United Athletic Conference

California Baptist's Chad Castillo and Sacramento State's Colin Hunter have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 14 – Feb. 20.

 

Castillo, a junior outfielder from Santa Ana, Calif., led the Lancers to a series sweep over Coppin State, going 8-for-13 from the plate with seven runs scored, five RBIs and three extra-base hits. He saved his best for last, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs in Sunday's 9-4 win. He also added five stolen bases on the week to get in scoring position all weekend long.

 

Hunter, a freshman right-hander from Scottsdale, Ariz., had a memorable collegiate debut, tossing a seven-inning no-hitter against visiting Northern Illinois. After facing the minimum through the first four innings before an error let a runner on, the true freshman finished with nine strikeouts and no walks in the 8-0 victory.

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Dixie State's Shane Taylor batted .455 with three RBIs in the Trailblazers' opening weekend series at Arizona State … Grand Canyon's Tayler Aguilar was 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs as the Lopes salvaged the weekend with a 15-4 win over Nevada on Sunday … Lamar's Josh Blakenship hit .583 on the week with four RBIs as the Cardinals took two of three from Binghamton … NM State's Gunner Antillon was 3-for-3 in the Aggies' series finale against UIC as NMSU took two-of-three from the Flames … Sacramento State's Dawsen Bacho led the Hornets on opening weekend, hitting .692 in a series sweep over Northern Illinois … Sam Houston's Justin Wishkoski recorded a hit in each of the Kats' four games in a series win over Nebraska, finishing the week 7-for-14 with three extra-base hits and four RBIs … Tarleton's Carter Dobrinski was 6-for-10 at the dish with three walks as the Texans battled UTSA on opening weekend … UT Rio Grande Valley's Brandon Pimentel hit a pair of three-run home runs in Sunday's 23-3 win over George Washington … Utah Valley's Mitch Moralez recorded a hit in all four games and led the Wolverines with a .357 averaged as UVU dropped a series at Texas State.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: California Baptist's CJ Culpepper opened the season with a two-hit win, striking out seven with no walks over five scoreless innings in an 8-1 win over Coppin State … Dixie State's Ryan Hardman picked up the win for the Trailblazers in Saturday's 7-6 win over Arizona State, allowing one run on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk … Grand Canyon's Nick Hull struck out eight and walked just one while scattering one run and three hits over five innings in a no-decision against Nevada on Friday night … Lamar's Braxton Douthit through six innings of no-hit baseball, finishing with 13 strikeouts but taking a no-decision in Friday's 2-1 win over Binghamton … NM State's Sammy Natera struck out a league-high 14 on Saturday, allowing just two hits over seven innings in a 6-3 win over UIC … Sam Houston's Steven Beard picked up the win over Nebraska on Sunday, scattering three hits over six innings with eight strikeouts and one walk in the 6-3 win … Tarleton's Aiden Adams earned the win in his first collegiate start, allowing two hits over four innings, in a 12-1 win over UTSA … UT Rio Grande Valley's Kevin Stevens retired the first 12 batters he faced and finished with 13 strikeouts and just one hit allowed over six innings pitched in a 3-0 win over George Washington on Friday … Utah Valley's Mason Gray tossed five scoreless innings, striking out two, walking one and allowing just one hit in the Wolverines' 5-3 win over Texas State on Saturday.

 

The week's schedule begins on Tuesday with a number of marquee games. In games against nationally-ranked foes, Stephen F. Austin travels to 18th-ranked TCU, Grand Canyon visits 16th-ranked Arizona and Sam Houston takes on eighth-ranked Oklahoma State at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. Turning to the weekend, UT Rio Grande Valley heads to H-town for two with Texas Southern before heading across the street for two against Houston. In other series, Tarleton hosts Eastern Illinois, Abilene Christian hosts Michigan State, NM State hosts Oakland, Utah Valley travels to San Francisco, Seattle U travels to UTSA, Lamar visits Rice, Stephen F. Austin hosts UTA, Sam Houston plays at 22nd-ranked Dallas Baptist, Dixie State hosts North Dakota State, Grand Canyon visits 19th-ranked UC Irvine, Sacramento State heads to Long Beach State and California Baptist hosts Purdue Fort Wayne.

 

WAC newcomer Abilene Christian is picked to win the Southwest Division while Grand Canyon has been selected to win the West Division in a vote of the league's 13 head coaches, who could not vote for their own teams. In addition, ACU outfielder Colton Eager was picked as Preseason Player of the Year and UTRGV right-hander Kevin Stevens was named Preseason Pitched of the Year.

 

In the Southwest, Abilene Christian picked up all five possible first-place votes to finish with 25 points. UTRGV earned the other first place vote and 19 points overall to tie with Sam Houston for second place. Lamar was picked fourth with 11 points, followed by Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton.

 

In the West, Grand Canyon picked up five first-place votes and 34 points to hold off Sacramento State, who also picked up a first-place vote and 30 points overall. California Baptist was picked third, garnering the final first-place vote and 27 points. NM State came in third with 20 points, followed by Dixie State with 19 points. Utah Valley was selected sixth and Seattle U rounded out the poll.

 

Eager and Stevens highlight the Preseason All-WAC squad. Eager is joined by teammates Grayson Tatrow and Tommy Cruz. GCU had five recognized as Elijah Buries, Juan Colato, Jacob Wilson, Tayler Aguilar and Carter Young all earned honors. Dixie State was represented by Kaden Hollow, Lamar was represented by Chase Kemp, NM State was represented by Kevin Jimenez, Sam Houston was represented by Coltin Atkinson and California Baptist was represented by CJ Culpepper.

 

Four new teams join the WAC this year with Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin making the move to the league from the Southland Conference. 

 

Sacramento State freshman Colin Hunter had a memorable collegiate debut, tossing a seven-inning no-hitter against visiting Northern Illinois. After facing the minimum through the first four innings before an error let a runner on, the true freshman finished with nine strikeouts and no walks in the 8-0 victory.

 

Lamar made the most of their first game in the WAC, playing 14 innings before defeating Binghamton in the season opener on Feb. 18.

 

The 2023 season will feature two more teams as UIW and UTA will join the WAC as full member institutions, bringing the total of baseball playing institutions to 15 teams.

 

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 19 times and the event hase been held in Mesa 12 times.