COUGARS HOST STEPHEN F. AUSTIN FOR HOME OPENER
Washington State (3-4) opens its home slate hosting Stephen F. Austin (3-6) for a four-game series at Bailey-Brayton Field beginning Friday at 2 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will start at Noon and Sunday's finale is set for a 1 p.m. start.

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. Every Cougar home game will be webstreamed through Pac-12.org.

FACULTY STAFF APPRECIATION DAY
For Friday's home-opener, there will be complimentary admission for WSU faculty and staff with a valid WSU ID. Additional tickets will be $2 at the gate.

ON DECK
The Cougars will continue their eight-game homestand with a four-game series against Utah Valley University set to begin Thursday at 4 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
WSU capped their season-opening California road trip by splitting a four-game series at Loyola Marymount University. The Cougars took the first game 6-3, dropped Saturday's contest but won Sunday 7-4 before falling in the finale, 7-3.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State owns a 3-4 record after dropping a series at Sacramento State and splitting a four-game series at Loyola Marymount during a season-opening 10-day California road trip. Sophomore outfielder Justin Harrer paces the club with a .308 batting average, six RBI, four doubles and a .577 slugging percentage while sophomore catcher Cory Meyer is hitting at a .412 clip. Last season, WSU went 19-35 including a 11-19 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. Reliever Scotty Sunitsch is tied for the Pac-12 lead with three saves. The Cougars return 15 letterwinners led by All-Pac-12 honorable mention pitcher Ryan Walker and welcome in 19 newcomers, 10 from high school and nine from junior college. Head coach Marty Lees is in his second season at WSU.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Stephen F. Austin, out of the Southland Conference, entered Wednesday with a 3-6 record and will host Texas Southern for a single game Wednesday before traveling to Pullman Thursday. Last weekend, SFU dropped a three-game series at UT San Antonio after playing 12 innings against No. 15 Texas A&M Feb. 24. Last season, SFU went 30-30 including a 14-16 mark in Southland play. Head coach John Cardenas is in his ninth season with the Lumberjacks. WSU owns a 1-1 mark against Stephen F. Austin, meeting twice in a 2015 tournament hosted by SFU in Nacogdoches, Texas.

QUICK HITS
TEAM
•  WSU's 2016 recruiting class is ranked No. 28 in the country by D1Baseball.com
•  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 as an OF in 1996

INDIVIDUAL
• Freshman INF Dillon Plew owns a hit in five of the first seven games including a pair of two-hit games
• LHP Scotty Sunitsch entered the week tied for the Pac-12 lead with three saves
• OF Justin Harrer entered the week tied for four in the Pac-12 with four doubles
•  RHP Ryan Walker finished 2016 fourth in the Pac-12 in ERA (2.40) and seventh in batting average against (.210)
•  Freshmen UTL Danny Sinatro (40th RD- Indians) and LHP A.J. Block (39th RD - Cubs ) were 2016 MLB Draft picks

NEWCOMERS IMPRESS
Through the first two weekends, Washington State has seen 16 players make their Cougar debuts including 11 in a starting role. Junior college shortstop Andres Alvarez owns a .286 batting average to go along with two doubles and four RBI while producing a couple defensive web gems. JUCO catcher Cory Meyer paces the club with a .412 batting average, owning the go-ahead two-run homer in the win at Sacramento State. Freshman infielder Plew owns a hit in five of the seven games including a pair of two-hit games and has reached base in all seven games. JUCO first baseman James Rudkin owns three doubles and has hit safely in the last four games. On the mound, JUCO lefty Cody Anderson struck out seven in his first career start, owns a team-best 12 K's in two appearances and JUCO righthander Joe Rosenstein has not allowed a run in four appearances and allowed just two hits in six innings of relief.

HARRER SETTLES IN
Through seven games sophomore outfielder Justin Harrer has adjusted well to the outfield after starting 34 games at shortstop last season. The Sisters, Ore. native former 18th-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres enters the week leading the team with a .308 batting average, one home run, six RBI and tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with four doubles. Harrer has also turned a couple nice defensive plays, crashing into the left field walk to make a catch at Sacramento State before throwing out a runner at third in the Loyola Marymount series.

BY THE NUMBERS
16 - Through the first two weekends, 16 players have made their Cougar debuts
8 - 8 freshmen have played for the Cougars in 2017
7 - Freshman INF Dillon Plew has reached base in all 7 games
4 - Junior 1B James Rudkin enters Friday with a 4-game hitting streak
3 - Junior LHP Scotty Sunitsch entered the week tied for the Pac-12 lead with 3 saves

WALKER NAMED TO STOPPER OF THE YEAR PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Junior Ryan Walker has been named to the preseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Associate Stopper of the Year. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball. Walker earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention last season after posting the sixth lowest ERA (2.66) and batting average against (.212) in the conference during Pac-12 play. Of Washington State's 11 conference wins in 2016, the right-hander from Arlington, Wash. had his hand in eight of them, recording four wins and four saves. Overall, Walker led the Cougars with a 6-3 record and five saves in 18 appearances along with a 2.40 ERA, a .210 batting average against and 50 strikeouts in 63.2 innings, all in relief. Walker's six relief wins tied for the second-most relief wins in WSU single-season history. The Pac-12 Conference had the most representation with nine players finding their names on this year's watch list.

RECRUITING CLASS RANKED AMONG NATION'S BEST
The 2016 WSU recruiting class was ranked No. 28 in the country according to D1Baseball.com, who began to release its Top-30 signing classes. It is the first Cougar recruiting class to be nationally ranked by D1Baseball.com and features eight junior college transfers and four freshmen. Two freshmen hail from the state of Washington and were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft but chose to play for WSU. According to D1baseball.com "…this is a high quality and high upside class that has head coach Marty Lees very excited and comparing his class to some of the powerhouse recruiting classes he had as an assistant at Oregon State and Oklahoma State…"

WHO'S NEW? NOTES ON KEY NEWCOMERS
Andres Alvarez (So., Shortstop, Trinidad JC)    All-Region 1st-Team, .395, 23 2B, 15 SB
Cody Anderson (Jr., LHP, Bellevue CC)    Northwest Athletic Conference-best 114 Ks in 85.2 IP
A.J. Block (Fr., LHP, Newport HS)    39th-RD draft pick (Cubs), All-State 1st Team
Blake Clanton (Jr., OF, Western Oklahoma State College)    NJCAA DII Region II MVP - .373, 19 HR
Cory Meyer (So., C, Spokane Falls CC)    JUCO All-America 3rd Team, .333
Dillon Plew (Fr., INF, Kennewick HS)    League Player of the Year, .473, 7 2B, 23 RBI
Ryan Ramsower (Jr., INF, Pima CC)    All-Region 2nd-Team, .360, 15 2B, 39 RBI, 9 SB
Joe Rosenstein (Jr., RHP, Lamar CC)    All-Region 1st-Team, 7-1, 60 Ks in 59.2 IP
James Rudkin (Jr., 1B, McLennan JC)    2016 - .308, 10 2B, 7 HR, 41 RBI
Danny Sinatro (Fr., UTL, Skyline HS)    40th-RD draft pick (Indians), All-State 1st-Team
David Wallum (So., RHP, Linn-Benton CC)    7-3, 3.24 ERA, 60 Ks in 58.1 IP
Cal Waterman (Fr., C, Summit HS)    Oregon HS Player of the Year, .574, 17 2B, 8 HR, 43 RBI

COUGAR BASEBALL ON WASHINGTON STATE IMG RADIO
This season, 38 games will be broadcast on the Washington State IMG College Network and every radio broadcast will be available through the WSU Gameday App via TuneIn, also online at wsucougars.com and on KQQQ (1150 AM) in Pullman. There will also be 10 select games broadcast on KXLY (920 AM) in Spokane and 18 games will be available on KONA (610 AM) in Tri-Cities. Included in the 38 broadcasts are all 30 Pac-12 Conference contests and all three meetings against Gonzaga University. Matt Chazanow enters his second season calling Cougar Baseball and will be joined in the booth by former Cougar All-American and Major Leaguer Mike Kinkade who will serve as an analyst for all home games and select road contests in 2017. Kinkade played at Washington State from 1992-95, earned All-America honors as a junior and finished his WSU career the all-time leader in hits, runs scored and doubles and went on to play six seasons in the big leagues with the Mets, Orioles and Dodgers. The first broadcast is scheduled for March 17 when the Cougars open Pac-12 Conference play with a three-game series at USC.