United Athletic Conference

After a offensive explosion on Friday night, the Grand Canyon Lopes fell in a defensive battle on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 5-3 matchup with 23rd-ranked Oklahoma State in an elimination game at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.

 

The Cowboys struck first, putting a run on the board in the top of the second but the Lopes defense stood strong to limit the scoring. A home run in the top of the fourth gave OSU a 2-0 lead but the Lopes answered back in the bottom of the frame as Elijah Buries took advantage of a throwing area to score from second to cut the deficit to 2-1.

 

Oklahoma State continued the scoring in the top of the fith, scoring on a bases-loaded fielders choice to make it 3-1 and a failed pickoff attempt at third scored the fourth run of the game for the Cowboys.

 

GCU freshman Jacob Wilson narrowed the gap once again in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a solo home run to left field to put the score at 4-2. The next inning, Jonny Weaver pulled the Lopes within a run, scoring on a single to right field by Brock Burton to put the score at 4-3.

 

Another solo home run stretched OSU's lead heading into the bottom of the eighth and the Lopes couldn't get back in it as GCU saw it's season come to an end at 39-21-2.

 

Playing in their first NCAA Regional, the Grand Canyon Lopes scored a pair of runs in both the first and second innings before the fifth-seeded Arizona Wildcats stormed back to take the 12-6 win in Tucson.

 

The Lopes immediately began chasing Arizona starter Chase Silseth in the top of the first as Cade Verdusco doubled down the right field line to score Jacob Wilson from third. Tyler Wilson then followed that up with an RBI single to the shortstop that scored Elijah Buries to make it 2-0. GCU added two more in the top of the second as Brock Burton singled through the right side to score David Avitia from first and then came in to score himself on a double by Jacob Wilson.

 

The Wildcats got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second and after a single run in the third, Arizona tied the game in the bottom of the fourth before taking the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. After Arizona scored an insurance run in the seventh, the Lopes crossed the plate again in the top of the eighth on a double by Jonny Weaver to score Tayler Aguilar and then Channy Ortiz singled to center field to score Weaver and pull GCU back within a run at 7-6.

 

The game would tilt back the Wildcats' direction in the bottom of the eight as UA put up five runs to pull ahead 12-6 and put the game out of reach.

 

After picking up a share of the WAC regular season title, the Grand Canyon Lopes added a little more hardware to their trophy case, winning the 2021 WAC Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. Earning a first-round bye, the Lopes picked up a hard-fought 5-4 win against NM State on Thursday before crusing past Sacramento State, 11-0, on Friday. In the title game, the Lopes had to come from behind but ended up in a dogpile on the mound following a 5-4 win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night. Right-hander Pierson Ohl was named Tournament MVP after throwing a complete game shutout on Friday night. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Brock Burton, Nick Hull and Jonny Weaver. UT Rio Grande Valley was represtend by Andy Atwood, Coleman Grubbs and Christian Sepulveda. The remainder of the team was Sacramento State's Jack Bollengier, Seattle U's Nestor German and Connor O'Brien and NM State's Chris Jefferson.

 

While the majority of the WAC was battling it out in Mesa, both California Baptist and Dixie State were in action in non-conference games and the Lancers and Trailblazers ended their seasons on a high note as well. CBU picked up three wins over rival UC Riverside to reach the 40-win plateau while Dixie State earned a win over seventh-ranked Arizona on Friday and gave the Wildcats all they could handle in two other close losses.

 

As a team, California Baptist is the leader in both batting average (.295) and earned run average (3.73). Sacramento State is the leader on defense, boasting a .982 fielding percentage. Individually, the Hornets' Matt Smith has the lead in batting average at .393. NMSU's Zerek Saenz is the leader in hits (74) and teammate Ethan Mann has the lead in RBIs (50). GCU's Channy Ortiz is the leader in runs scored (57). When it comes to extra-base hits, UVU's Alexander Marco and SAC's Steven Moretto share the lead 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 (13). On the hill, GCU's Pierson Ohl has the low ERA at 2.36 and SAC's Scott Randall holds the lead in strikeouts (103).

 

Just days after being named a Freshman All-American, California Baptist closer C.J. Culpepper has been named a Third Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. After being named the WAC Freshman of the Year, Culpepper has twice been named a Freshman All-American. The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper first bestowed him the recognition in the first week of June. He's the first Lancer to receive multiple Division I All-American awards.

 

It was a historic season for Culpepper. He logged a single-season record 13 saves for CBU, which not only led the WAC but ranked second in all of Division I in the regular season. Overall, Culpepper made 22 appearances, which ranks second on the team and struck out 38 batters over 30 innings. He also won two games and maintained a 3.30 earned-run average, 1.33 WHIP and .225 batting average against.

 

 Earning their spot among the top collegiate baseball players in the country, three players from the WAC have been named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-West Region Teams.

 

The only position player from the WAC to earn honors was WAC Player of the Year and sophomore outfielder Damon Keith from California Baptist. Helping lead the Lancers to their second WAC regular season title in as many tries, Keith hit .336 in 56 games, leading the league with 13 home runs and 57 runs scored.

 

WAC Pitcher of the Year and Tournament MVP Pierson Ohl also earned honors after leading Grand Canyon to both a share of the WAC regular season title and the WAC Tournament title. He led the WAC with a 2.60 ERA in 100.1 innings pitched, posting a 10-2 record with 103 strikeouts.

 

Sacramento State pitcher Scott Randall was the third WAC player honored after posting a 7-2 record for the Hornets with a 2.89 ERA and 103 strikeouts.

 

In addition to crowing a champion at the WAC Tournament, Championship Saturday was a big day for a pair of coaches as UTRGV skipper Derek Matlock earned his 100th career win in the first game against Sacramento State and then GCU leader Andy Stankiewicz picked up his 300th career win in the title contest.

 

LSU assistant coach Eddie Smith has been named Utah Valley University's new head baseball coach. Smith becomes just the third baseball coach for UVU at the NCAA Division I level and the fifth all-time, which includes the program's junior college era.

 

Smith has been the hitting coach at national power LSU for the past two seasons and is preparing to begin NCAA Tournament play on Friday in the Eugene Regional, the program's ninth straight trip to the postseason. He has had assistant coaching stops at Tulane, Notre Dame, Santa Clara and Virginia before making his way to Baton Rouge. He was also the head baseball coach at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., for four seasons from 2014-2017.

 

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.