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CSU BAKERSFIELD'S METZGAR NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's David Metzgar has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for April 3 through April 9. Metzgar, a senior infielder from Lancaster, Calif. (Paraclete HS), had a quartet of multi-hit games as the ‘Runners went 3-1 on the week. In CSUB's lone non-conference game, he was nearly unstoppable against perennial power UC Irvine, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs and two runs scored in a 14-2 win. The ‘Runners then headed to the Midwest for a WAC series at Chicago State and Metzgar was 7-for-13 in the series with a pair of doubles and three RBIs as the ‘Runners took two out of three from the Cougars. On the week, he posted a .588 batting average to go with a .632 slugging percentage and an .824 on-base percentage.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Cody Freund was 3-for-3 in the Cougars' win over CSU Bakersfield on Saturday … Grand Canyon's Garrison Schwartz had a pair of home runs on the week, including one at 15th-ranked Arkansas … NM State's Mason Fishback went 6-for-12 on the week as the Aggies remained perfect in WAC play with a three-game sweep of UTRGV … Northern Colorado's Tyler Yamaguchi was 5-for-9 as the Bears took a game from Seattle U in a WAC series in Greeley … Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins hit .429 on the week, including 5-for-12 against Grand Canyon … Seattle U's Austin Lively hit .500 on the week as the Redhawks took a conference series from Northern Colorado and a non-conference tilt from crosstown rival Washington … Utah Valley's Jackson Overlund hit .467 on the week as the Wolverines split non-conference games at UNLV and at home against UIW.
UTAH VALLEY'S MAYER NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley's Jake Mayer has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for April 3 through April 9. Mayer, a junior right-hander from Eagle Mountain, Utah (Westlake HS), pitched a gem in Friday afternoon's win over UIW, allowing just three hits to earn his first career shutout. It was UVU's first complete-game shutout by a single pitcher since 2014 as the junior struck out seven and walked just one, facing just three hitters over the minimum.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Max Carter threw a complete game shutout, striking out six and scattering six hits in a win at Chicago State … Chicago State's Zach Thomas threw a scoreless 1.2 innings on Saturday to earn the save against CSU Bakersfield … Grand Canyon's Mick Vorhof made three appearances on the week and didn't allow a hit in 3.1 innings … NM State's Marcel Renteria threw seven scoreless innings to earn the win on Friday against UTRGV … Sacramento State's Parker Brahms earned the Hornets' lone win of the week, allowing one run on four hits in a 7-1 win against Grand Canyon.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
As a team, NM State leads the WAC in batting with a .320 average. Sacramento State leads the way both on the mound, with a 3.76 staff ERA, and in the field, with a .979 fielding percentage. Individually, CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Grotjohn leads the league with a .423 batting average. Grand Canyon's Jake Wong holds the low ERA at 1.38 in 52.1 innings pitched. NM State's Joey Ortiz lead a league-high 50 hits and 33 runs scored. Teammate Austin Botello leads the WAC with 35 RBIs this season while fellow Aggies Brent Sakurai and Tristen Carranza lead the league in triples and home runs with five and 10 respectively. Utah Valley's Jackson Overlund is the doubles leader with 15 while Seattle U's Aaron Stroosma is the top base stealer with 14 stolen bases on 17 attempts. On the mound, UTRGV's Carter Johnson is the leader with 58 strikeouts.
In WAC-only play, NM State is hitting .318 against conference opponents. Grand Canyon holds the low staff ERA at 2.65 and is the top defensive team with a .988 fielding percentage. GCU's Tyler Wyatt leads the WAC with a .484 batting average in conference play while teammate AJ Franks has yet to allow a run in 10.2 innings pitched for a perfect 0.00 ERA.
ON DECK
The conference schedule shifts to Thursday-Friday-Saturday this week in observance of Easter which allows for just one day of non-conference play. It will be rivalry Tuesday as Northern Colorado travels to Air Force, Sacramento State hosts UC Davis, CSU Bakersfield takes on CSUN, Utah Valley welcomes Brigham Young and Grand Canyon brings in Arizona. In conference play beginnign Thursday, NM State loosk to stay undefeated as the Aggies travel to Sacramento State. Utah Valley makes the trip to CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon heads to the Midwest to take on Chicago State. Seattle U makes the long trip to Texas for a three-game series with UT Rio Grande Valley and Northern Colorado holds the bye as the Bears will take on Metro State in a home-and-home series.
NO, YOU MAY NOT HAVE A HIT
Sacramento State right-hander Justin Dillon threw the WAC's first no-hitter in nearly seven years on Feb. 23 against Northern Kentucky. Dillon faced just two batters over the minimum for the first no-no in Sacramento State's Division I history.
TIE DOWN
Due to another game scheduled at the part, Seattle U and Portland were forced to settle for a 10-10 tie after eight innings on April 5. It was the first tie in the WAC this season and the fourth in the WAC over the last five season.
SIT DOWN
The CSU Bakersfield pitching staff had a week for the ages on Feb. 20-26, striking out 51 batters in five wins. Three of the five starting pitchers set new career highs in the category.
BEAR DOWN
Northern Colorado junior Aaron Hamilton had a career game on Feb. 24 against San José State, striking out a WAC season-high and personal best 14 bitters and walking none in a 1-0 complete game win.
EL CICLO
UTRGV outfielder Jose Garcia got the 2017 season off to a good start, hitting for the cycle in his first four at-bats of the Vaqueros' second game of the season. He hit a triple in the bottom of the first, double in the third, single in the fourth and a home run in the fifth to complete the trick.
CURRENT MEET FUTURE LED BY PAST
On Feb. 22, Grand Canyon traveled to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in an exhibition game, falling 9-1 in seven innings. The Lopes skipper Andy Stankiewicz was on the D-backs roster for their inaugural season in 1998.
WAC COACHES SELECT SU, MESSERVEY, SCHWARTZ AS PRESEASON FAVORITES
Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2017 Western Athletic Conference baseball title and Redhawks' pitcher Nick Meservey and Grand Canyon outfielder Garrison Schwartz were selected WAC Preseason Pitcher and Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's nine head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Redhawks received four first place votes to finish atop the preseason poll with 60 points. NM State was selected second, earning one first place vote and 52 points overall. Sacramento State picked up two first place votes for 47 points, edging out Grand Canyon by one point for third as the Lopes earned 46 points. Utah Valley was selected fifth as the 2016 tournament champions finished with 43 points. CSU Bakersfield was sixth, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley, Northern Colorado and Chicago State.
Meservey and Schwartz highlighted the Preseason All-WAC squad. Seattle U led the way with five honorees as Sean Sutton, Griffin Andreychuk, Tarik Skubal and Connor Moore joined Meservey. NM State had four honored as Mason Fishback, Trey Stine, Austin Botello and Kyle Bradish represented the Aggies. Schwartz was joined by GCU teammate Zach Malis while the CSU Bakersfield duo of David Metzgar and Max Carter represented the Roadrunners. UT Rio Grande Valley's Jose Garcia rounded out the 14-member squad.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO HOHOKAM STADIUM
For the third straight season, the WAC Baseball Tournament will head to Hohokam Stadium, preseason home of the Oakland Athletics. Renovated prior to spring training in 2015, 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 15 times (1963, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 2010, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16) and the event was held in Mesa in 1971, 1973, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Utah Valley won the 2016 tournament, earning the WAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.