United Athletic Conference

 

After winning their first ever WAC Baseball Tournament, the NM State Aggies battled the heat and some tough teams at the Lubbock regional, falling to host Texas Tech in the opening round and dropping a pitcher's dual against Kent State.

 

In the opener, the Aggies fell behind early as eventual College World Series participant Texas Tech put five runs on the board in the first three innings and added another four insurance runs in the seventh to put NM State in a hole and despite five strikeouts from Jonathan Groff and another three from Matthew Perea, the Aggies couldn't find the offense and fell 9-2.

 

The Aggies returned to the diamond the next day and ace Kyle Bradish was outstanding against Kent State, allowing just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts in 7.1 innings on the hill. Unfortunately for Bradish, the Aggie offense struggled againt to score runs and a two-run home run in the eighth inning was all the Golden Flashes needed to earn a 2-1 win. 

 

After the WAC had five players taken in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, eight more players were selected on Wednesday as the draft concluded with 13 WAC baseball players chosen.

 

Grand Canyon's Jake Wong was the first WAC baseball player who heard his named called during the 2018 MLB Draft, going to the San Francisco Giants with the second pick of the third round on Tuesday afternoon. NM State ace Kyle Bradish didn't have to wait long to hear his name either, as the Los Angeles Angels selected the right hander in the fourth round with the 121st overall pick.

 

Sacramento State's James Outman was the only position player from the WAC taken on Tuesday as the outfielder went in the seventh round to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seattle U southpaw Tarik Skubal was the fourth player taken as the Detroit Tigers took the Redhawk with the first pick of the ninth round. Grand Canyon closer Mick Vorhof went in the ninth round as well with the New York Yankees selecting him with the 277th overall pick.

 

On Wednesday, Northern Colorado's Troy Watson was the first WAC player to be selected as the pitcher went in the 15th round to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Miami Marlins selected Seattle U's Zach Wolf in the 18th round and teammate Nick Meservey went three rounds later to the Baltimore Orioles.

 

Grand Canyon infielder Zach Malis was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 24th round while Dalton Hurd became the fourth SU product taken, going to the Chicago Cubs in the 25th round. Ian Evans became the fourth GCU player taken in the 26th round, going to the Baltimore Orioles. 

 

Sacramento State outfielder Ian Dawkins also heard his name called, going to the Chicago White Sox in the 27th round with the 798th overall pick. Teammate Vinny Esposito was the final WAC player drafted, going in the 34th round to the Detroit Tigers.

 

Using record-setting pitching and timely hitting, the NM State Aggies took home the 2018 WAC Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. The Aggies used a pair of shutouts against CSU Bakersfield, 4-0, and Sacramento State, 2-0, to move into Friday's semifinal and the NM State bats came alive against Seattle U, earning an 11-1 win in seven innings. The Aggies then faced off against Sacramento State again on Saturday night but it would be the Hornets who proved victorious early Sunday morning with a 4-3 win in a tournament-record 15 innings to force a winner-take-all game on Sunday afternoon. In the tournament finale, NMSU ace Kyle Bradish struck out five over six innings  and closer Brock Whittelsey earned his 12th save of the year as the Aggies won their first WAC tournament title, 4-3.

 

NM State's Tristen Carranza was named tournament MVP after going 10-for-21 from the plate with three doubles, three runs scored and seven RBIs. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Bradish, Jonathan Groff, Marcus Still and Whittlesey. Representing Sacramento State on the all-tournament team was Ian Dawkins, Andrew McWilliam, James Outman and Austin Root. Grand Canyon's Zach Malis and Seattle U's Cameron Sterne also earned honors.

 

The 2018 WAC Baseball Tournament had a number of records broken over the course of the week. NM State set new marks for at-bats in a game (55) and batters struck out in a game (21) while Sacramento State was on the other end of the record for strikeouts in a game (21). The Aggies also set tournament records for lowest ERA (0.93) and batters struck out (54). Sacramento State set new tournament records for at-bats (235) and strikeouts (49). The Aggies and Hornets' 15-inning contest on Saturday set a new mark for longest game in tournament history and also set two-team records for at-bats (106) and strikeouts (33).

 

Individually, Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins set a new mark for at-bats in a tournament (31) while NM State's Kyle Bradish set a new record for batters struck out in a tournament (15). 

 

On the season, there were also some noteworth performances. NM State's Bradish finished with a school-record 140 strikeouts on the season, the most since Rice's Philip Humber struck out 154 in 2004. GCU's Mick Vorhof finished his career ranked seventh in career appearances while Seattle U's Zach Wolf tied the third spot on the career saves list with 27.

 

NM State left-hander Jonathan Groff was named a Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after earning WAC Pitcher of the Year honors. Teammate Nick Gonzales also earned national honors, being named Freshman All-American by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Sacramento State pitcher Scott Randall was also named Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

 

NM State teammates Jonathan Groff and Kyle Bradish were each named to the Midwest All-Region Second Team. Groff was named 2018 WAC Pitcher of the Year and finished the season with a 11-3 record in 16 starts. Bradish set a new school record for strikeouts in a season with 140, going 9-3 with a 2.67 ERA, and was drafted in the fourth round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.

 

Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton was named West All-Region Second Team after being named WAC Player of the Year. The sophomore outfielder hit .390 with 19 doubles, five triples and five home runs to go with 43 RBIs as he helped lead the Lopes to their second-straight WAC regular season title.

 

Sacramento State's Austin Root was also named West All-Region Second Team after posting an 11-3 record for the Hornets. He was a Second Team All-WAC selection at starting pitcher and also earned All-Tournament honors in Mesa.

 

NM State leads the WAC in batting (.313), Sacramento State is the leader in pitching (3.66 ERA) and fielding (.976). Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton in the individual batting leader at .390 while Sacramento State's Parker Brahms holds the low ERA at 2.41 through 93.1 innings pitched. Cotton is also the leader in hits (94), runs (62), and is tied for the lead in doubles (19) with NMSU's Caleb Henderson and in triples (5) with NMSU's Logan Ehnes. NMSU's Henderson also leads the WAC with 63 RBIs while SAC's James Outman is the home run leader at 11. NMSU's Kyle Bradish is the strikeouts leader with 131 through 93.2 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.