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SAKURAI, SCHWARTZ EARN ABCA/RAWLINGS ALL-REGION HONORS
NM State senior second baseman Brent Sakurai was named Second Team Midwest All-Region after being among the WAC leaders in a number of offensive categories. He hit .377 ont he year with 87 hits, 50 runs scored and a NCAA-leading nine triples. His 0.16 triples per game rank him second nationally.
Also earning honors was Grand Canyon junior outfielder Garrison Schwartz, who earned Second Team West All-Region honors. The 16th-round pick of the Atlanta Braves hit .303 on the year with 19 doubles, eight home runs and 49 RBIs. He was named 2017 WAC Player of the Year after hitting .384 win league play as the Lopes earned the regular-season title.
SEVEN WAC PLAYERS TAKEN IN MLB DRAFT
NM State right-handed pitcher Marcel Renteria was the first WAC player drafted, going to the New York Mets in the sixth round with the 187th overall pick. CSU Bakersfield shortstop Ryan Grotjohn was the second from the conference selected, going to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 292nd overall pick. 2017 WAC Tournament MVP Justin Dillon was the final WAC player taken on Tuesday as the Sacramento State right-handed pitcher went to Toronto in the 10th round with the 309th overall pick.
Grand Canyon outfielder Garrison Schwartz was the first to hear his name on Wednesday as the 2017 WAC Player of the Year was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 16th round with the 470th overall pick. Seattle U right-handed pitcher Janson Junk was the first Redhawk taken, going to the New York Yankees in the 22nd round.
The Chicago White Sox selected UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Jose Garcia in the 25th round as the Vaqueros became the sixth WAC school to have a player drafted in 2017. Seattle U left-hander Tarik Skubal rounded out the WAC players taken, going to Arizona in the 29th round with the 862nd pick.
DUO NAMED FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA
A pair of WAC baseball newcomers were honored this spring as Sacramento State right-handed pitcher Parker Brahms and Seattle U utility player Austin Lively were named Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Brahms was named WAC Freshman of the Year and a First Team All-WAC selection after leading all starting pitchers with a 2.09 ERA in league play, posting a 5-1 record in eight starts. On the season, he was 8-4 with a 3.13 ERA, two complete games and 63 strikeouts over 97 2/3 innings. Lively hit .335 with 10 doubles, 31 RBIs and four stolen bases in 54 games for the Redhawks.
82 WAC BASEBALL PLAYERS EARN ACADEMIC All-WAC HONORS
Led by 13 each from Grand Canyon and Utah Valley, a total of 82 WAC baseball players were named Academic All-WAC. Sacramento State had 12 players earn academic honors while Seattle U and UTRGV each had 10 players honored to round out the schools in double-digits.
NEW SKIPPER IN EDINBURG
UT Rio Grande Valley announced in June that Derek Matlock, who spent the last five years as the recruiting coordinator and pitching coach at West Virginia and the 19 years prior coaching in Texas, is the new head coach of the UTRGV baseball team. West Virginia is coming off its first NCAA Regional berth in 21 years after earning the first at-large bid in program history by going 36-26. In Matlock's five seasons, West Virginia went 160-127 (.557) and made the Big 12 Tournament every year. Matlock recruited and coached five All-Americans and had six pitchers drafted, including three in the top 15 rounds of the MLB Draft.
SACRAMENTO STATE WINS 2017 WAC TOURNAMENT
Sacramento State's Justin Dillon allowed just one hit over five innings with six strikeouts en route to Tournament MVP honors as the Hornets used a 5-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield to win the 2017 WAC Baseball Tournament on Saturday evening at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
The Hornets put their first run on the board in the bottom of the sevond as Ricky Martinez singled to right field to score PJ Floyd from second for the 1-0 lead. Sacramento State added another in the fifth on a Kody Reynolds RBI single to score Ian Dawkins and one more run came across in the seventh as Reynolds singled to left center, scoring Vinny Esposito from second.
The final sting came in the bottom of the eighth as Trent Goodrich hit a two-run home run to left field to secure the win as the Hornets clinched a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
2017 All-Tournament Team
Sean Sutton, Seattle U
Nick Tanner, Northern Colorado
Naithen Dewsnap, CSU Bakersfield
Sergio Robles, CSU Bakersfield
Mahlik Jones, CSU Bakersfield
Max Carter, CSU Bakersfield
Andrew McWIlliam, Sacramento State
James Outman, Sacramento State
Trent Goodrich, Sacramento State
Kody Reynolds, Sacramento State
MVP: Justin Dillon, Sacramento State
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
At the end of the regular season, NM State led the WAC with a .322 batting average. Sacramento State was both the top pitching team and defensive team with a 3.92 staff ERA and a .978 fielding percentage. Individually, CSUB's Ryan Grotjohn is the top hitter with a .400 batting average. Grand Canyon's AJ Franks holds the low ERA at 2.60. NM State's Brent Sakurai led the league with 81 hits on the season while teammates Dan Hetzel and LJ Hatch were the co-leaders in runs scored with 52 apiece. Hetzel also led the WAC in RBIs with 64. Northern Colorado's Brett Minnick was the doubles leader with 24 while Sakurai had a league-high nine triples. NMSU's Tristen Carranza hit 16 home runs to lead the WAC while Sacramento State's Justin Dillon finished the regular season as the strikeout king with 91 in 94.2 innigns pitched.
In WAC-only play, Grand Canyon led the league with a .329 batting average and .980 fielding percentage. Sacramento State had a 3.53 staff ERA to lead all teams on the hill. Individually, NM State's Mason Fishback hit an impressive .421 in league play while GCU's AJ Franks posted a 0.56 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched. Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins tied with Fishback for the lead in hits with 40 each while GCU's Austin Bull was the runs leader with 33. Sacramento State's Vinny Esposito and Fishback were tied for the lead in RBIs with 33 while GCU's Garrison Schwartz posted a WAC-high 12 doubles. Sakurai had six triples in league play and Hetzel knocked out a WAC-best nine home runs against WAC opponents. NM State's Kyle Bradish led the WAC in strikeouts in league play with 51 in 47.0 innings pitched.
PUTTING THE GRAND IN GRAND CANYON
For the second time in three seasons, Grand Canyon won the 2017 WAC regular season title, finishing one game ahead of NM State. GCU, who is in their fourth and final transitional year to Division I, will be eligible for the WAC Tournament in 2018 and will most likely head into the season as a favorite.
THREE TIMES THE FUN
For the third time in school history, CSU Bakersfield turned a triple play on May 14 against Seattle U. With the bases loaded, Mahlik Jones fielded a grounder at third base, stepping on the bag for the first out and throwing over to Max Carter at first for the second out. Carter then fired the ball home to Junior Felix for the third out and the end of the inning.
A PAIR OF JACKS
NM State's Tristen Carranza did his part to help the Aggies earn the win at rival New Mexico on May 2, hitting two home runs in the top of the fourth as part of a nine-run innings. A two-run home run tied the game and after the Aggies batted around, Carranza belted a grand slam to cap off the big offensive inning as NMSU earned the 12-5 win in Albuquerque.
BRIGHT BIRD
Seattle U's Jack Reisinger was one of 11 players named to the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Eight Team. Student-athletes must carry a minimum 3.3 culumative GPA, be in their second year of competition at their institution and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form.
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 parl, 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 seasons.
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 batters 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.