This Week In WAC Baseball - Feb. 23
This Week In WAC Baseball - Feb. 23
ABILENE CHRISTIAN OUT FRONT IN THE EARLY GOING OF THE 2023 SEASON
Abilene Christian raced out to a 4-1 start to set the pace for the WAC after the full first week of the 2023 baseball nonconference schedule. Sacramento State and UTRGV each fashioned 3-1 marks entering play on Feb. 23.
GRAND CANYON DEFEATS NO. 2 TENNESSEE IN PHOENIX
Grand Canyon earned an early 2023 signature victory against No. 2 Tennessee on Feb. 18, downing the Volunteers 4-3 during the MLB Desert Invitational at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark. The Lopes scored the tying run in the bottom of the sixth and the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tennessee throwing errors to earn the victory.
BOTH CBU, ACU WITH SUCCESSFUL SHOWINGS AGAINST 2022 CWS FINALIST OKLAHOMA
California Baptist and Abilene Christian both enjoyed results against a College World Series qualifier from last season. CBU took two of three games from Oklahoma, a 5-2 decision and a 6-3 win, on Feb. 18 and 19. ACU picked up a 4-3 walk-off win in 10 innings against the Sooners on Feb. 22 as part of the College Baseball Series presented by Higginbotham at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers.
SAM HOUSTON GETS A SHOT AT NO. 1 LSU
Sam Houston is set to close the Karbach Classic on Feb. 26 with a scheduled showdown against consensus national top-ranked team LSU at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. LSU opened the season 4-0 with three wins by seven or more runs. Sam Houston, at 3-2 in the early going of the 2023 campaign, owns a 12-run average margin of victory over its first three wins of the year.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICS RANKINGS
In the NCAA DI baseball statistics rankings that were released on Feb. 22, Stephen F. Austin was among the national top 10 in team hits (54, seventh) and UT Arlington likewise in doubles (12, ninth). Individually, Sacramento State’s Jack Zalasky was first in saves (2), CBU’s Liam Rocha was first in pitching strikeouts (14) and UTRGV’s Kade York was the national leader in sacrifice bunts (3). Stephen F. Austin’s Peyton Parker ranked second in hits (12) and Grand Canyon’s Jacob Wilson was second in triples (2).