COUGARS HOST SAINT MARY'S FOR HOME-OPENER

Washington State (2-6) will open its 2018 home schedule with a four-game series against Saint Mary's (7-3) beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. The series continues Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. before wrapping up Sunday at Noon.  All four games will be videostreamed on wsucougars.com.
 

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 wsucougars.com. 
 

ON DECK

Washington State will hit the road for spring break and head to southern California. The Cougars will face Long Beach State Wednesday before opening Pac-12 Conference play next weekend at UCLA.
 

LAST TIME OUT

WSU was forced to cancel last weekend's four-game home series with Sacramento State due to weather. The previous weekend, the Cougars dropped all three games at Alabama, 12-4, 8-2 and 9-3. 
 

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State enters the week with a 2-6 mark and had a four-game home series with Sacramento State cancelled last weekend due to weather. The Cougars own wins over UC Riverside (in Tempe) and at Grand Canyon. Designated hitter Wyatt Segle paces the club with a .391 batting average while shortstop Andres Alvarez leads in hits (11) and first basemen James Rudkin leads in extra base hits (2 2B, 1 HR).

COUGAR QUICK HITS

Saint Mary's enters the weekend with a 7-3 overall record after sweeping a three-game series from Xavier this past weekend. SMC returns eight players from its 2017 lineup that went 37-20 last season including a 18-9 mark in West Coast Conference play. WSU leads the all-time series 3-1-2 and claimed the last meeting, 7-5 in 2004 at a tournament in Sacramento. The only series between the two clubs came in 1981 where the Cougars won two games and tied a third in Moraga.

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 University. 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 Sunday's 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.

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 last Saturday. Sophomore centerfielder Danny Sinatro recorded his first career three-hit game in the win over UC Riverside Sunday, recording two doubles along the way and also stole three bases throughout the weekend. On the mound, redshirt-sophomore lefthander Isaac Mullins struck out a career-high seven in five innings against UC Riverside on opening day and senior lefthander Scotty Sunitsch matched a career-high with six strikes outs in six innings against Nebraska Sunday. Senior reliever Ryan Walker was dominant in his only appearance, striking out four in 2.2 scoreless innings of the win over UC Riverside.

ENTERING 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 OFFENSE

Washington State returns five players who recorded 10+ doubles last season including three of its top four home run hitters from a season ago. Junior shortstop Andres Alvarez, who earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention last season, returns after hitting .308 while starting all 53 games. Junior Justin Harrer, also an All-Pac-12 honorable mention pick last year, led the team with five home runs and 17 doubles and tied for second with 32 RBI. Senior JJ Hancock and Alvarez shared the team lead with five stolen bases while sophomore infielder Dillon Plew returns after his impressive freshman campaign saw him record 10 doubles and tied for the team lead with 28 walks.

COUGAR DEFENSE

Defensively, the Cougars return 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, 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.

RECORD BOOK WATCH (PAGE 9)

Senior lefthander Scotty Sunitsch put his name in a couple WSU career Top-10 lists last season  while senior righty Ryan Walker also worked is way on to the record book. Sunitsch enters the weekend series with 73 career appearances, eighth-most in WSU history and with nine career saves, tied for ninth in WSU history. Ryan 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. Walker enters the weekend with 66 career appearances, needing four appearances to move into the WSU career Top-10.

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.