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SAC ST'S DAWKINS NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins has been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week for May 7 through May 13. Dawkins, a senior outfielder from San Lorenzo, Calif. (Arroyo HS/Chabot College), led the WAC in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits and total bases in a strong week at the plate. He finished the week 11-of-17 from the plate for a .647 batting average to go along with a .667 on-base percentage and a 1.235 slugging percentage. In the series-opener at Grand Canyon, he was 4-of-5 with a double and a home run and somehow managed to get better the next day, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a home run. His .416 batting average in conference play leads the WAC and his 11 doubles against WAC opponents in also a league best.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jassen Oliver was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and drove in the winning run in Sunday's 3-2 win at Northern Colorado … Chicago State's Tyler Lowe led the Cougars to a winning week, going 10-for-19 from the plate, including 6-of-11 in the weekend series win over UT Rio Grande Valley … Grand Canyon's Preston Pavlica was 7-for-13 on the week and had his first multi-double game of the season with two in Saturday's win over Sacramento State … Northern Colorado's Brett Minnick was 5-for-9 from the plate as the Bears took 2-of-3 from CSU Bakersfield to clinch a trip to the WAC Tournament … UT Rio Grande Valley's Anthony Gomez had his second-career three-RBI game on Saturday in a win over Chicago State … Utah Valley's David Modler was 6- for-11 from the plate for a .545 batting average as the Wolverines dropped 2-of-3 to Seattle U.
UVU'S SCHMITT NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley's Kaden Schmitt has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for May 7 through May 13. Schmitt, a senior right-hander from Shelley, Idaho (Shelley HS), earned his second complete-game win of the season on Sunday against Seattle U. Facing 38 batters, he allowed two runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts and just one walk to earn the win. His other complete game win also came in WAC play, earning a 6-1 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on March 31.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Naithen Dewsnap went back to the bullpen this week and allowed just two hits in 7.2 innings pitched, earning the win on Sunday at Northern Colorado … Chicago State's Yunis Halim earned a save and a win as the Cougars took 2-of-3 from UT Rio Grande Valley to keep postseason hopes alive … Grand Canyon's Ethan Evanko was the winning pitcher in his final home start, striking out nine and allowing one walk to go with two runs on seven hits in six innings on the mound … NM State's Jonathan Groff struck out six and allowed just one run over seven innings to earn the win on Saturday at Gonzaga … Northern Colorado's Keenan Lum allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings on the hill to earn the win on Saturday against CSU Bakersfield … Seattle U's Tarik Skubal struck out 10 and walked two while allowing one run on four hits over seven innings to earn the win on Saturday afternoon against Utah Valley.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
NM State leads the WAC in batting (.319), Sacramento State is the leader in pitching (3.82 ERA) and fielding (.977). Chicago State's Tyler Lowe is the individual batting leader at .384 while Sacramento State's Parker Brahms holds the low ERA at 2.21 through 77.1 innings pitched. Individually, Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton is the hits leader (84) and is tied with NM State's Joey Ortiz for the lead in runs socer (53). NMSU's Caleb Henderson is the RBI leader (58) and is tied with teammate Trey Stine and GCU's Cotton for the lead in doubles (17). NMSU's Logan Ehnes is the triples leader (5) while SAC's James Outman has a league-high 10 home runs. NM State's Kyle Bradish is the strikeout king with 104 through 74.2 innings pitched.
In WAC-only play, NM State holds a league-best .323 batting average. Sacramento State is tops in both pitching (3.03 ERA) and fielding (.979). Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins has the best individual batting average (.416) while teammate Brahms has the best ERA (2.18) against conference opponents. GCU's Cotton is the leader in hits (39) and runs scored (25) while NMSU's Henderson has the lead in RBIs (34). Dawkins is also the leader in doubles (11) while NMSU's Ehnes is tied with Northern Colorado's Jack Pauley for the lead in triples (3). Henderson is tied with SAC's PJ Floyd and GCU's Zach Malis for the lead in WAC home runs (6). SU's Tarik Skubal and SAC's Brahms share the lead for strikeouts against league foes with 59 each.
TICKET PUNCHED
Grand Canyon will be making the trip across the valley on May 23 as the Lopes are one of five teams who have officially clinched a trip to Hohokam Stadium and the 2018 WAC Tournament. Joining GCU in Mesa will be NM State, Sacramento State, Seattle U and Northern Colorado. The remaining four teams in the conference (CSU Bakersfield, UT Rio Grande Valley, Utah Valley and Chicago State) still could make the tournament with the right results this week.
ON DECK
With the 2018 WAC Tournament just over a week away, everyone has something to play for this weekend as the regular season comes to a close. In non-conference games on the WAC Digital Network, Sacramento State hosts Arizona on Monday night while Utah Valley hosts Utah on Tuesday. The real action begins on Thursday with every series counting towards determining the tournament field. Grand Canyon heads to the Pacific Northwest to take on Seattle U with both teams playing for the top seed in Mesa. Utah Valley visits Sacramento State as the Hornets will be looking for wins to better their chance at a top seed while the Wolverines will be playing for the chance to extend their season as UVU needs wins and a little help to head to Hohokam. NM State visits UT Rio Grande Valley as the Aggies sit just a game back of GCU in the standings and are hoping that a combination of wins in Edinburg and SU victories will add up to a regular season title while UTRGV will be looking to return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2014. The final WAC series of the week matches Chicago State traveling to CSU Bakersfield with both teams looking to earn a trip to Arizona next week. Northern Colorado has the lone bye and after a non-conference game at Air Force on Tuesday, the Bears will rest up for next week's tournament run in Mesa.
SERIES STREAK
Grand Canyon's series win against Sacramento State was the 16th-consecutive WAC series win for the Lopes, the longest active streak in the nation. Grand Canyon's last series loss was May 12-15, 2016 at Sacramento State.
MILESTONE WINS
Seattle U skipper Donny Harrel earned his 200th career win on March 13 with the Redhawks 9-6 win at Portland. GCU head coach Andy Stakieeicz also hit the 200-win mark on April 8 against Utah Valley. Sacramento State leader Reggie Christansen recently won in 100th WAC game on April 7 against Chicago State. NM State skipper Brian Green is the latest to meet a milestone, beating rival New Mexico for win 100.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
NM State's 39-0 win on Feb. 23 against Mississippi Valley reset a couple WAC records. The 39 runs scored set a new top mark that was previously held by Rice in 1997 against Cincinnati and NM State in 2006 against Northern Iowa with 37 each. The 35 RBIs also set a new mark, besting the previous record of 33 by Arizona State in 1974 against UTEP and NM State in 2006 against Northern Iowa.
ONE OF EACH PLEASE
Utah Valley's Jackson Overlund became the first WAC player of the season to hit for the cycle, doing it on Feb. 24 in the nightcap at Pacific. He hit a home run in the second, single in the fifth, triple in the seventh and double in the ninth to complete the feat.
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.
READY TO GO
After playing through a four-year transition period to NCAA Division I, Grand Canyon is eligible for the postseason this year. The Lopes are predicted to win the WAC after winning the regular season title last season.
COMING SOON
California Baptist is scheduled to join the WAC for 2018-2019 competition. They will begin their four year transition process to Division 1. This will make them ineligible to compete in post season tournaments (WAC and NCAA) until 2022-2023 season. They will be coming from the Pacific West Conference where they won five championships (M&W Cross Country, W. Basketball, W. Golf, and Softball) during 2016-2017 season.
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, an experienced stadium manager in Mark Gallo 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.