WASHINGTON STATE at ARIZONA

Tucson, Ariz. | Hi Corbett Field (9,500) | March 23-25, 2018

Friday, 6 p.m. | Saturday, 6 p.m. | Sunday, 1 p.m. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
A.J. Block | SO | LHP | 0-2, 5.40 ERA, 14 K, 13.1 IP vs. Cody Deason | JR | RHP | 2-1, 1.42 ERA, 31 K, 31.2 IP

Scotty Sunitsch | SR | LHP | 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 13 K, 20.0 IP vs. Avery Weems | JR | LHP | 1-1, 2.97 ERA, 15 K, 30.1 IP

Cody Anderson | SR | LHP | 1-3, 3.16 ERA, 19 K, 25.2 IP vs. Michael Flynn | JR | RHP | 2-1, 2.79 ERA, 14 K, 19.1 IP
 

WSU OPENS WEEKEND SERIES AT ARIZONA FRIDAY

Washington State (4-12, 0-3 Pac-12) continues its seven-game road stretch with a weekend series at Arizona (11-9, 0-3 Pac-12). Friday's opener is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and Sunday's finale set for 1 p.m.

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 home game will be webstreamed through wsucougars.com. All three games at Arizona will be webstreamed, links are available on wsucougars.com.

ON DECK

The Cougars return home for a three-game series against Arizona State running Thursday through Saturday. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks 

LAST TIME OUT

Washington State entered the eighth inning of the final two games at No. 14 UCLA with leads but the Bruins rallied in both games to take the series and swept all three games from the Cougars. WSU's Justin Harrer homered in all three contests while Blake Clanton collected two hits in all three games.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State enters the second weekend of Pac-12 Conference play with a 4-12 mark after dropping all three games at No. 14 UCLA last weekend. Offensively the Cougars are led by left fielder Justin Harrer who owns 17 hits, three home runs and is coming off a weekend that saw him hit three home runs. Outfielder Blake Clanton recorded two hits in all three games and homered on Saturday against the Bruins, he enters the week sharing the team-high honors with Harrer in home runs (3) and RBI (8). Head coach Marty Lees is in his third season at Washington State.

COUGAR QUICK HITS
TEAM
•  WSU turned a triple play against Saint Mary's (3/10), WSU's first triple play since 1999 at Arizona State
•  WSU is 1 of 6 teams to turn a triple play this season (Texas Southern, Alcon, Campbell, LIU Brooklyn, Missouri)
• Last season, WSU won four straight Pac-12 Conference series (No. 30 Washington, at Utah, Oregon, No. 28 UCLA) for the first time since 1995
•  Marty Lees and pitching coach Dan Spencer were assts on Oregon State's National Championship teams (06-07)
•  Assistant coach Jim Horner played for the Cougars (1993-96), earned All-Pac-10 honors as an OF in 1996 

INDIVIDUAL
• Justin Harrer homered in all three games at UCLA last weekend, owns a Pac-12-best 3 HR in league play
• Freshman INF Jack Smith has hit safely in 11 of last 13 games, had an 8-game hitting streak earlier this season
• LHP Scotty Sunitsch owns 75 career appearances, tied for 4th-most in WSU history
• Sunitsch owns nine career saves, tied for 9th-most in WSU history
• RHP Ryan Walker owns 10 career relief wins, tied for 4th-most in WSU history
• Walker owns 70 career appearances, tied for 10th-most in WSU history
• Wyatt Segle went 5-for-5 in the win vs UC Riverside (2/18), WSU's 1st 5-hit game since Adam Nelubowich in 2013 
• C Cal Waterman entered the week second in the Pac-12 with 7 baserunners caught stealing
 

ABOUT ARIZONA

Arizona enters the weekend with an 11-9 overall record after beating New Mexico State 14-0 Tuesday and 0-3 in Pac-12 Conference play after dropping all three games to Washington in Seattle last weekend. The Wildcats return 20 players from last year's club that went 38-21 overall and went 1-2 in an NCAA Regional. Head coach Jay Johnson is in his third season at Arizona.

WSU-ARIZONA SERIES HISTORY

Arizona leads the all-time series with Washington State 40-25 after taking two of three in the series played in Pullman last season. The Wildcats have claimed the last three series from WSU while the Cougars are looking for their first series win in Tucson since take two of three in 2014. Arizona owns a 20-11 record against the Cougars in Tucson after taking the 2016 series, 2-1.

RECORD BOOK WATCH (PAGE 6)

Senior lefthander Scotty Sunitsch put his name in a couple WSU career Top-10 lists last season while senior righty Ryan Walker has also worked his way on to the record book. Sunitsch enters the weekend with 75 career appearances, tied for fourth in WSU history while Walker moved into the Top-10 after making a pair of appearances last weekend at UCLA, pushing his career total to 70, tied for 10th in school history. Sunitsch also owns nine career saves,  tied for ninth in WSU history while Walker's seven career saves sit just outside the WSU Top-10. Walker, who recorded three wins in relief last season to push his career relief wins total to nine, added another relief win against UC Riverside, No. 10 of his career, tied for fourth in WSU history. 

COUGS TURN FIRST TRIPLE PLAY SINCE 1999

In WSU's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's March 10, the Cougars turned their first triple play since 1999. Saint Mary's had runners on first and second with nobody out. SMC popped up a bunt attempt that catcher Cal Waterman dove for and caught. He jumped to his feet and fired to James Rudkin at first base to double-off the runner for the second out and Rudkin then fired to Andres Alvarez at second base to get the runner at second base for the final out. It was WSU's first triple play since doing to so at Arizona State (4/11/99).

NOTES FROM PAC-12 OPENING SERIES AT NO. 14 UCLA

Washington State was in position to take a series from No. 14 UCLA last weekend, owning leads in the eighth inning of the final two games but the Bruins rallied in both games to record a series sweep. Offensively the Cougars were led by outfielder Justin Harrer who homered in all three games, twice over the batter's eye in centerfield. Outfielder/designated hitter Blake Clanton posted a team-high .462 batting average after recording two hits in all three games including a solo home run Saturday. In Friday's opener, WSU led 3-0 in the third inning before UCLA scored three in the third and three more in the sixth for a 6-3 lead. In the ninth, Harrer homered and the Cougars added another run before popping out to end the game with the tying run on second. Saturday, WSU saw Harrer and Clanton go back-to-back as part of a five-run third inning and the Cougars took a 5-4 lead into the eighth. UCLA scored four times in the eighth and WSU brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but lined into a double play to end the game. Sunday, the Cougars took a 4-3 into the eighth where UCLA used a two-out two-run single to post a 5-4 win.

COUGARS SPLIT SERIES WITH SAINT MARY'S

Washington State's initial home-opening series set for the first weekend of March against Sacramento State was cancelled due to weather. The Cougars instead waited a week to play in Bailey-Brayton Field, splitting a four-game series with Saint Mary's. WSU came back to win Thursday's opener 7-6 in 11 innings, scoring the winning run on a SMC throwing error. Friday, Saint Mary's benefitted from a ninth-inning baserunner interference call against WSU, taking the Cougars game-tying run off the board an instead giving the Gaels a game-ending 6-4-3 double play. Saturday, WSU received seven solid innings from Scotty Sunitsch and a pair of solo home runs from James Rudkin and Blake Clanton for a 2-1 win. In Sunday's finale, SMC used their own strong starting pitching performance to hold WSU to one run and three hits for a 3-1 win. 

WSU NOTCHES ROAD WIN AT GRAND CANYON

WSU scored the go-ahead run to break a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning and posted a 5-4 victory at Grand Canyon. The Cougars beat an Antelope team who took a game from No. 7 TCU and claimed the WAC regular season title in 2017. Dillon Plew recorded three hits and scored two runs including the go-ahead run in the ninth after starting the inning with a triple. Justin Harrer drove in Plew with two outs in the ninth with a single through the left side. Senior James Rudkin added two hits and an RBI and Nick Strange earned the win by getting the final five outs.

COMEBACK KIDS GIVE WSU FIRST WIN IN 2018

WSU used a comeback to notch its first win of 2018 after recording 12 comeback victories in 2017. The Cougars trailed UC Riverside 6-1 in the Husker Classic finale before tallying two runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth behind a pair of two-out two-run singles from JJ Hancock and Cal Waterman with Waterman's proving to be the game-winner. WSU added another win in its final at-bat at Grand Canyon, breaking a 4-4 tied with a run in the ninth inning for a 5-4 road win. The Cougars added another comeback win last weekend, erasing Saint Mary's 6-3 lead with Dillon Plew's three-run double in the seventh inning before WSU scored the winning run in the 11th inning after a Saint Mary's throwing error.

NOTES FROM OPENING WEEKEND

Washington State went 1-3 the opening weekend of 2018 and received a couple impressive performances along the way. Junior first basemen/designated hitter Wyatt Segle recorded a hit in all four games capped by a 5-for-5 performance in the comeback win over UC Riverside. Segle was the first Cougar to notch a five-hit game since Adam Nelubowich did so against UCLA in 2013. Segle finished the weekend 8-for-13 for a team-best .615 batting average. Junior shortstop Andres Alvarez recorded multiple-hits in each of the final three games including a three-hit game against Nebraska. Sophomore centerfielder Danny Sinatro recorded his first career three-hit game in the win over UC Riverside and stole three bases throughout the weekend. On the mound, redshirt-sophomore Isaac Mullins struck out a career-high seven in five innings against UC Riverside on opening day and senior Scotty Sunitsch had six strikeouts in six innings against Nebraska. Senior reliever Ryan Walker was dominant in his only appearance, striking out four in 2.2 scoreless innings of the win over UC Riverside.

COUGARS LOOKING FOR MORE IN 2018

WSU returned eight starters from its 2017 lineup and two pitchers from its final weekend rotation. Last season, the Cougars upped their win total from a season ago and posted four straight Pac-12 Conference series wins in a 24-29 campaign including a 10-20 mark in league play. In year two under head coach Marty Lees, the Cougars recorded its highest batting average, scored the most runs and hit the most home runs since 2013 while posting the fourth-most doubles (105) in the Pac-12, the most since 2012. Washington State won four straight conference series for the first time since 1995, claiming series against No. 30 Washington, at Utah, Oregon and No. 28 UCLA. The Cougars played well at Bailey-Brayton Field in 2017, posting a 20-10 mark for the best home record since the 2010 team went 20-5.

COUGAR DEFENSE

Defensively, the Cougars returned seven position starters but must replace the elite defender in Shane Matheny who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants. Last season, WSU tied for second in the Pac-12 with 51 double plays turned including a conference-best 33 during Pac-12 play. 

COUGAR PITCHING

On the mound last season, the Cougars combined to pick off 11 baserunners, the second-most in the Pac-12 senior lefthander Cody Anderson held opposing hitters to a .239 batting average, 10th-lowest in the Pac-12. Scotty Sunitsch finished the year with eight saves, third-most in the conference and also tied for sixth in the league with 28 appearances. 

COUGAR OFFENSE MADE BIG STRIDES IN 2017

The WSU offense made big strides in year two under head coach Marty Lees and hitting coach Jim Horner. WSU posted its highest batting average (.272) since 2013, averaged the most runs/g (4.9) and hits/g (9.1) per game since 2013, hit the most doubles (105) since 2012 and hit the most home runs (21) since 2013. Six Cougars recorded 10+ doubles for the first time since 2010 after just two players had double-digit doubles 2016.

COUGAR BASEBALL ON WASHINGTON STATE IMG RADIO

This season, 36 games will be broadcast on the Washington State IMG Network and every radio broadcast will be available through the WSU Gameday App via TuneIn and on KQQQ (1150 AM) in Pullman. There will also be select games broadcast on KXLY (920 AM) in Spokane and games will be available on KONA (610 AM) in Tri-Cities. Included in the 36 broadcasts are all 30 Pac-12 Conference contests and all three meetings against Gonzaga University. Matt Chazanow enters his third 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 select home games 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. He was inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame in 2017.