Cougars Took Big Strides in Shortened 2020 Season

Photo by: Dean Hare/WSU Photo Services

April 01, 2020 | Baseball

2020 SEASON REVIEW Cougar Chats - Brian Green

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

2020 SEASON REVIEW
9-7 | Head Coach Brian Green

NCAA, PAC-12 CANCEL REMAINDER OF 2020 SEASON DUE TO COVID-19
At a meeting of the Pac-12 CEO Group and Athletic Directors March 14, the Pac-12 made the decision to cancel all Pac-12 conference and non-conference sport competitions and Pac-12 championships through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year. This decision follows both the Pac-12's earlier decision to suspend all sports until further notice, and the decision by the NCAA to cancel the Division I men's and women's 2020 NCAA basketball tournaments as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships.

D1 COUNCIL EXTENDS ELIGIBILITY FOR SPRING STUDENT-ATHLETES
The Division I Council March 30 voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility. Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Brian Green led the Cougars to a 9-7 mark in his first season in Pullman after spending the previous five at New Mexico State where he went 158-122 capped by a 2019 WAC Regular Season title. Washington State went 5-6 while opening the season playing the first three weeks on the road capped by a series-win over Rutgers in Arizona. WSU opened its home slate with a four-game sweep of Niagara and finished the season winners in seven of their last nine games. Kyle Manzardo paced the Cougars with a .435 batting, good for second in the Pac-12 Conference while sophomore righthander Zane Mills led the pitching staff with a 3-0 record and A.J. Block's 34 strikeouts were second-most among Pac-12 arms.

COUGAR QUICK HITS
TEAM
• WSU's four-game sweep of Niagara this past weekend was the first 4-game sweep since 2017 (Utah Valley)
• WSU took 2 of 3 from Rutgers in Arizona, WSU's first series over a Big Ten opponent in program history
• WSU beat CSU Bakersfield 5-2 in the Feb. 14 season-opener for its first season-opening win since 2011
• WSU recorded a program-best 3.05 team GPA in the fall semester, 22 players posted a semester GPA of 3.0+
• WSU has signed 4 of the Top-10 ranked High School prospects in Washington (Prep Baseball Report)

PLAYER
• Brian Green completed his first season at WSU after 5 seasons leading New Mexico State (158-122-1)
• Green produced 9 All-Americans, 26 All-WAC selections, 2 Players of Year, 1 Pitcher of the Year at NMSU
• Cougar Legend John Olerud (1987-89) was inducted into the 2019 Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2019
• Senior LHP AJ Block was drafted in the 17th RD (Detroit) last season, elected to come back for senior season
• Block recorded 10 strikeouts in each of his last 3 starts, 1st Coug to do so in last 33+seasons (research ongoing)
• Kyle Manzardo earned Pac-12 Player of the Week following the Niagara series (.556, 11 run, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
• Manzardo finished 2020 hitting .435, 2nd-highest batting avg. in the Pac-12 and No. 27 in the country

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
10,000,000 - A $10 million baseball clubhouse facility is under construction, Project: BTO (Back To Omaha)
145 - WSU's 145 hits were 3rd-most in the Pac-12
38 - Sophomore 1B Kyle Manzardo was ranked the No. 38 best sophomore hitter by D1Baseball.com
34 - A.J. Block's 34 innings were tied for 2nd-most among Pac-12 pitchers
27.2 - A.J. Block's 27.2 innings led all Pac-12 pitchers
32 - Zane Mills' 32 strikeouts were fourth-most in the Pac-12
26 - Sophomore RHP Zane Mills was ranked the No. 26 best sophomore pitcher by D1Baseball.com
19 - WSU tied for 2nd in the country with 19 sacrifice bunts, most in the Pac-12
17 - 17 players made their WSU debuts in 2020
16 - Kyle Manzardo recorded a hit in all 16 games to start 2020, 7th-longest hitting streak in WSU history
11 - WSU played its first 11 games away from Bailey-Brayton Field
10 - A.J. Block recorded 10 K in each of last 3 starts, 1st Coug to do so in the last 33 seasons (research is ongoing)
10 - WSU's 10 home runs were 3rd-most in the Pac-12
8 - Senior LHP A.J. Block was ranked the No. 8 best senior pitcher by D1Baseball.com
7 - Justin Van De Brake drove in 7 runs in the series-opener over Niagara, tied for 2nd-most RBI in WSU history
3 - WSU posted 3 wins in their last at-bats (at CSU Bakersfield 2/14, at Hawaii 2/23, 3/6 NIAGARA)
2 - Justin Van De Brake hit 2 grand slams in the final two weekend series (vs. Rutgers 2/29, NIAGARA 3/5)
.277 - WSU finished 2020 with a .277 batting average, 4th-best in the Pac-12

COUGARS IN THE CLASSROOM, COUGARS IN THE COMMUNITY
Head coach Brian Green emphasized winning in the classroom and the community in his introductory press conference and the Cougs backed him up.
- This past fall, the baseball program posted its highest semester GPA (3.05) in program history after 22 players posted a 3.0 GPA or better in the semester.
- The team started a viral campaign named Meet The Professor where each student-athlete introduces themselves and takes a selfie with their professor in the first class of the semester.
- In January, the team gathered at a local elementary school and helped the Whitman County Special Olympics with basketball practice.

KYLE MANZARDO NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Manzardo was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week March 10. Manzardo was the first Cougar position player to earn the conference weekly honor since Trek Stemp in 2016. Brandon White was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week following week two of last season. Manzardo had a monster weekend at the plate in the Cougars' four-game series sweep of Niagara in Pullman. The sophomore first baseman hit .556 (10-for-18) with 11 runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI while slugging 1.000 and posted an on-base percentage of .619 in WSU's first four-game series sweep since 2017. In Thursday's series opener, Manzardo recorded two hits, drove in three runs and scored twice while in Friday's contest, the lefthanded hitter drove in four and broke a 3-3 tie with a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning for a 6-3 Cougar win. Saturday, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho native collected four hits and scored three times and capped his weekend by reaching base five times and scored five runs highlighted by a two-run home run in his final at bat of the weekend.

BRIAN GREEN BEGINS FIRST SEASON LEADING COUGAR BASEBALL
Brian Green was named the 17th baseball coach in Washington State history, Director of Athletics Patrick Chun announced June 3, 2019. Brian Green came to WSU after five seasons as the head coach at his alma mater New Mexico State where he led the Aggies to a 2019 Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship and an NCAA Regional appearance in 2018. Green led NMSU to an historic four-year stretch that saw the Aggies record 34 wins or more in each of the last four seasons and also signed four-straight nationally recognized recruiting classes along the way. Green has appeared in nine NCAA Regionals as a head coach or assistant coach at the Division I level. In his five years at NMSU, Green produced nine All-Americans including three first-team selections in 2019, 26 All-WAC honorees, a pair of Player of the Year selections, one Pitcher of the Year, one Freshman of the Year, and 22 WAC All-Academic selections. Since 2016, Green has helped send 12 players to the professional ranks, including a trio of top six round picks the last three years.

BRIAN GREEN BY THE NUMBERS
6,000 - Green's NMSU program volunteered over 6,000 hours of community service in his 5 years
2014 - Green recruited and coached 2014 Golden Spikes Award Winner AJ Reed at Kentucky, John Olerud Award
158 - Green won 158 games in his 5 seasons as the head coach at New Mexico State
40 - Green's 2018 club won 40 games and earned a trip to the NCAA Regional
34 - Green won 34 or more games in each of the last 4 seasons at NMSU
9 - Green produced 9 All-Americans at NMSU including 3 in 2019
4 - Coached 4 seasons at UCLA (2005-08), coached San Francisco Giant SS Brandon Crawford at UCLA
.356 - Last season, NMSU led the country in batting avg, runs, runs/g, hits, triples, on-base pct and slugging

WSU BREAKS GROUND ON BASEBALL PROJECT - BTO
Washington State University officially broke ground on the Cougar Baseball Facility Project: BTO (Back to Omaha) in a ceremony held at Bailey-Brayton Field Oct. 20, 2019. President Kirk Schulz, Director of Athletics Pat Chun and Cougar Head Baseball Coach Brian Green were joined by the current baseball team, Cougar baseball alumni, family and friends to officially break ground on the $10 million clubhouse facility and entrance to Bailey-Brayton Field. The state-of-the-art facility will feature a 1,300 square-foot locker room, a 1,500 square-foot weight and cardio room, academic area, team meeting room, areas for Cougar equipment, nutrition and athletic medicine, coaches offices as well as recognition of Cougar Baseball's storied history. In addition, the facility will enhance the game day experience for players, coaches and fans, and provide improved ingress and egress along with new public restrooms and concessions. The facility renovation and enhancement will cost approximately $10 million with 100 percent of the project costs covered through donor support. Construction of Project: BTO will run through the 2020 season and is scheduled to be completed prior to the 2021 season.

BLOCK, ALVAREZ, SINATRO SELECTED IN MLB DRAFT
Three Cougars and a signee were selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. Lefthanded pitcher A.J. Block was taken in the 17th round by the Detroit Tigers, senior shortstop Andres Alvarez was selected in the 22nd round by the Pittsburgh Pirates and junior outfielder Danny Sinatro went in the 32nd round to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cougar signee outfielder Brady Hill out of Mt. Spokane High School in Spokane, Wash. was selected in the 39th round by the Colorado Rockies. Block elected to return to WSU for his senior season.

CURRENT COUGAR MLB DRAFT PICKS
Below is a list of current Cougars who have been drafted:
2016, A.J. Block, LHP, 39th round, Chicago Cubs
2017, Jack Smith, INF, 39th round, Seattle Mariners
2018, Brandon White, RHP, 14th round, Los Angeles Dodgers
2019, A.J. Block, LHP 17th round, Detroit Tigers
2019, Brady Hill, OF, 39th round, Colorado Rockies

OWEN LEONARD SELECTED FOR PAC-12 LEADERSHIP AWARD
Senior pitcher Owen Leonard was selected to receive the Pac-12 Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Leadership Award this past fall. Leonard and Shannon Williams, a lacrosse student-athlete at Oregon, were recognized for their exemplary commitment to the SAAC activities at their respective schools. Leonard is the second student-athlete from Washington State to win the award, joining former Cougar track and field athlete Cicely Clinkenbeard who won the same award in 2001-02. The Pac-12 Conference established the Pac-12 Leadership Award in 2002 to recognize student-athletes who have served on their institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) and demonstrated exemplary leadership. The Pac-12 Leadership Award is a $3,000 scholarship for postgraduate study awarded to one male and one female student-athlete each year. Leonard serves as the WSU SAAC Director of Events and organized a number of events including Butch's Bash, the Cougar Sports Awards and SAAC Events sub-committee discussions. In the community, the senior from Seattle has also participated as a Peer Academic Counselor, serving as an advisor for other student-athletes, served as a Pen Pal and mentor to elementary students and volunteered at WSU events including the Halloween Handout and helping incoming freshmen move into the dorms. In the classroom, Leonard owns a 3.2 cumulative grade-point-average while majoring in kinesiology and earned an academic excellence award following his first year at WSU. Leonard is planning on pursuing a master's degree in physical therapy. This past fall, the new baseball coaching staff elected Leonard a team captain. To be eligible for the award, nominees must have completed or be in their final season of athletics eligibility, be enrolled in or plan to attend graduate school, have been a letterwinner in a varsity sport, and have served a minimum of one year on the campus SAAC. Other factors which may be taken into account during the selection process include other leadership activities, community service, grade point average, service as a SAAC officer, and level of athletic achievement.

JOHN OLERUD NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE CENTURY
The Pac-12 Conference inducted Coug legend John Olerud into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor last season. Olerud was named the Pac-12 Conference's Baseball Player of the Century in 2016. During his three seasons in a Cougar uniform, Olerud (1987-89) had one of the finest careers of any Cougar student-athlete, in any sport, in Washington State history, rewriting the WSU record books and becoming the only Cougar baseball athlete ever to be named College Athlete of the Year. In 1988, Olerud became the only player in NCAA history to win 15 games on the mound and hit 20 home runs in the same season, going 15-0 with 23 home runs that year. Still holding numerous WSU records, Olerud went 26-4 overall with a 3.17 ERA over 241.1 innings during his three seasons, hitting .434 for Washington State. He set two Pac-10 records and 10 Pac-10 North marks, highlighted by his sophomore season when he was named Athlete of the Year by Baseball America. In January prior to his junior year at WSU, Olerud suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of brain seizure. He missed the first 28 games of the spring season, but returned to hit .359 for WSU over the final 27 games. Prior to his senior season, Olerud signed a contract with Toronto and went directly to the Major Leagues. In 1993, he became the first Blue Jay to win a batting title, hitting .363. Olerud played for Toronto, the New York Mets and Yankees, Seattle and Boston during his 17-year career, winning back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993. In 2001 he joined his father, John Sr., in the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame, and is a member of the College Baseball, State of Washington and Inland Northwest Sports Halls of Fame. The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, given annually by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, was named in his honor and in 2016, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Century, selected by a 36-member blue ribbon panel of experts selected by the conference.

NEW GAME DAY LOOK AT BAILEY-BRAYTON FIELD
Washington State Baseball featured a new look for fans at Bailey-Brayton Field during the 2020 season. Due to Project: BTO construction along the third base side of Bailey-Brayton Field, the main entrance, ticket booths, concessions and restrooms were located on the first base side for the 2020 season. Cougar Baseball featured the addition of Cougville at Bailey-Brayton Field. Following similar models as Cougar Football and Basketball, Cougville provided additional beverage options for fans, including beer, wine and cider. Located on the first base side and next to the Miller Indoor Hitting Facility, Cougville is open to all fans on a first-come, first-served basis at every home game except on Sundays. Inflatables will be set up in the Kid's Zone of Cougville for Sunday games. Gates to Bailey-Brayton Field will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch while Cougville will open one hour prior to first pitch remain open throughout the game but alcohol sales will cease at after the seventh-inning stretch. All fans wishing to purchase beer and wine in Cougville must be 21 years of age or older and present a valid ID. Fans are asked to park in the Yellow 1 Lots behind the Indoor Practice Facility (bubble) for weekday games, pay stations will be located throughout each lot. For weekend games, parking will be free in all lots surrounding Bailey-Brayton Field.