DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS: The Seattle University baseball team begins the week with the fourth and final game this season against the University of Washington. The Redhawks are 5-3 at Husky Ballpark so far this year, including two victories over the Huskies. The team is set to leave the next day for Texas in preparation for a three-game series against fellow independent Dallas Baptist, one of the best offensive teams in the country. The Redhawks will bring a 10- or 11-game improvement from last season to Dallas. Dan Giuliani will broadcast all four games of the week on GoSeattleU.com.
THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON SERIES: Seattle University faced a Central Washington squad that was batting .301 as a team and had just scored 22 runs in a single game. By the end of the two-game series, the Wildcats' team batting average was down to .292 as the Redhawk pitching staff earned two shutouts, 3-0 and 5-0. Friday, Brandon Kizer pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and hitting two batters while posting four strikeouts. He retired the first 11 Wildcat batters in order and did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Conor Spink came on with one runner on and one out in the eighth inning, earned back-to-back strikeouts, and overcame a Redhawk error in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Josh Kalalau was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Kincaid followed with a double off the left field wall that drove in Kalalau with Seattle U's first run in 22 innings. The Redhawks added on to their lead in the sixth inning when Trent Oleszczuk and Sean Narby drew back-to-back walks and Kalalau followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Kincaid sent a line drive towards the right field line, scoring both players. Saturday, Arlo Evasick earned his first victory of the season after allowing just four hits and a walk in six innings of work while striking out four batters. Four relievers combined for three innings of one-hit relief. Josh Kutz led off the bottom of the third inning with his second home run of the season to give Seattle U a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Ryan Somers drew a leadoff walk and Kalalau followed with a two-run home run to increase the Redhawk advantage to 3-0. Nate Roberts hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning to give the Redhawks a 4-0 lead.
THIS WEEK'S PROBABLE MATCHUPS
Tuesday, April 19 - 5:00 p.m. start:
Seattle U: #30 RHP Seafth Howe - 4-2, 2.00 ERA, 45.0 IP, 27 H, 10 ER, 10 BB, 16 SO
Washington: #34 RHP Jeff Brigham - 2-0, 3.37 ERA, 34.2 IP, 34 H, 13 ER, 9 BB, 25 SO
Thursday, April 21 - 6:30 p.m. start:
Seattle U: #23 RHP Brandon Kizer - 5-2, 3.40 ERA, 45.0 IP, 39 H, 17 ER, 7 BB, 25 SO
Dallas Baptist: TBA
Friday, April 22 - 3:00 p.m. start:
Seattle U: TBA
Dallas Baptist: TBA
Saturday, April 23 - 12:00 p.m. start:
Seattle U: #32 RHP Arlo Evasick - 1-3, 5.62 ERA, 24.0 IP, 23 H, 15 ER, 12 BB, 12 SO
Dallas Baptist: TBA
SCOUTING WASHINGTON: The Huskies come into Tuesday's game with a 10-23 overall record after being swept by California over the weekend. Washington is 5-10 at home so far this season, last winning a game at Husky Ballpark March 29 against Portland. As a team, the Huskies have compiled a .236 batting average, a .976 fielding percentage, and a 4.77 earned run average. Jacob Lamb, the only player to start every game so far this season for Washington, leads the team with a .333 batting average and 42 hits, including two home runs. Troy Scott has a .276 batting average, plus he leads the squad with 17 runs scored, nine doubles, 17 runs batted in, and three stolen bases.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the crosstown rivals, with Seattle U holding a 2-1 series advantage. On March 8 at Husky Ballpark, Doug Kincaid hit a bases-clearing double in the third inning to give Seattle U the lead, and solid relief pitching by Conor Spink, Max Whieldon, and Blaine Jones allowed the Redhawks to earn a 4-2 win. April 5's game was moved to Husky Ballpark, but that did not affect Seattle U, as the Redhawks took a 4-1 lead. Washington came back with two runs in the seventh and one run in the ninth to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings, but an RBI single by Michael Tevlin and a sacrifice fly from Cullen Hendrickson gave Seattle U the 6-4 victory. Washington scored early and often at Bannerwood Park April 12, taking advantage of six Seattle U errors on its way to an 11-0 victory.
WASHINGTON SERIES NOTES: Jace Sloan has been Seattle U's best hitter against the Huskies so far this season, batting .444 (4-for-9) with two doubles and two runs scored. On the mound, Conor Spink has appeared in all three games against the Huskies, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, giving up just three hits and two walks in 9 1/3 innings of work with four strikeouts.
SCOUTING DALLAS BAPTIST: The Patriots hold a 22-12 record heading into their midweek game at Oklahoma Tuesday night. Dallas Baptist holds a 12-5 record in home games so far this season and begins an eight-game homestand with the series against the Redhawks. As a team, the Patriots have compiled a .305 batting average, a .972 fielding percentage, and a 4.14 earned run average. Dallas Baptist is eighth in the country in runs scored with 285. Jason Krizan leads the team with a .407 batting average, plus he leads the country with 23 doubles. On the mound, Brandon Williamson is 6-1 with a 3.19 ERA, while Chris Haney leads the way with 18 appearances and eight saves.
LAST SEASON: Dallas Baptist made the trip to the Pacific Northwest for a three-game series April 22-24. In the first game of the series, Seattle U built up a 7-1 lead, with the bottom third of the order going 6-for-11 and Max Whieldon making a solid start. Dallas Baptist pulled to within two, but Arlo Evasick earned his first save of the season to preserve Seattle U's 7-5 victory. Dallas Baptist controlled game two, scoring early and often in a 13-2 rain-shortened victory. In the rubber game of the series, Evasick pitched seven strong innings to put the Redhawks in position to win the game, but the bullpen failed to support him, allowing the Patriots to earn a 6-2 victory to win the series.
BROADCASTING LIVE: Dan Giuliani will broadcast all games on GoSeattleU.com, with a pregame show commencing about 25-30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Seattle U director of baseball operations Drew Samuelson or former Redhawk Doug Buser will join Giuliani on most broadcasts. Giuliani will also put together a weekly podcast that accompanies the weekly preview on GoSeattleU.com. The audio broadcasts of past games are available by going to the game recaps on the athletics website.
IMPROVEMENT SHOWS: The April 5 victory over Washington was Seattle University's 11th of the season, matching the squad's win total from the entire 2010 campaign. The improvement has been most apparent in the pitching and defense for the Redhawks. Last season, the team posted a .956 fielding percentage (84 errors in 50 games) and a 6.80 earned run average. So far this season, the fielding percentage has improved to .968 (36 errors in 29 games) and the earned run average has been cut down to 3.65. Another key for the Redhawks has been the ability to come back from adversity. Seattle U was just 2-27 when the opponent scored first. This season, the Redhawks are 7-10 when their opponents score the first run of the game. Tuesday's game against Washington gives Seattle U the chance to win its first season series over the Huskies since 1979. Seattle U has not won three games over Washington in the same season since 1974, when it took all four games of the season series.
WEATHER FORECAST: Tuesday's forecast calls for partly sunny skies at the start of the game, with temperatures in the low 50s and possibly dropping into the high 40s by the end of the game. After dealing with cool temperatures all year long, Seattle U will encounter much warmer conditions in Dallas. For both Thursday and Friday, the forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms and wind with temperatures moving from the low 80s to the mid 70s. A stray thunderstorm may hit the region Saturday, with temperatures in the mid 80s.
THE DEFINITION OF LEADOFF: Junior Trent Oleszczuk has had an immediate impact on the top of the Seattle U lineup. The only player to start every game for the Redhawks this season, he leads the team with a .354 batting average, 34 hits, 19 runs scored, 17 walks, four stolen bases, and a .479 on-base percentage. He reached base in each of his first 11 plate appearances during the Nevada series, a modern Seattle U baseball record.