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CSU BAKERSFIELD'S GROTJOHN NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Grotjohn has been named WAC Hitter of the Week for April 10 through April 16. Grotjohn, a senior shortstop from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Brophy College Prep), played a key role in CSUB's undefeated week. He had multiple hits in every game, including 4-for-4 in Friday's 9-5 win over Utah Valley. On the week, he was 10-for-16 at the plate, slugging .812 with an .824 on-base percentage. His .452 batting average this season ranks second in NCAA Division I.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Julian Russell went 2-for-4 in the Cougars' series-opening win over Grand Canyon on Thursday … Grand Canyon's Tyler Wyatt had a hit and RBI in every game for the Lopes, going 7-for-16 with four RBIs … NM State's LJ Hatch was 8-for-13 from the plate as the Aggies' won the series in Sacramento … Northern Colorado's Matt Burkart hit .455 on the week as the Bears split games with Air Force and Metro State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Noah Lee had the walk-off single in Friday's 12-inning win over Seattle U.
CSU BAKERSFIELD'S CARTER NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's Max Carter has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for April 10 through April 16. Carter, a senior right-hander from Bakersfield, Calif. (Stockdale HS), carried a perfect game two outs into the sixth inning before giving up a pair of singles in Thursday's 10-0 win over Utah Valley. He struck out six with no walks as he earned the complete game shutout in the run-rule shortened victory.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Brad Moore struck out six and allowed just three runs on three hits to earn the win over Grand Canyon on Thursday … Grand Canyon's Jake Repavich threw his first career complete game in a 12-2 win over Chicago State on Friday … NM State's Marcel Renteria had nine strikeouts over nine innings as the Aggies eventually fell in 12 innings to Sacramento State … Sacramento State's Parker Brahms allowed just four singles and struck out seven over seven innings in the Hornets' 2-1 extra inning win over NM State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Connor Grant struck out seven and walked two over 4.2 innings of relief to earn the win on Friday against Seattle U.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
As a team, NM State leads the WAC in batting with a .318 average. Sacramento State leads the way both on the mound, with a 3.61 staff ERA, and in the field, with a .979 fielding percentage. Individually, CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Grotjohn leads the league with a .450 batting average while NM State's Kyle Bradish holds the low ERA at 2.25 in 52.0 innings pitched. NMSU's Joey Ortiz is tied with Grotjohn for the most hits with 54 each while Ortiz holds the lead in runs scored with 36. Teammate Dan Hetzel is the RBI leader with 41. Northern Colorado's Brett Minnick leads the WAC with 17 doubles while NMSU's Brent Sakurai has a WAC-high six triples. Fellow Aggie Tristen Carranza is the home run king with 11 this season. UT Rio Grande Valley's Carter Johnson holds the lead in strikeouts with 61 in 59.2 innings pitched.
In WAC-only play, CSU Bakersfield is hitting .319 against conference opponents to lead the league. NM State holds the low staff ERA at 2.77 and Grand Canyon is the top defensive team with a .991 fielding percentage. GCU's Tyler Wyatt leads the league with a .488 batting average in conference play while teammteate AJ Franks has yet to allow a run in 14.2 innings pitched for a perfect 0.00 ERA.
ON DECK
After a busy non-conference schedule on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, conference play moves back to Friday-Saturday-Sunday this week. Sacramento State visits Seattle U in an important series for both teams. Chicago State heads to Utah Valley while Northern Colorado makes the trip to play NM State. UT Rio Grande visits Grand Canyon as the Lopes look to win at home to stay on top of the conference standings. CSU Bakersfield has the bye this weekend and heads to Phoenix to take on Arizona State in a three-game non-conference 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.