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TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME
2018 begins this weekend will a full slate of games. All nine times will be in action, with six teams opening up the campaign at home. Seattle U will be the first team to take the field as the Redhawks host Pacific in a four-game series, beginning at 4 p.m. PT on Friday. NM State hosts Towson, Sacramento State hosts Washington, CSU Bakesfield hosts UC Davis and UT Rio Grande Valley hosts both Central Michigan and Stephen F. Austin as part of the Al Ogletree Classic. Northern Colorado is one of three schools to open on the road as the Bears will visit San José State while Utah Valley heads to L.A. to take on South California. Chicago State is the lone team to open the season on a neutral field, meeting up with LIU Brooklyn in Lexington, S.C. The marquee series of the week will be in Phoenix as Grand Canyon opens up the renovated Brazell Field at GCU Stadium with three games against nationally-ranked TCU.
WAC COACHES SELECT GCU, BRADISH, FISHBACK AS PRESEASON FAVORITES
Grand Canyon is the preseason favorite to win the 2018 Western Athletic Conference baseball title while NM State's Kyle Bradish and Mason Fishback 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 Lopes received five first place votes to finish atop the preseason poll with 61 points. NM State was second, earning two first place votes and 54 points overall. Sacramento State earned one of the remaining first place votes to finish third with 51 points. Seattle U was selected fourth with 46 points and the last first place vote, followed by CSU Bakersfield, Utah Valley, UT Rio Grande Valley, Northern Colorado and Chicago State.
Bradish and Fishback highlighted the Preseason All-WAC squad as NM State led the way with four players. The Aggies' Joey Ortiz and Tristen Carranza joined Bradish and Fishback on the list. Sacramento State had three earn honors as the Hornets were represented by Vinny Esposito, Ian Dawkins and James Outman. Grand Canyon was represented by three as well with Ian Evans, Austin Bull and Jake Wong selected to the team. CSU Bakersfield had two selections with Andrew Penner and Naithen Dewsnap earning honors. Northern Colorado outfielder Jack Pauley and Seattle U pitcher Tarik Skubal rounded out the 14-member squad.
CSUB'S DEWSNAP EARNS NCBWA PRESEASON HONORS
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its 18th annual Preseason All-America Teams and CSU Bakersfield's Naithen Dewsnap became the first Roadrunner in program history to earn a spot on the squad. He was also among 52 players named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watchlist. Dewsnap, a native of Norco, Calif., was selected Preseason All-America Third Team as a relief pitcher after a stellar first year with the Roadrunners in 2017. A transfer from Chaffey College, the then junior reset the school record for most saves in a season as well as the CSUB career record with 14. Two of those saves came in the WAC Tournament, where Dewsnap was named to the All-Tournament Team after throwing six scoreless innings for Bakersfield.
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.
KEEPING THE BEARD
CSU Bakersfield announced in July that it was removing the interim title from Jeremy Beard as he was hired as head coach after serving in the temporary position for the entire 2017 season. Under Beard's first season at the helm, the Roadrunners rebounded from a 19-37 season in 2016 to post a 32-24 mark in 2017. The Roadrunners also improved their WAC record to 14-10 this season, earning a third-place finish in the regular season, a second-seed in the WAC Tournament where they advanced to the championship against Sacramento State.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO HOHOKAM STADIUM
For the fourth 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 16 times (1963, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 2010, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17) and the event was held in Mesa in 1971, 1973, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Sacramento State won the 2017 tournament, earning the WAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
LOOKING BACK ON 2017
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.
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