United Athletic Conference

Seattle U's Shane Jamison and Dixie State's Jimmy Borzone have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 17 to May 23.

 

Jamison, a sophomore infielder from Lummi Island, Wash., stepped up when the Redhawks needed him most, hitting .615 with eight RBIs to help Seattle U clinch the fifth seed in this week's WAC Baseball Tournament in Mesa, Ariz. The strong week started early he went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI in a 7-2 win over Utah Valley on Thursday. In Friday's doubleheader, he was a combined 3-for-7 at the plate with four RBIs as SU clinched both a tournament spot and the fifth seed. He finished up the weekend with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, driving in three runs and scoring once in a 14-5 loss.

 

Borzone, a junior right-hander from Vancouver, Wash., was dealing straight fire on Friday against Northern Colorado, recording 14 strikeouts over seven innings to earn the complete-game win against Northern Colorado. Scattering seven hits in his third win of the season, his 14 strikeouts were just one off DSU's NCAA-era single game record. 

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Mitchel Simon had a hit in all four games and finished the week with a .429 average as the Lancers earned a share of the WAC regular season title with a series split at Grand Canyon … Dixie State's Kaden Hollow batted .455 with three doubles and five RBIs in a series sweep over Northern Colorado … Grand Canyon's Jacob Wilson hit .429 as the Lopes clinched a share of the WAC regular season title with a series split against California Baptist … Northern Colorado's Josh Glenn had a double, a home run and three RBIs in the season-ending series at Dixie State … Sacramento State's Keith Torres delivered on a pair of walk-off hits in a 5-4 win over UTRGV on Thursday and 6-5 win over the Vaqueros on Friday … UT Rio Grande Valley's Diego Ramirez recorded his third three-hit game of the season on Thursday in a 5-4 extra-inning loss at Sacramento State … Utah Valley's Mitch Moralez was 4-for-5 with five RBIs and four runs scored to help the Wolverines clinch the final spot in this week's WAC Baseball Tournament with a 14-5 win at Seattle U on Saturday.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Jacob McCarvel had a hand in both of the Lancers' wins on the weekend, earning the save in Friday's 5-3 win and picking up the win on Saturday's 6-1 victory … Grand Canyon's Pierson Ohl earned the win against California Baptist on Thursday, allowing just one run over eight innings in a 5-1 victory … Sacramento State's Jack Zalasky earned a pair of wins out of the bullpen, picking up extra-inning victories on both Thursday and Friday against UT Rio Grande Valley … Seattle U's Morgan White struck out 10 and allowed two runs on two hits over six innings in Thursday's 7-2 win over Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley's Kevin Palm had a career-high six strikeouts in four innings of relief against Sacramento State on Friday … Utah Valley's Blake Zeleny picked up the win on Saturday at Seattle U, allowing one run on four hits over a pair of innings of relief in a 14-5 win.

 

The 2021 WAC Baseball Tournament heads back to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. this week with six teams battling it out in double-elimination play for the right to represent the WAC in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Grand Canyon earned the top seed after earning a share of the WAC regular season title with California Baptist. Sacramento State is the second seed after winning a series against UT Rio Grande Valley, who will be the third seed. NM State is the fourth seed, followed by Seattle U in the fifth spot and Utah Valley in the sixth spot.

 

Despite not being eligible for the WAC Tournament due to transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, both California Baptist and Dixie State will be in action this week. The Lancers, who earned a share of the WAC regular season title, will face off with UC Riverside in a split home-and-home series, playing at UCR on Thursday and Saturday and at CBU on Friday. Dixie State will be a few hours south of the WAC Tournament, taking on seventh-ranked Arizona in a non-conference series.

 

As a team, California Baptist is the leader in both batting average (.291) and earned run average (3.64). Sacramento State is the leader on defense, boasting a .984 fielding percentage. Individually, the Hornets' Matt Smith has the lead in batting average at .399. NMSU's Zerek Saenz is the leader in hits (72) and teammate Ethan Mann has the lead in RBIs (50). GCU's Channy Ortiz is the leader in runs scored (54). When it comes to extra-base hits, UVU's Alexander Marco is the leader in doubles (22), NC's Shaydon Kubo and UTRGV's Coleman Grubbs share the lead in triples (4) and CBU's Damon Keith has the lead in home runs (12). On the hill, GCU's Carter Young has the low ERA at 2.37 and SAC's Scott Randall holds the lead in strikeouts (99).

 

Utah Valley head coach Eric Madsen announced his resignation on April 27 after amassing over 300 career victories in 13 seasons leading the Wolverines. UVU also announced the David Carter will take over at the team's interim head coach.

 

Sacramento State's Scott Randall recorded his second 14 strikeout game of the season at Northern Colorado on April 23 while teammate Travis Adams recorded 13 Ks against those same Bears on April 24.

 

Dixie State's Jake Engel went 3-for-3 on Saturday against San Diego State, with all three hits leaving the year for home runs. He added another home run in the nightcap for good measure.

 

Sacramento State's Matt Smith etched his name in the record books over the weekend, becoming the Hornets' all-time leader in both hits and RBIs. In the hits column, he passed current Tampa Bay Rays farmhand Nathan Lukes (144) and in the RBIs, he passed former MLB first round pick Tim Wheeler (142).

 

Dixie State's Jimmy Borzone fired the WAC's first no-hitter in over four years in a 5-1 win at Tarleton on April 2. In addition to being the first in the league since Sacramento State's Justin Dillon no-hit Northern Kentucky on Feb. 23, 2017, it was the first no-hitter in a league game since Fresno State's Greg Gonzalez no-hit Hawai'i on April 10, 2010.

 

UT Rio Grande Valley junior Freddy Rojas Jr. went yard in six straight games, two shy of the NCAA record.

 

Due to a travel-related curfew, the Grand Canyon Lopes ended up in a 4-4 tie with 15th-ranked Oklahoma State on March 7.

 

Perhaps sad about all the baseball they missed in 2020, Northern Colorado played 15 innings in its season-opening loss to Colorado Christian.

 

Grand Canyon, Sacramento State and UT Rio Grande Valley sit in a three-way tie as the preseason favorites to win the 2021 Western Athletic Conference baseball title while GCU's Juan Colato and Sacramento State's Scott Randall were selected WAC Preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 10 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

UTRGV held the slight edge in the trio at the top, collecting four first-place votes while totaling 73 points. GCU and Sacramento State each received three first-place votes and had 73 points each as well to secure the three-way tie. NM State was selected fourth with 53 points, followed by California Baptist in fifth with 49 points. Seat tle U is predicted to finish sixth with 37 points and Utah Valley is seventh at 32 points. Newcomer Dixie State was selected eighth and Northern Colorado and Tarleton tied for ninth in the preseason prognostication. 

 

Colato and Randall highlight the Preseason All-WAC squad. Colato is joined by teammates Pierson Ohl and Frankie Scalzo. UT Rio Grande Valley had three selected as Conrado Diaz, Joseph Impeduglia and Christian Sepulveda earned honors. Seattle U had two honored as Justin Kodama and Connor O'Brien represented the Redhawks and California Baptist also had a pair earn honors as Ulises Caballero and Chad Castillo were named to the team. NM State was represented by Noah Haupt, Tarleton was represented by Blake Burns and Utah Valley's Jesse Schmit was honored to round out the 14-member team.

 

The WAC will feature a couple new teams as Dixie State and Tarleton joined the conference as full members on July 1, 2020. Chris Pfatenhauer enters his ninth season leading the Dixie State Trailblazers while Aaron Meade will embark on his second season leading the Tarleton Texans. The two teams replace CSU Bakersfield, who departed the league for the Big West, and Chicago State, who discontinued their program.

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools will join the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah, who does not sponsor baseball, will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.

 

The 2021 season will mark the final season in the WAC for Northern Colorado. The Bears, who are in their eighth season as an affiliate member, will move to the Summit League for baseball while keeping their other sports in the Big Sky Conference. 

 

After having to cancel the tournament last 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 18 times and the event hase been held in Mesa 11 times.  Sacramento State became the first ever team to win six-straight games to win the 2019 tournament, earning the WAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.