This Week in WAC Baseball - May 21
This Week in WAC Baseball - May 21
GCU'S WINCHESTER NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Pikai Winchester has been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week for May 14 through May 20. Winchester, a junior designated hitter from Honolulu ('Ionlani School/Central Arizona College), was 9-of-13 in the Lopes' series sweep over Seattle U to help GCU earn its third WAC regular season title in the last four seasons. His best game was on Thursday afternoon, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs in a 12-3 victory. He was then 3-for-5 on Friday as the Lopes clinched the top spot in this week's WAC Tournament and then went 2-for-4 on Saturday as GCU clinched sole possession of the conference crown. He finished the week hitting .588 with nine runs and five RBIs.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jake Ortega tied the program record with two triples in Friday's 12-2 win over Chicago State and finished the week 5-for-10 from the plate … Northern Colorado's Matt Zoba was 5-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the Bears' 18-11 win over Air Force … Sacramento State's Keith Torres held a .462 batting average and .611 on-base percentage as the Hornets earned a series sweep over Utah Valley to earn the number two seed at the upcoming WAC Tournament.
NMSU'S BRADISH NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
NM State's Kyle Bradish has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for May 14 through May 20. Bradish, a junior right-hander from Goodyear, Ariz. (Millennium HS), broke the NM State single season strikeouts record in a win over UT Rio Grande on Thursday. Over six innings, Bradish struck out 12 batters and walked just one while allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits. He broke the previous record of 107 that was held by Albert Montoya in 1991. Bradish heads into the WAC Tournament with a WAC-high 116 strikeouts this season.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Alec Dailey earned the complete game win on Thursday, allowing two runs, one of which was earned, on five hits in the seven-inning contest … Grand Canyon's Mick Vorhof earned a pair of saves to help the Lopes earn the WAC regular season title in Seattle … Sacramento State's Austin Roberts earned the win in Thursday's walk-off win over Utah Valley and finished the week with six scoreless innings of relief … UT Rio Grande Valley's Trevelle Hill took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and ended up with a no decision despite allowing just one hit in seven scoreless innings.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
NM State leads the WAC in batting (.316), Sacramento State is the leader in pitching (3.81 ERA) and fielding (.977). Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton in the individual batting leader at .393 while Sacramento State's Parker Brahms holds the low ERA at 2.51 through 82.1 innings pitched. Cotton is also the leader in hits (92), runs (62), doubles (19) and is tied for the lead in triples (5) with NMSU's Logan Ehnes. NMSU's Caleb Henderson leads the WAC with 62 RBIs while SAC's James Outman is the home run leader at 11. NMSU's Kyle Bradish is the strikeouts leader with 116 through 80.2 innings pitched.
In WAC-only play, Grand Canyon hit a league-best .328. Sacramento State was tops in both pitching (2.99 ERA) and fielding (.980). NMSU's Henderson held the top batting average (.419) while SAC's Austin Roberts had the low ERA (0.70) in 25.2 innings of relief. Cotton led the WAC in hits (45), runs (32) and was tied for the lead in triples (3) with Ehnes, UTRGV's Elijah Alexander and NC's Jack Pauley. SAC's Ian Dawkins led the league in doubles in WAC play with 12 while Henderson was the WAC's home run king in league play with 8. SAC's Brahms and SU's Tarik Skubal tied for the strikeout lead with 64 in 46.1 innings pitched.
TOURNAMENT BRACKET SET
For the third time in the last four seasons, Grand Canyon won the WAC baseball regular season title but for the first time in that period, the Lopes will be the number one seed in the WAC Baseball Tournament, earning the top seed in their first year of eligibility. Sacramento State is the number two seed by virtue of a tiebreak over third-seed NM State. Seattle U earns the fourth seed and will take on fifth-seeded Northern Colorado to open tournament action. CSU Bakersfield earned the sixth seed and will face NM State. All games will be shown live on the WAC Digital Network at www.wacsports.com/watch as well as Facebook Live, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku devices.
SERIES STREAK
Grand Canyon's series win against Seattle U was the 17th-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.