ANOTHER WAC-KY ENCOUNTER: The Western Athletic Conference has seven baseball-playing members, meaning that one team each conference weekend will not have a WAC opponent to play. As an independent looking to fill its schedule, Seattle U has taken advantage of this fact, as New Mexico State is the fourth WAC opponent on the Redhawk schedule for a weekend series. Seattle U will look to improve on its previous results against WAC schools, as the Redhawks won only one game in the previous weekend series. New Mexico State is one of the best offensive teams in the country and got off to a great start, but going on the road has proven to be difficult for the Aggies. Meanwhile, the bats for Seattle U have suddenly heated up, and if the pitching can return close to what it was at the beginning of the season, the Redhawks should find success in their final April games.
THE DALLAS BAPTIST SERIES: Seattle University hit .315 as a team last weekend in Dallas, but Dallas Baptist was able to win two of three games thanks to a .350 team batting average. In the first game of the series, Seattle U scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but Dallas Baptist answered with two runs in the bottom of the first and two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead for good. The Patriots broke the game open in the fifth inning thanks to a grand slam home run from Kenny Hatcher. Sean Narby hit a solo home run for the Redhawks, but the Seattle U pitching staff allowed four walks and hit three batters to go along with 13 hits in the 10-6 Patriot win. With the wind blowing out Friday afternoon, the game remained in doubt until the very end. The Redhawks scored four runs in the first and one in the second to take a 5-0 lead, but Dallas Baptist responded with two runs in the third and eight runs, all with two outs, in the fourth inning. Down 11-6, Jace Sloan hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Doug Kincaid followed with a three-run blast in the seventh inning to put the Redhawks on top, 12-11. After Dallas Baptist retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Seattle U took advantage of a Patriot error to tie the game in the top of the ninth, but the home team was able to push a run across in the bottom of the ninth for the 15-14 victory. In the series finale Saturday, Seattle U hit four home runs and received gutty pitching performances from Seafth Howe and Evan Ewing to win, 13-6.
THIS WEEKEND'S PROBABLE MATCHUPS
Thursday, April 28 - 6:00 p.m. start:
Seattle U: #23 RHP Brandon Kizer - 5-3, 4.20 ERA, 49.1 IP, 44 H, 23 ER, 9 BB, 29 SO
New Mexico State: #34 RHP Dan Reid - 6-2, 4.40 ERA, 57.1 IP, 67 H, 28 ER, 18 BB, 35 SO
Friday, April 29 - 2:00 p.m. start (Game One):
Seattle U: #32 RHP Arlo Evasick - 1-3, 6.43 ERA, 28.0 IP, 30 H, 20 ER, 14 BB, 15 SO
New Mexico State: #36 LHP Ryan Beck - 7-3, 5.37 ERA, 62.0 IP, 71 H, 37 ER, 25 BB, 48 SO
Friday, April 29 - TBA start (Game Two):
Seattle U: #55 RHP Max Whieldon - 0-3, 5.11 ERA, 44.0 IP, 44 H, 25 ER, 11 BB, 15 SO
New Mexico State: #21 RHP Justin Cooper - 0-1, 10.43 ERA, 14.2 IP, 14 H, 17 ER, 20 BB, 20 SO
Saturday, April 30 - 10:00 a.m. start:
Seattle U: #30 RHP Seafth Howe - 4-3, 2.26 ERA, 51.2 IP, 34 H, 13 ER, 12 BB, 22 SO
New Mexico State: TBA
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE: The Aggies come into the weekend with a 27-13 overall record, thanks in large part to a 22-2 record at home and a 22-6 record in non-conference games. New Mexico State is just 5-11 away from home and 5-7 in WAC games, currently fifth in the conference standings. As a team, the Aggies are currently second in the country with a .339 batting average, 369 total runs, 9.2 runs per game, 242 walks, and 34 sacrifice flies. New Mexico State has compiled a .952 fielding percentage and a 6.23 earned run average. Tanner Waite is fourth in Division I with a .440 batting average and second in on-base percentage at .568. Wesley Starkes has scored 46 runs so far this season, while Parker Hipp has driven in 48 runs to lead the Aggies. On the mound, Scott Coffman is the team's closer, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.68 ERA and seven saves in 17 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 26 2/3 innings of work. No other pitcher has an ERA under 4.00.
SERIES HISTORY: Seattle University and New Mexico State are meeting for the first time ever on the baseball field.
TEACH ME HOW TO DOUGIE: With his single in the sixth inning of Tuesday night's game against Pacific Lutheran, junior Doug Kincaid extended his hitting streak to 12 games, passing Sean Narby's 11-game hitting streak last season for the longest since the reestablishment of the baseball program. Kincaid's batting average has gone up 51 points during the streak, from .262 after the second Sacramento State game on April 3 to his current mark of .313. In the past 12 games, he has gone 19-for-50 (.380) with 11 runs scored and 12 runs batted in. In last Friday's game at Dallas Baptist, the Portland native went 3-for-6 with two runs scored, four runs batted in, and a single short of hitting for the cycle, as he notched a double, a triple, and a home run during the game.
LEADING OFF: Trent Oleszczuk has made an immediate impact on the Seattle University squad, both in the leadoff spot of the batting order and in the middle of the infield. He leads the team with a .339 batting average, 39 hits, 25 runs scored, 21 walks, nine times hit by a pitch, four stolen bases, and a .473 on-base percentage. In the Nevada series April 8-10, Oleszczuk reached base safely in his first 11 plate appearances in a row, a modern Seattle U baseball record. From the end of the Feb. 19 doubleheader at Cal State Northridge through the March 24 game at Portland, he was batting over .400. He has also been stellar in the field, making only four errors while playing both second base and shortstop.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: Seattle University has already passed its win total from the 2010 season, bringing 16 victories into the weekend series against New Mexico State. Last season the Redhawks were 11-39 overall and 6-28 at this point in the campaign. The improvement has been most evident in the pitching and defense. Last season Seattle U finished with a .956 fielding percentage (84 errors in 50 games) and a 6.80 earned run average. This season the Redhawks have compiled a .966 fielding percentage (44 errors in 34 games) and a 4.29 earned run average. So far in 2011, Seattle U boasts victories over Cal State Northridge, Notre Dame, Washington, Portland, Oregon State, Nevada, and Dallas Baptist.
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.