FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS: Bannerwood Park has become a familiar place for Seattle University, as the team has played nine games at that park over an 18-day span with another four coming up in the next three days. The BYU Cougars come to town and will face Seattle U twice, with the Portland Pilots following for two games against the Redhawks. The Cougars and the Pilots will also use Bannerwood Park for a neutral-site game of their own Saturday morning. Seattle U will need to quickly adapt over the weekend, going from a hitting-friendly team in BYU to a Portland squad that has one of the best pitching staffs in the country.
THE DALLAS BAPTIST SERIES: The bottom third of the Seattle University lineup did the most damage offensively, while the starter and the closer did their jobs to help the Redhawks defeat the Dallas Baptist Patriots, 7-5, last Thursday afternoon at Bannerwood Park. Riley Tompkins, Nick Latta, and Steve Kirbach, the 7-8-9 hitters in the lineup, combined to hit 6-for-11 with five runs scored and four runs driven in. Max Whieldon picked up his second win of the year after allowing seven hits and three runs in 7 1/3 innings of work with no walks and four strikeouts. Arlo Evasick finished the game while allowing only one hit in the ninth inning, earning his first save of the season. In the second game of the series, Dallas Baptist jumped on the board early and cruised to a 13-2 victory over Seattle University Friday night in a contest ended early due to rain. Brandon Kizer suffered his second loss of the season, allowing seven hits, a walk, and six runs in three innings of work with two strikeouts. Cullen Hendrickson went 2-for-2 with a walk to lead the Redhawks offensively. In Saturday's rubber game, Evasick put the Redhawks in position to win, but one big hit in the eighth inning allowed Dallas Baptist to win the weekend series with a 6-2 victory at Bannerwood Park. Evasick pitched seven innings, allowing just five hits, two walks, and one run while striking out five Patriot batters. Phil Parrish came on in relief in the eighth inning and promptly allowed a single by Jason Krizan and a ground-rule double by Ryan Enos before hitting Ryan Behmanesh with a pitch. Brian Shannon replaced Parrish, but Duncan McAlpine launched his 11th home run of the season over the right field wall to clear the bases. Bryndon Ecklund and Hendrickson each hit 3-for-4 to lead the Redhawks, with Mike Malland going 2-for-4.
THIS WEEKEND'S MATCHUPS:
Thursday, April 29 - 3 p.m. start:
BYU: #36 Matt Neil - RHP - 3-4, 5.74 ERA - 53.1 IP, 80 H, 34 ER, 10 BB, 37 K
Seattle U: #23 Brandon Kizer - RHP - 1-2, 4.26 ERA - 50.2 IP, 52 H, 24 ER, 24 BB, 27 K
Friday, April 30 - 2 p.m. start:
BYU: #23 Mark Anderson - LHP - 1-1, 5.93 ERA - 27.1 IP, 28 H, 18 ER, 22 BB, 14 K
Seattle U: #20 Joey Pulitano - LHP - 0-0, 10.67 ERA - 14.1 IP, 20 H, 17 ER, 13 BB, 10 K
Friday, April 30 - 6 p.m. start:
Portland: #15 Zach Varce - RHP - 5-1, 2.86 ERA - 69.1 IP, 70 H, 22 ER, 17 BB, 79 K
Seattle U: #21 Arlo Evasick - RHP - 1-7, 5.49 ERA - 57.1 IP, 68 H, 35 ER, 19 BB, 32 K
Saturday, May 1 - 11 a.m. start:
Portland: #34 Kyle Kraus - RHP - 8-0, 3.93 ERA - 71.0 IP, 74 H, 31 ER, 12 BB, 52 K
BYU: #35 Chris Capper - RHP - 2-0, 5.25 ERA, 1 Save - 48.0 IP, 62 H, 28 ER, 10 BB, 24 K
Saturday, May 1 - 2 p.m. start:
Portland: #31 Owen Jones - RHP - 3-1, 2.78 ERA - 32.1 IP, 28 H, 10 ER, 17 BB, 26 K
Seattle U: #55 Max Whieldon - RHP - 2-6, 3.17 ERA - 48.1 IP, 44 H, 17 ER, 12 BB, 24 K
SCOUTING BYU: The Cougars come into the weekend with an 18-20 overall record after taking two of three over rival Utah last weekend. BYU just completed a eight-game homestand, going 4-4 with two wins over Kansas State coupled with the victories over the Utes. As a team, the Cougars have compiled a .319 batting average, a 6.76 earned run average, and a .950 fielding percentage with 75 errors in 38 games played. Brandon Relf leads the team with a .359 batting average, 56 hits, 36 runs scored, and a .436 on-base percentage. Bryce Ayoso leads the team with 13 doubles as part of a .338 batting average, while Alex Wolfe is also batting .338 with 10 home runs, 40 runs batted in, 23 walks, and a .601 slugging percentage. Matthew Neil has been a consistent starter for the Cougars this season, while both Mark Anderson and Chris Capper have split time between the starting rotation and the bullpen. David McKnight leads the team with six saves, while Kevin Sloan has a team-high 17 appearances, notching a 7-0 record with a 2.53 earned run average without making a start for BYU.
SCOUTING PORTLAND: The Pilots enter the weekend with a 27-9 overall record after sweeping Pepperdine in Malibu over the weekend. Portland is currently 11-1 in the West Coast Conference and brings a seven-game winning streak into this weekend's action. As a team, the Pilots currently have a .299 batting average, a 3.29 earned run average, and a .964 fielding percentage with 51 errors in 36 games played. Portland is currently eighth in Division I in lowest earned run average. At the plate, C.J. Cullen leads the way with a .395 batting average, while Beau Fraser is hitting .378 with six home runs and 39 runs batted in. Riley Hendricks has a .310 batting average with 44 hits, including eight doubles, six triples, and four home runs. Zach Varce is 5-1 with a .286 earned run average and 79 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings pitched, while Kyle Kraus is a perfect 8-0 with a 3.93 earned run average, two complete games, and 52 strikeouts. Chris Dennis is one of the best closers in the country with 12 saves to go along with a 4-0 record, a 1.12 earned run average, and 41 strikeouts in just 32 innings of work.
WEATHER FORECAST: According to The Weather Channel, the forecast for Thursday is the chance of showers ending with temperatures in the mid 50s and winds from the west at about 10 miles per hour. On Friday, there is a chance of lingering showers with temperatures again in the mid 50s, while Saturday is expected to contain some sun breaks with temperatures holding steady in the mid 50s.
SEATTLEU VS. PORTLAND: After being involved in three high-scoring games to start the season, Seattle University headed south for a scheduled four-game series against the University of Portland. The game scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26, was postponed due to rain, and the series opened the next day with just one game. Each team scored one run early, but it became a pitcher's duel as the game moved into extra innings before Portland earned the 2-1 walkoff win. Seattle U starter Arlo Evasick gave up just six hits and one unearned run in 6 1/3 innings of work, while relievers Blaine Jones and Bryan Dalton kept Portland off the board until the extra frame. On the other side, Zach Vance struck out 14 batters and set down the final 18 batters he faced in a row, and Chris Dennis struck out the final five batters he saw to earn the victory. On Sunday, C.J. Cullen hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth of the first game to give the Pilots a 7-5 victory, but an RBI single by Steve Kirbach scored Cullen Hendrickson in the top of the ninth of the second game to give the Redhawks their first baseball victory since 1986, 5-4. Max Whieldon picked up the victory after pitching three innings of relief, allowing five hits and one run while striking out two batters. Brandon Kizer's relief effort in the ninth inning earned him the save.