UTAH VALLEY (4-5) at WASHINGTON STATE (3-5)
Bailey-Brayton Field (3,500) | March 3-6, 2016
Thursday, 4 p.m. | Friday, 4 p.m. | Saturday, 2 p.m. | Sunday, Noon
COUGARS OPEN HOME SLATE HOSTING UTAH VALLEY
Washington State opens an eight-game homestand hosting Utah Valley University for a four-game series at Bailey-Brayton Field beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. The series continues Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes Sunday at Noon.
FOLLOW ALONG
Cougar baseball fans can follow all the season's action on the Washington State baseball official twitter page @CougBaseball, instagram page @Coug_Baseball and wsucougars.com. Links to live stats and radio streams will be available at the baseball schedule page on wsucougars.com. Every Cougar home game will be webstreamed through Pac-12.org.
COMING UP
The Cougars continue their homestand next weekend hosting Northeastern University (Mass.) for a four-game series beginning next Thursday.
LAST WEEKEND
Washington State wrapped up an 11-day Texas road trip by going 2-2 in the Al Ogletree Classic in Edinburg, Texas. The Cougars lost to UTRGV Thursday night 3-1, came back to beat Houston Baptist 3-2 Friday and Prairie View A&M 14-3 Saturday before falling in Sunday's finale 9-5 to Houston Baptist.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State posted a 29-27 overall mark last season including a 11-19 record in Pac-12 Conference play, finishing ninth in the league. The Cougars return 13 letterwinners off of last year's club led by two-time All-Pac-12 pitcher Ian Hamilton who will made the move from reliever to starter this season. Third baseman Shane Matheny returns after starting all 56 games while recording 10 doubles and 20 RBI, outfielder Cameron Frost also returns after driving in 25 RBI and outfielder Derek Chapman also returns after posting a .265 batting average with nine stolen bases.
COUGAR QUICK HITS
• WSU head coach Marty Lees is in his first season with the Cougars
• Lees and pitching coach Dan Spencer were assistants on Oregon State's National Championship teams (2006-07)
• Assistant coach Jim Horner played for the Cougars (1993-96), earned All-Pac-10 honors at catcher in 1996
• WSU leads the Pac-12 Conference in stolen bases (15-20) and tied for second in home runs (5)
• WSU stole nine bases in the win over Prairie View A&M, the most in WSU team history dating back to 1995
• RHP Ian Hamilton owns the WSU record with 28 career saves, two-time All-Pac-12 Conference selection
• Hamilton was named to the 2016 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List
• UTL Trek Stemp leads the Pac-12 in batting average (.500), hits (16) and second in on-base pct. (.541)
• Catcher Stefan Van Horn's first two hits of his career were both were home runs
• OF Cameron Frost leads the conference in stolen bases (4-5), shared Pac-12 HR lead with Van Horn (2)
• WSU returns 15 letterwinners from the 2015 club and has welcomed in 14 newcomers including 12 freshmen
ABOUT UTAH VALLEY
Utah Valley owns a 4-5 record but owns a victory over No. 5 Oregon State on opening weekend. The Wolverines are led offensively by Trevor Howell and Stone Ramsey who each own a .421 batting average and Greyson Bogden has already slugged three homers. Head coach Eric Madsen is in his eight season at UVU. WSU lead the all-time series with Utah Valley 10-3 after sweeping the last series 3-0 in Pullman in 2011.
STEMP'S HOT START IN TEXAS
Utility man Trek Stemp has started the 2016 season on fire, leading the Pac-12 Conference in batting average (.500) and hits (16) and is second in on-base percentage (.541). Stemp redshirted last season but hasn't missed a beat, recording at least one hit in all eight games including a pair of 4-hit performances last weekend. In the five games last week, Stemp led the Cougars with a .619 batting average, totaled four multiple hit games, posted an on-base percentage of .667, was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases attempts. In the win over Prairie View A&M, he tallied four hits, four RBI, scored three times and stole two bases.
FRESHMEN ARMS MAKE THEIR DEBUTS
WSU has seen eight pitchers make their debuts in the first two weekends including six true freshmen. Starters Parker McFadden and Ryan Ward have shown promise as each have made two starts in the first two weeks of their collegiate careers. McFadden, a 20th-round draft selection by the Seattle Mariners last June, picked up his first career win after striking our four and allowing two earned runs over 4.1 innings in the 14-3 victory over Prairie View A&M. Ward, the Oregon Player of the Year last season, has been just as impressive. He struck out six at Texas State in his first career start and followed with another strong outing, striking out three and allowed one earned run over three innings against Houston Baptist Sunday. Freshman relievers Davis Baillie, Kevin Calderhead and Chandler Greenfield each have not allowed a run in a combined seven appearances.
COUGARS RALLY LATE AT TEXAS STATE TO GET MARTY LEES FIRST WIN
Washington State rallied with two runs in the ninth inning and scored two more in the tenth inning to beat Texas State 9-8 in 10 innings in the final game of a season-opening four-game series in San Marcos, Texas, also giving first-year Cougar Head Coach Marty Lees his first career win. Down four runs to start the seventh inning, the Cougars scored twice in the seventh and two more in the ninth to send the game extra innings. In the tenth, Stefan Van Horn, who entered the game in the eighth, launched a solo homer high over the left field fence on the first pitch he saw, his second straight game with a home run. Jack Strunc, who also entered the game in the eighth, followed with a double down the left field line and later came around to score on Derek Chapman's sacrifice fly to left field which proved to be the game winner. In the bottom half of the tenth, Texas State opened the inning with a double and RBI single. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt and was called safe at first to put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Bobcats bunted both runners up a base and WSU intentionally walked the next hitter to load the bases with one out. Sophomore lefthander Scotty Sunitsch came up big for the Cougars striking out the final two hitters, both looking, to seal up the win.
HAMILTON GARNERS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Junior pitcher Ian Hamilton was named to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Second Team by Collegiate Baseball, one of two Pac-12 Conference pitchers placed on the first or second team, appearing as a reliever. He was also rated No. 44 among the Top-100 college prospects by Baseball America prior to the season. In 2015, Hamilton repeated as a member of the All-Pac-12 Conference team after finishing the year with a 1.67 ERA in 43 innings and tied for the Pac-12 lead with 13 saves. His total ranked him tied for 16th nationally as he became WSU's all-time leader with 28. The Vancouver, Wash. native earned Freshman All-America honors as a freshman in 2014 after setting a school record with 15 saves and posted a 2.70 ERA.
COUGAR BULLPEN RETURNS COUPLE FAMILIAR FACES
In addition to Hamilton, the Cougars return three members of the pitching staff who were major contributors last season. Junior lefthander Layne Bruner closed out the 2015 season allowing just one earned run and one hit over his final seven appearances (5 2/3 IP). Sophomore lefthander Scotty Sunitsch made 24 appearances last year including a pair of starts and finished the season with 26 strikeouts over 33 2/3 innings. Sophomore righty Ryan Walker produced an impressive freshman campaign in 2015, posting a 2.72 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .221 average over 25 appearances including seven starts. Walker earned a spot in the rotation over the final month, earning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors in early May after scattering four hits and striking out 12 and holding opponents to a .105 batting average over a combined 11 2/3 innings in two starts against Washington, and Arizona including a career-best seven strikeouts in seven shutout innings.
COUGARS 2016 SIGNING CLASS
Washington State signed eight players to National Letters of Intent to join the program in 2016, first-year head coach Marty Lees announced Nov. 19. The class features four junior college players and four players who hail from the state of Washington.
NAME POS B/T HT WT HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)
Cody Anderson LHP L/L 6-6 200 Marysville, Wash. (Marysville-Pilchuck HS/Bellevue CC)
A.J. Block LHP L/L 6-5 190 Bellevue, Wash. (Newport HS)
Peter Hutzal INF L/R 5-11 175 Calgary, Alberta (Bishop Carroll HS)
Cory Meyer C R/R 5-10 180 Pocatello, Idaho (Highland HS/Spokane Falls CC)
Dillon Plew INF L/R 6-3 180 Kennewick, Wash. (Kennewick HS)
Joe Rosenstein RHP R/R 6-6 215 Arvada, Colo. (Arvada HS/Siena/Lamar CC)
James Rudkin 1B R/R 6-0 200 Plano, Texas (Plano East HS/McLennan JC)
James Sinatro INF L/R 5-10 165 Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline HS)
LEOW LEADS THREE COUGARS ON ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
Washington State sophomore Wes Leow was named to the 2015 Pac-12 Conference Baseball All-Academic First Team, highlighting three Cougars receiving conference all-academic honors. In addition to Leow, senior Sam Triece and sophomore Cameron Frost received honorable mention honors. Leow, an outfielder from Anacortes, Wash., boasted a 3.68 grade point average as an undeclared major. For the season he hit .254, totaling 17 hits with three doubles and nine RBI. Triece, a pitcher from Edmonds, Wash., carries a 3.11 GPA as a criminal justice major. Frost, an outfielder from Olympia, Wash., posted a 3.05 GPA as an undeclared major. He played in 50 games on the season, finishing second on the team with 25 RBI.
FIVE COUGARS SELECTED in 2015 MLB Draft
Washington State baseball had five players selected in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft. Pitcher Sam Triece was selected in the tenth round by the Tampa Bay Rays. Infielder Ian Sagdal was selected in the 16th round by the Washington Nationals. Pitcher Joe Pistorese was selected in the 17th round by the Seattle Mariners. Catcher P.J. Jones was selected in the 19th round by the Seattle Mariners and reliever Matt Bower was selected in the 23rd round by the Houston Astros. All five signed professional contracts.