United Athletic Conference

 

With series victories in all but one conference series to date, Sam Houston enters the month of May still atop the WAC standings with an 18-6 (.750) record against league foes. The Bearkats lead all WAC teams in batting average (.331), hits (285), RBI (186) and runs scored (200) across 24 league starts heading into a key nonconference series against Texas Tech. Grand Canyon (14-7, .667) and UT Arlington (13-8, .619) are the next teams in closest pursuit of Sam Houston.

 

Winners of five straight games in conference play, Grand Canyon has climbed into the second spot in the current WAC standings with a .667 winning percentage and a 14-7 league mark. The Lopes have outscored their conference opposition by a 46-22 margin during their WAC win streak, reaching base at a .376 clip as a team in that stretch.

 

Reigning WAC Hitter of the Week Tyler Davis tore the cover off the ball for Sam Houston during last week’s games, batting .579 with seven extra-base hits, 10 RBI and nine runs scored over five starts. In his first season as an everyday member of the batting order, the graduate infielder/pitcher leads all WAC players in hits (48), RBI (32), doubles (13) and total bases (76) in conference games as of May 5.

 

California Baptist pitcher Liam Rocha improved to 6-0 on the season with a quality start against Abilene Christian on April 28. Rocha allowed an earned run on five hits without issuing a walk, striking out eight in the 7-2 CBU victory. Rocha’s 1.99 ERA and 45 strikeouts in conference games leads the WAC.

 

In the NCAA DI baseball statistics rankings that were released on May 3, Sam Houston was fourth in the nation in team hits (522) and Abilene Christian checked in fifth in fielding percentage (.982). Individually, Sam Houston’s Tyler Davis was second in hits (79), fourth in batting average (.449) and fifth in hits per game (1.76).