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SEATTLE – (May 23) Seattle University baseball makes its final trip of the season, travelling to Mesa, Ariz. to compete in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. After claiming the sixth-seed in the tournament, the Redhawks will face third-seed Sacramento State in their first game on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The tournament is double-elimination style, meaning teams have to lose twice before being eliminated from the tournament. All games be streamed on the WAC Digital Network. All Seattle U games will also feature a live audio stream on goseattleu.com.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
Wednesday, May 23 vs. Sacramento State - 7:00 p.m. (Hohokam Stadium, Mesa, AZ)
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THE MATCH-UP
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Wednesday, May 24
SU: LHP Jake Prizina (5-2, 3.87) vs. Sac State: RHP Justin Dillon (3-7, 3.42)
SEATTLE U'S TOURNAMENT PATH
A win in Wednesday's opener would pit Seattle U against top seed New Mexico State on Thursday at 7 p.m. A first-round loss would send the Redhawks into the losers bracket for an 11 a.m. Thursday first pitch, but still with an opportunity to play back around in the double-elimination tournament.
REDHAWK REPORT
• The Redhawks finished the regular-season by dropping two out of three games to visiting Utah Valley, but still managed to make the postseason as the six-seed on the final day of play.
• The WAC Tournament will take place in Mesa, Ariz., for the fourth year in a row, returning this year to a newly renovated Hohokam Stadium.
• Utah Valley defeated Seattle U last season in the championship game to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Seattle U was the one-seed last year after winning a program record 37 games.
• Since the program returned in 2010, Seattle U baseball has never won the tournament, but has either lost in the first game, or made it to the title game before losing.
• There have been five different winners in the tournament in each of the past five years.
• Freshman Austin Lively finishes the regular-season as the leading hitter for Seattle U with a .341 batting average, good for the eighth best average in the conference. He also hit one home run and drove in 30 runs on the season.
• Aaron Stroosma led the team with five home runs and 37 RBIs, as well as earning the spot of top base runner with 19 steals in 23 attempts. His 19 stolen bases are also the most in the conference.
• Wednesday's starter Jake Prizina led the conference with 95.1 innings pitched over the course of the season.
ANDREYCHUK'S RECORDS
• Senior Griffin Andreychuk broke the Redhawks' career-hit mark on Friday, May 19 versus Utah Valley. He entered the night needing one hit in order to move ahead of Brian Olson as the all-time hit leader since the program returned in 2010. He wasted little time collecting number 213, driving a grounder past the second baseman on the right side for a single, in the first inning. He collected one more hit over the weekend and now stands at 214 for his career.
• In the team's regualr-season finale on Saturday, May 20, Andreychuk tied the program record for most career RBIs at 114. One more RBI would give the senior sole ownership of the all-time record, breaking a tie with Olson once again.
SERIES HISTORY VS SACRAMENTO STATE
The Redhawks played Sacramento State three times this seasons, winning one out of three games at home. They dropped the first game 3-2 in extra innings, before getting blown out 9-0 the next game. They came back in the last game of the series to win 7-4.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
• The Hornets most recently won the WAC Baseball Tournament in 2014.
• They had a record of 28-27 this season, going 12-12 in WAC play to earn the third seed.
• They have one of the best pitching staffs in the conference, leading the WAC with a 3.92 ERA and .248 opponent batting average.
• Vinny Esposito led the way at the plate, hitting .300 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs.
• Ian Dawkins led the team in batting average at .339, striking out just 26 times on the season.
• Freshman Parker Brahms was one of the best pitchers in the conference, going 7-3 with an ERA of 2.68 and 57 strikeouts.