United Athletic Conference

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UTAH VALLEY FALLS TO LSU, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AT BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
In a regional plagued by severe thunderstorms, the Utah Valley Wolverines fell to host LSU in the opening game of the regional before dropping a close one to Southeastern Lousiana two days later. Against LSU, the Wolverines fell behind early but it was not without bright spots for UVU as senior Danny Beddes set a new school record for strikeouts in a season with 99 and Mark Krueger went 2-for-4, scoring the team's lone run in a 7-1 loss. Against Southeastern Lousiana, UVU gave up three runs in the top of the first but UVU starter Jackson Cofer was nearly untouchable the rest of the time on the mound, allowing just two more hits before exiting to a standing ovation in the eighth inning. Spencer Gothberg hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to pull UVU within one run but it wasn't enough to earn the win.

NM STATE'S JOHNSON NAMED ABCA/RAWLINGS ALL-AMERICAN
Junior Daniel Johnson was named American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Third Team All-American, the organization announced on Saturday. He is the 13th Aggie to be named an All-American, and the first since 2009. A native of Vallejo, Calif., Johnson continues to be recognized after his outstanding season. In addition to being named the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Player of Year by the league's 10 head coaches, Johnson was also named ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Region, First Team All-WAC, WAC All-Tournament, NCBWA National Hitter of the Month and Louisville Slugger National Hitter of the Week. The fifth-round selection of the Washington Nationals in the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft, Johnson finished as one of the best offensive players in the country, ranked fourth nationally in hits (94), fifth in runs scored (67), 16th in stolen bases (29-of-33), 32nd in batting average (.382) and 40th in slugging percentage (.630). Additionally, he led the WAC in batting average, hits, home runs, stolen bases and runs scored.

WAC WELL REPRESENTED IN MLB DRAFT
Major League Baseball concluded the annual First-Year Player Draft in June with a total of 12 players from the WAC claimed by professional baseball clubs.

2016 WAC Player of the Year Daniel Johnson was the first player from the conference to be drafted, going to the Washington Nationals in the fifth round. Recently named NCBWA Player of the Month for May, he finished his junior season with a .382 average in 57 games with 11 doubles, seven triples, 12 home runs, 50 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.

Potentially joining Johnson in the Nationals' farm system looks to be Grand Canyon senior shortstop Paul Panaccione, who was selected by Washington in the 10th round with the 304th overall pick. Panaccione, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year, hit .363 in 41 games for the Lopes. He finished his senior season with nine doubles, four home runs and 26 RBIs.

On the final day of the draft, North Dakota southpaw Zach Muckenhirn was the first of 10 WAC players selected, going in the 11th round to the Baltimore Orioles.

Round-Pick		Team	Player	Pos.	School
5-154		Washington	Daniel Johnson	OF	NM State
10-304		Washington	Paul Panaccione	SS	Grand Canyon
11-331		Baltimore	Zach Muckenhirn	P	North Dakota
13-384		San Diego	Joe Galindo	P	NM State
15-465		Pittsburgh	Danny Beddes	P	Utah Valley
16-483		Minnesota	Tyler Beardsley	P	Sacramento State
18-540		Tampa Bay	Sam Long	P	Sacramento State
19-565		Detroit	Dustin Frailey	OF	CSU Bakersfield
20-611		Los Angeles (N)	Brock Carpenter	3B	Seattle U
23-691		Baltimore	Tyler Erwin	P	NM State
24-733		Kansas City	Michael McCann	C	Seattle U
26-773		Miami	Gunner Pollman	C	Sacramento State

SU'S JOHNSON, NM STATE's JOHNSON NAMED ABCA/RAWLINGS ALL-REGION
Less than a week after being selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, a pair of baseball players from the Western Athletic Conference have been named All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings. NM State outfielder Daniel Johnson, a fifth-round pick of the Washington Nationals, was named First Team All-Midwest Region. Recently named NCBWA Player of the Month for May, he finished his junior season with a .382 average in 57 games with 11 doubles, seven triples, 12 home runs, 50 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Seattle U third baseman Brock Carpenter, a 20th-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, earned Second Team All-West Region honors after hitting .327 in 205 at-bats with 15 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 47 RBIs.

SEATTLE U'S WOLF NAMED NCBWA FRESHMAN All-AMERICAN
Seattle U freshman closer Zach Wolf is one of 32 standout freshmen college baseball players from every part of the country that are featured on the 2016 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman All-American Team. Wolf helped lead Seattle U to its first-ever WAC baseball title setting a new conference record for saves in league play with 10. Overall, he recorded 12 saves with a 2.27 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27 appearances.

TRIO NAMED LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN
Three baseball players from the Western Athletic Conference have been named Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Earning honors was NM State's Kyle Bradish, North Dakota's Miles Lewis and Seattle U's Zach Wolf. Bradish was honored after posting an 8-3 record with a 4.67 earned-run averaged and 82 strikeouts for the Aggies, who went from eighth place in 2014 to second place in 2015. Lewis was named WAC Freshman of the Year after hitting .360 with three home runs, five doubles, 24 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Wolf helped lead Seattle U to its first-ever WAC baseball title setting a new conference record for saves in league play with 10. Overall, he recorded 12 saves with a 2.27 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27 appearances.

NM STATE'S JOHNSON NAMED NCBWA HITTER OF THE MONTH FOR MAY
New Mexico State outfielder Daniel Johnson was been named the National Hitter of the Month in May by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Johnson, a native of Vallejo, Calif., hit .437 (31-for-71) during May, with three doubles, two triples, six homers and 20 RBI. He totaled a .789 slugging and a .468 on-base percentage during the month, stealing 7-of-9 bases. The Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Johnson finished his junior season with a .382 (94-for-246) average in 57 games, with 11 doubles, seven triples, 12 homers and 50 RBI, stealing 29-of-33 bases and sporting a .630 slugging and a .434 on-base percentage.

THEY'RE SMART
A total of 69 baseball players from around the conference were recognized as Academic All-WAC selections this season. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.

UTAH VALLEY WINS 2016 WAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Third-seeded Utah Valley posted the 4-0 shutout over top-seeded Seattle U to advance to the first NCAA regional in school history as the 2016 WAC Baseball Tournament Champions on Saturday night at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.

The Wolverines opened the scoring in the top of the first as Mark Krueger singled to left field to scored Zac Willis for the 1-0 lead. UVU's Kaden Schmitt took over on the mound and held the Redhawks scoreless over seven innings, striking out four and walking two on 94 pitches. Utah Valley added three more runs in the top of the fifth and Seattle U never found a way to get on the board as Utah Valley merged onto the road to Omaha.

Schmitt picked up his first win of the season. Zach Wolf took the loss. Greyson Bogden was 4-for-4 on the game and Craig Brinkerhoff was named Tournament MVP. Brinkerhoff was joined by Krueger, Jordan Schlehuber, Jackson Cofer and Schmitt.

Seattle U was represented on the all-tournament team by Sean Sutton and Lucas Denney. NM State put three players on the team with Austin Botello, Daniel Johnson and Greg Popylisen earning honors. David Metzgar represented CSU Bakersfield.

AGAINST THE FIELD
The WAC went 17-36 against 2016 NCAA tournament non-conference participants in the regular season. The conference posted winning records against Minnesota (5-3) and Utah (3-0). Utah Valley was 5-3 in the regular season against fellow NCAA tournament participants, going 3-0 against Utah, 2-2 against Minnesota and 0-1 against Arizona.

REWRITE THE RECORD BOOK
The 2016 WAC Baseball Tournament saw two new records set. CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey set a new tournament record for walks with seven in just three games. CSU Bakersfield and Northern Colorado combined for eight stolen bases on Thursday to set a new record as well. In the regular season record book, Seattle U freshman closer Zach Wolf set a new record for saves in WAC play with 10.

BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U finished the regular season not only atop the league standings but also leading the WAC in batting (.295), pitching (3.41 ERA) and fielding (.973). CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey hit a league-best .376 while Seattle U's Nick Meservey finished with the low ERA at 1.89. NM State's Daniel Johnson led the WAC in hits (85), runs scored (62), home runs (12), total bases (145) and stolen bases (27). Teammate Dan Hetzel lead the league in RBIs with 51 while Grand Canyon's Garrison Schwartz had a WAC-high 19 doubles. Frailey led the league in triples with eight while North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn struck out a league-high 99 hitters in 92.2 innings pitched.

In WAC-only play, NM State led all teams with a .316 batting average. Sacramento State had the low ERA at 3.27 and Utah Valley had a WAC-best .977 fielding percentage. NM State's Johnson hit .416 in conference play while Sacramento State's Max Karnos held a WAC-low 2.27 ERA.

ONE, TWO, THREE BAGS
CSU Bakersfield's Dustin Frailey finished the 2016 season ranked first nationally in triples per game, averaging 0.17 triples per game.

FLY AWAY
The Western Athletic Conference will drop down to nine baseball playing schools in 2017 after the University of North Dakota decided to discontinue the Fighting Hawks baseball program earlier this fall. UND was 42-93 overall and 28-50 in conference games in three years as an affiliate member of the WAC.

COMPLETE THE JOB
Over one-third of the conference games on May 6-8 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.

LET THERE BE LIGHT
For the first time in the 63-year-history of John Smith Field, the Sacramento State Hornets played under the lights on May 17 when they hosted Pacific. Seattle U and Sacramento State also played a pair of games under the lights, including Friday night's Seattle U win that didn't begin until nearly 9:30 p.m. due to rain in the area.

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.

LUCKY 13
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. Not to be outdone, teammate Janson Junk tied his record on May 15 against Northern Colorado.

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 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.