This Week In WAC Baseball - June 1
This Week In WAC Baseball - June 1
SAM HOUSTON CAPTURES WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE, NCAA AUTOBID
No. 2 seed Sam Houston withstood a seven-run No. 3 seed Utah Valley surge in the top of the first inning of game one, coming all the way back to score a 12-10 victory and force a winner-take-all game for the WAC tournament trophy on May 27. An 11-run second inning in the nightcap powered Sam Houston on its way toward the automatic NCAA Championship berth, giving the Bearkats a 21-1 win and the 2023 University Credit Union WAC Baseball Tournament crown.
AN OFFENSIVE DISPLAY FOR THE AGES
A total of 251 runs across 15 games were scored during the 2023 University Credit Union WAC Baseball Tournament, as the eight qualifying teams batted a cumulative .324 with 354 hits for the week. Champion Sam Houston led the way with a .365 batting average, 93 hits and 89 runs scored. There was one fewer triple (20) hit during the week than the total number of home runs (21) at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.
WHAT A RUN FOR UTAH VALLEY
Tournament No. 3 seed Utah Valley finished one win away from an NCAA Regional berth after a great showing at the University Credit Union WAC Baseball Tournament, entering the Saturday championship round as the only undefeated team remaining. The Wolverines outscored their preliminary round opponents 42-12 while batting .409 as a club.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Since 1963 WAC programs have won a combined 194 games in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Arizona (1963, 1966, 1970, 1976 National Champion), Arizona State (1964, 1965 National Champion, 1967 National Champion, 1969 National Champion, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 National Champion, 1978), Brigham Young (1968, 1971), Hawai’I (1980), Rice (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 National Champion) and Fresno State (2008 National Champion) have previously represented the WAC at the College World Series.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICS RANKINGS
In the NCAA DI baseball statistics rankings that were released on May 28, Sam Houston was the national leader in team hits (702) and ranked fifth in doubles (143), while Utah Valley was fifth in triples (24). Individually, Sam Houston’s Tyler Davis was first in hits (102) and third in batting average (.432), teammate Joe Redfield was fifth in runs scored (78) and ACU’s Grayson Tatrow was fifth in home runs (25) and slugging percentage (.832).