United Athletic Conference

California Baptist's Chad Castillo and UT Rio Grande Valley's Kevin Stevens have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 4 – April 10.

 

Castillo, a junior outfielder from Santa Ana, Calif., became the first Lancer since 2006, and the first WAC player this season, to hit for the cycle as he went 4-for-7 with six RBIs and three runs scored in a 21-4 win at Air Force on Saturday. On the week, he had at least two hits in every game, including three three-hit performances. He also recorded three doubles at Air Force on Friday and finished the week with six doubles and 10 RBIs to go along with a .571 batting average and 1.095 slugging percentage.

 

Stevens, a senior right-hander from Tucson, Ariz., recorded his second-career shutout and fourth-career complete game in a 10-0 win over Stephen F. Austin on Friday. On the mound for all eight innings, he scattered five hits while striking out seven 'Jacks and walking just one. It was his third start without allowing a run this season.

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Dixie State's Shane Taylor hit safely in all four games, including a 1-for-2 afternoon with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored in a 7-5 win over Brigham Young … Grand Canyon's Tyler Wilson homered in the first three games and finished the week 14-for-23 from the plate, including a 5-for-5 game at Dixie State on Saturday … Lamar's Matthew McDonald went 5-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs cored in the Cardinals' series-clinching win over Tarleton … NM State's Tommy Tabak hit safely in each of NM State's four games, finishing the week with a .500 average and 1.083 slugging percentage … Sacramento State's Cesar Valero helped the Hornets to a series win at NM State, going 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs, six RBIs and three runs scored in Sunday's series-clinching victory … Sam Houston's Carlos Contreras hit safely in all four games on the week, including 9-for-14 with nine RBIs in a series sweep of Abilene Christian … Tarleton's London Green compiled eight hits and 12 RBIs, including two home runs and six RBIs in Sunday's win over Lamar … UT Rio Grande Valley's Brett Cain recorded his first-career multi-home run game on Saturday against Stephen F. Austin … Utah Valley's Trey Cutchen was 8-for-18 on the week to help the Wolverines earn a midweek win over Utah and a series win over Seattle U.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Brandon Downer had yet another strong start for the Lancers, scattering five hits over 6.1 innings to earn the victory in a 21-4 win at Air Force … Grand Canyon's Daniel Avitia struck out 12, the most by a GCU pitcher since 2004, to pick up the win at Dixie State on Saturday … Lamar's Braxton Douthit posted a win in his lone start of the week, allowing one run over 5.1 innings in a 4-1 victory at Tarleton … NM State's Cam Blazek tossed five scoreless innings, striking out five in a no-decision on Friday night … Sacramento State's Eli Saul won his second-straight start with four strikeouts and three runs allowed on three hits over 6.0 innings in a 6-5 win at NM State on Friday … Sam Houston's Matt Dillard struck out eight and walked just one while scattering four hits over six innings to earn the decision in a 21-0 win at Abilene Christian … Utah Valley's Coop Rust tossed six strong innings at Seattle, allowing just two runs, only one earned, to earn the victory in a 14-2 win.

 

11 teams will be in action on Tuesday but three WAC teams will take on nationally-ranked foes as NM State travels to 16th-ranked Arizona, Lamar visits No. 12 ranked LSU and Stephen F. Austin plays at No. 7 Texas. Turning to the weekend, the only WAC games will be out west with Dixie State traveling to Utah Valley, California Baptist taking on Grand Canyon and Seattle U playing at Sacramento State. The Southwest Division has an bye across the the board but that doesn't mean the teams will be idle. Abilene Christian plays its first games outside the state of Texas when they travel to Fresno State for a weekend series. UT Rio Grande Valley also has a weekend series on tap, traveling to NM State for a non-conference series between conference foes. Lamar will head up to Oklahoma for games with Pacific and the host Sooners while Tarleton hosts St. Thomas (Minn.) for three.

 

California Baptist holds the lead when it comes to batting average, hitting .324 on the season. Grand Canyon has the low staff ERA at 3.70 while Sacramento State is the top defensive team with a .977 fielding percentage. Individually, CBU's David Martin has the top batting average at .449 and GCU's Daniel Avitia has the low ERA at 2.03. SHSU's Carlos Contreras is the lead in both hits (59) and RBIs (59) whith teammate Clayton Chadwick holding the lead from runs scored (42). CBU's Harrison Spohn is the leader in doubles (18), SHSU's Contreras is tied with SFA's Cameron Crawford for the lead in triples (5) and SAC's Cesar Valero is the current home run king with 12. On the hill, GCU's Nick Hull and Daniel Avitia are tied for the lead in strikeouts with 54.

 

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. 

 

California Baptist's Chad Castillo became the first Lancer since 2006, and the first WAC player this season, to hit for the cycle as he went 4-for-7 with six RBIs and three runs scored in a 21-4 win at Air Force on April 9. He opened the game with a three-run home run in the first before adding a two-RBI triple in the second. His double came in the third and then he singled to left field in the top of the fifth to complete the cycle with plenty of baseball left to play.

 

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.

 

When it comes time for the 2022 WAC Baseball Tournament, the top four eligible teams from each division will head to Mesa, Ariz. The first and third place teams from each division will be placed in a four-team bracket with the second and fourth place teams from the other divisions with the winner of each double-elimintation bracket playing in a winner-takes-all championship game on Saturday night.

 

The WAC Baseball Tournament will return 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.