WSU HEADS TO BERKELEY FOR WEEKEND SERIES AT CAL
Washington State heads to Bay Area for weekend series at California beginning Friday at 6:05 p.m., continuing Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and will wrap up Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

ON DECK
The Cougars will close out the regular season hosting Stanford beginning Thursday at 7 p.m.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the weekend with a 27-19 overall record including a 8-15 mark in Pac-12 Conference play after dropping a home series to Washington last weekend. The Cougars enter the weekend leading the Pac-12 Conference in hit-by-pitch (85), and third in on-base percentage (.395) and doubles (105) while the pitching staff is second in the league averaging 10.4 strikeouts/9 innings. Sam Brown is tied for second in the Pac-12 in doubles (17), fifth in hitting (.379) and tied for fifth in RBI (49) while Jonah Advincula is third in stolen bases (22). Brian Green owns an 89-75 record in his fourth season at WSU and a 247-197-1 career mark in his ninth season as a head coach. 

ABOUT CAL
California enters the weekend with a 21-23 overall record including 9-15 Pac-12 Conference mark after sweeping the series at UCLA last weekend. Cal leads the all-time series 61-43-1 after taking two of three in Pullman last season. The Cougars are 21-37-1 all-time in Berkeley but won the final two games of the 2021 series to post their first series win in Berkeley since 2015.

COUGS BY THE NUMBERS 
2017 - WSU took both games against No. 12 UCLA for its first series win over the Bruins since 2017
2014 - WSU claimed its Pac-12 opening series (at OSU) for the 1st time since 2014 (at Arizona)
2006-07 - WSU owns series wins over Arizona in back-to-back years for the 1st time since 2006-07
85 - WSU has been hit by the pitch 85 times, most in the Pac-12 and 7th-most in WSU history
77 - Dakota Hawkins enters the week 3rd in the Pac-12 with 77 strikeouts
61 - WSU's 61 stolen bases are the most by a Cougar team since 2016 (64), 2nd-most in the Pac-12
42 - WSU has used 42 different lineups in the 46 games, 32 different defensive lineups
30 - Andrew Baughn owns 30 appearances, 2nd-most in the Pac-12, 4th-most in WSU season history
19 - WSU is 19-4 in nonconference play with wins at UC San Diego, San Diego St., UNLV, Gonzaga 2x
17 - WSU owns 3 games with 17 K, tied for the 3rd-most in single-game history (Villanova, Oregon 2x)
15 - WSU has tallied 15 comeback wins in 2023 after recording 16 last season
11 - WSU started the season 11-1, its best start since 1980 (18-0)
11 - Caden Kaelber owns 11 career saves, tied for 7th-most WSU history
9 - WSU was hit by the pitch 9 times in the Feb. 18 win over Villanova, most in WSU history
1 - Four Cougar pitchers combined for a 1-hitter in the series-clinching win at No. 15 Oregon State

JONAH ON THE RUN 
Jonah Advincula has been on the run all season long beginning with his first game as a Coug when the Redlands University transfer stole two bases in the season-opening win over Villanova in Peoria, Ariz. Advincula owns four games with two stolen bases and enters the weekend third in the Pac-12 Conference with 22 stolen bases, the first Coug with 20 bags in a season since Mike Wetmore stole 32 in 1996. Advincula enters the week tied for fourth in doubles (16), tied for 11th in hits (60) and 11th in hitting (.349).

SAM BROWN IMPRESSES 
Portland transfer Sam Brown has produced impressive numbers in his first season in the Pac-12 Conference. The 2021 Freshman All-American homered in his first four games at Bailey-Brayton Field earlier this season. Brown enters the weekend leading the Cougars in hitting (.379), slugging (.658), on-base percentage (.486), RBI (49) and doubles (17), and second in home runs (8). The Petaluma, Calif. native enters the weekend with 18 multiple-hit games, a team-best 16 multiple-RBI games and with a 23-game on-base streak.

HAINLINE BREAKS OUT 
Sophomore Elijah Hainline enters the weekend with 11 doubles and 10 home runs, the only Cougar with double-digits in both categories since Kyle Manzardo finished with 19 doubles and 11 home runs in his 2021 All-American campaign. As a freshman last season, Hainline hit .228 with seven doubles and one home run.

McKEON MAKING HIS MARK 
Senior Jacob McKeon continues to put monster numbers on and off the field for the Cougars. McKeon, an All-West Region second-team selection last season, enters the weekend hitting .335 with career highs in hits (60), doubles (16), RBI (41) and stolen bases (4). In just three seasons in Pullman, McKeon sits just outside the WSU all-time Top-10 for batting average (.342) and needs five more doubles to break into the Top-10 for career doubles, enters the weekend with 44. The Phoenix native has put up impressive numbers in the classroom as well, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America second-team honors last season and was recently named one of WSU Top Ten graduating seniors. For more than 80 years, Washington State University has recognized ten of the top seniors in each graduating class. The WSU Alumni Association selects those students who represent the highest standards in specific aspects of the college experience: academics, athletics, campus involvement, community service, and visual and performing arts. McKeon is set to graduate with a degree in kinesiology and a 3.95 GPA.

IN THE CLASSROOM, 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 in his first three years at WSU. 
- Last fall, WSU posted a semester team GPA (3.21) the highest team GPA in program history. WSU has set program GPA records in the last five semesters.
- WSU does a viral campaign under Green named Meet The Professor where each baseball student-athlete introduces themselves and takes a selfie with their professor in the first class of each semester. 
- In January of 2020, WSU gathered at a local elementary school and helped the Whitman County Special Olympics with basketball practice.
- This past summer, WSU partnered with WSU ROAR to host a Lentil Cookoff. WSU ROAR is a two-year postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

DAKOTA HAWKINS EARNED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Starting pitcher Dakota Hawkins has earned national honors twice this seasons, being named one the National Pitchers of the Week by Collegiate Baseball after wins over Oregon and Washington. Hawkins struck out 10 and allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings to earn the win over Oregon and last Friday, struck out 12 and allowed one earned run after working into the seventh of Friday's win over Washington.

COUGAR BASEBALL BACK IN TOP-25 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2010
Washington State Baseball returned to the National Top-25 for the first time since 2010, appearing at No. 20 in last week's Collegiate Baseball Poll after beating No. 15 Oregon State the previous weekend. The Cougars took two of three at No. 15 Oregon State, dropping Friday's series opener before claiming a 6-3 win Saturday and four pitchers combined for a one-hitter in Sunday's 3-1 victory to clinch their first series win in Corvallis since 2009. The Cougars finished the 2010 season ranked No. 21 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 24 by Baseball America. The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which started in 1959, is the oldest college baseball poll.

CHASE GRILLO NAMED TO NCBWA MIDSEASON STOPPER OF THE WATCH LIST
Redshirt-junior Chase Grillo was one of 56 pitcher named to the 2023 NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Grillo enters the week tied for fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with six saves and earned notable saves at UC San Diego, both wins at No. 15 Oregon State and the series-clincher against Arizona.

CONNOR WILFORD EARNED NATIONAL ACCOLADE, PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Reliever Connor Wilford was named the Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and one of the National Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball following the series win at No 15 Oregon State. Wilford made two appearances out of the bullpen in the Cougar's series win at No. 15 OSU and combined for seven no-hit innings with nine strikeouts and just one walk. The sophomore righthander struck out six in four no-hit innings of Friday's series-opener and came back two days later to work the fifth, sixth and seventh innings where he retired all nine hitters he faced, three via strikeout, to earn Sunday's series-clinching win. Four pitchers combined for a one-hitter in Sunday's 3-1 victory to clinch their first series win in Corvallis since 2009.

ADVINCULA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK AFTER HUGE OPENING WEEKEND
Outfielder Jonah Advincula was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week opening weekend. In four games, Advincula, a transfer from Redlands University (DIII), went 8-for-16 (.500) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs, 13 RBI, three stolen bases and four runs scored. The junior from Santa Clara, Calif. hit in the leadoff spot all weekend, recorded two multiple-hit games and a 1.125 slugging percentage. In game one against UC Riverside Saturday, the lefthanded hitter collected four hits including two home runs, a double, a triple, two runs scored, one stolen base and eight RBI, the second-most RBI in WSU single-game history. In the eighth inning, Advincula went to the plate needing just a single to hit for the cycle, he instead hit a grand slam. 

2022 BY THE NUMBERS
473 - WSU pitching set a program record with 473 strikeouts in 2022, breaking the 2009 record of 453
2 - WSU produced 2 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans for the 1st time since 1973
2 - WSU won 2 road series over Top-10 teams (No. 9 Arizona, No. 10 Oregon) for the 1st time in program history
1st - WSU swept Arizona State for the 1st time in program history

KYLE MANZARDO NAMED TAMPA BAY RAYS 2022 MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Former Washington State Baseball first baseman Kyle Manzardo was named the Tampa Bay Rays 2022 Minor League Player of the Year and was recently invited to the 2023 big league spring training. Manzardo opened the 2022 season at High-A Bowling Green and was promoted to Double-A Montgomery and finished the 2022 season with a combined .327 batting average, 26 doubles, 22 homers, 81 RBI and a 1.043 OPS, leading all Rays' minor-leaguers in average, on-base percentage and slugging. Manzardo, taken in the second round as the No. 63 overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft, the highest draft pick for the Cougars since Scott Hatteberg was selected in the first round compensation round and No. 43 overall in 1991. Manzardo earned All-America first-team honors as a junior in 2021, WSU's first position player to earn All-American first-team honors since John Olerud in 1988. In his three seasons in Pullman, Manzardo was a two-time All-American, hit .336 with 37 doubles, 16 home runs, 105 RBI, 149 hits, set the WSU record with a 43-game on-base streak and recorded a 27-game hitting streak, the second-longest hitting streak in program history. Manzardo also tallied 45 multiple-hit games including 11 3-hit games and four 4-hit games. 

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 in 2019. 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. Olerud went 26-4 overall with a 3.17 ERA over 241.1 innings during his three seasons, hitting .434. 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.