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NORTHERN COLORADO'S LAWSON NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Northern Colorado's Dean Lawson has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for May 2 through May 8. Lawson, a sophomore infielder from Fort Collins, Colo. (Rocky Mountain HS), was the catalyst for the UNC offense that hit .346 as a team in a sweep of preseason favorite Grand Canyon. Recording multiple hits in all three games, he was 9-for-13 on the weekend for a .692 batting average and a .846 slugging percentage. He drove in the game-tying run and was the game-winning run in the Bears' 10-run comeback on Saturday and either scored or drove in five of UNC's six runs on Sunday. His best game came on Saturday, going 5-for-6 from the plate, the Bears' first five-hit day in three years.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield catcher Jake Ortega was 4-for-7 in two games played at UTRGV … Chicago State's Chris Hipchen hit .583 on the week and was 3-for-3 in Sunday's series-clinching win over North Dakota … NM State outfielder Austin Botello was 7-for-16 on the week, including 3-for-4 on Saturday against Seattle U … North Dakota outfielder Miles Lewis hit for the cycle in Friday's 18-4 win at Chicago State … Sacramento State designated hitter Matt Smith had hits in each of the Hornets' games this week, including a 3-for-4 afternoon in Friday's win over Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Cole Loncar scored twice in Friday's win over CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley catcher Zac Willis singled and scored the game-tying run at rival Brigham Young for force extra innings before hitting the go-ahead home run in the 11th inning of the upset win.
CSU BAKERSFIELD'S MONARREZ NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's AJ Monarrez has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for May 2 through May 8. Monarrez, a senior right-hander from Lancaster, Calif. (Desert Christian HS), threw a complete game shutout in the Roadrunners' series-clinching win at UT Rio Grande Valley. He tied his career high with nine strikeouts while only walking two Vaquero hitters. He gave up just three hits on the game, including two in the first four batters he faced. From there, only two Vaqueros reached base as he needed just 125 pitches, including 78 for strikes, to earn CSUB's first shutout of the season.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Justin Wyant struck out eight as part of a complete game win on Saturday against North Dakota … North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn struck out 10 over eight innings to earn the win at Chicago State … Northern Colorado's Nick Tanner won his third straight game, striking out eight Grand Canyon batters in a 6-2 victory … Sacramento State's Max Karnos faced just one batter over the minimum in a complete-game shutout against Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley's Ryan Jackson earned both his first career complete game and first career shutout in Friday's 5-0 win over CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley's Danny Beddes carried a no-hitting through six innings of a 5-0 win at Sacramento State.
BY THE NUMBERS
With two weeks left in the regular seaon, Seattle U leads the WAC in both team batting (.296 batting average) and team pitching (3.51 ERA). SU is tied with UT Rio Grand Valley and Utah Valley for the top fielding percentage at .971. Individually, CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey is hitting a WAC-best .386 while SU's Nick Meservey has a league-low 2.03 ERA. NM State's Daniel Johnson leads the WAC in hits (72), runs scored (53), home runs (11), stolen bases (23) and total bases (124) and is tied with Frailey for the lead in triples (5). Teammate Dan Hetzel leads the league in RBIs (46) while fellow Aggie Trey Stine is tied with SU's Sheldon Stober for the lead in doubles (17). North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn holds the strikeout lead with 82 over 79.2 innings.
In WAC-only play, NM State holds the top batting average (.321), Sacramento State has the low ERA (3.43) and Utah Valley is the top fielding team (.977). NMSU's Johnson is hitting .402 in league play to lead the league while Northern Colorado's Allen Cook has the low ERA at 1.35.
COMPLETE THE JOB
Over one-third of the conference games last week saw a pitcher go the distance as six different pitchers recorded complete games over the weekend. Chicago State was the lone team with two as Justin Wyant went nine innings to earn the win on Saturday and Dillon Engle threw all seven innings in a 10-run-rule win. Sacramento State's Max Karnos, UT Rio Grande Valley's Ryan Jackson and CSU Bakersfield's AJ Monarrez all earned complete game wins while Grand Canyon's Tyler Wyatt threw all eight innings in a loss at Northern Colorado.
FREE BASEBALL
Sacramento State has been perfect in extra innings this season, going 5-0 when the game heads past regulation.
BOOK YOUR TICKET
Four of the six spots at the 2016 WAC Baseball Tournament have been determined as Seattle U, NM State, Utah Valley and Sacramento State all know they are headed to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. Northern Colorado needs just one more win or a CSU Bakersfield loss to earn the Bears' second straight trip to the tournament while UTRGV holds the lead for the last spot with two weeks left to play.
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.
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.