's Mason Fishback has the best batting average at .405 while Meservey has a 1.53 ERA in WAC play to lead all pitchers.
WINNING WAYS
Seattle U is the only team in the WAC this season that has won all sixseries they have played, having defeated CSU Bakersfield, Chicago State, North Dakota, Grand Canyon, Utah Valley and most recently UT Rio Grande Valley.
SACRAMENTO SWEEPS
Sacramento State has also been dominent early this season, having swept home series against North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Chicago State. The Hornets haven't been as strong on the road, going 3-6 in WAC road games this season.
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.