2018 SCHEDULE | BUY TICKETS | DONATE
SEATTLE – (Feb. 15) The 2018 Seattle University baseball season gets underway this weekend as the Redhawks host Pacific in a four-game series at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue. Due to expected inclement weather over the weekend, The Redhawks and Tigers will begin play with a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a second doubleheader. Follow @seattleubase on Twitter for the most up-to-date announcements about game time and scores.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Friday, Feb. 16 at 1:00 p.m. PT (doubleheader)
- Bannerwood Park, Bellevue, WA
- Live Stats | Watch on WAC Digital Network
- Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 p.m. PT (doubleheader)
- Bannerwood Park, Bellevue, WA
- Live Stats | Watch Live
“Our guys have worked very hard this winter and we are excited for what this season can bring,” said Head Coach Donny Harrel, who enters his ninth season at the helm of the program. “We are going into this spring fairly healthy, and we’ve added tremendous depth to our roster to help better protect ourselves from what happened to us last year with all the injuries. All in all, we look forward to making another run at a WAC championship.”
With a program built around pitching and defense, the Redhawks are thrilled to welcome back redshirt junior pitcher Tarik Skubal to anchor the starting rotation. The lefty missed all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Skubal will be joined in the starting weekend rotation by fellow lefty Jake Prizina, who posted a 5-3 record in 2017 and led the team in innings pitched with 103.
Competition to round out the rotation will come from freshmen Bryden Weyer and Jarrod Billig as well as from returners Tyler Oldenberg and Alden Huschle. Redshirt junior Nick Meservey, who also had surgery last spring, is expected to return to the staff in April.
Zach Wolf, who had 12 saves as a freshman, will move back into that role and start the season as the closer, with plenty of other Redhawks competing to get innings this spring.
The Redhawk infield will be anchored by fourth-year starter Sean Sutton at first base. There will be great competition around the rest of the infield, including Curtis Perrin and Jacob Cosgrove at second base, 2017 Freshman All-American Austin Lively and freshman Connor O’Brien at shortstop, and juniors Jake Taylor and Jacob Prater battling it out at third base.
Also likely to get worked into the mix is freshman Drake Maningo who will see time as a designated hitter or first baseman. Catchers Jack Reisinger, Kyler Murphy, and Blaine Wagner all return after each seeing time behind the plate last year, with Reisinger leading the team in hitting in 2017 with a .351 batting average. Justin Mazzone will also battle for innings behind the plate and also in the DH role.
“Our strength for sure comes in the outfield where we should be able to cover a lot of ground,” said Harrel.
Senior Dalton Hurd returns to center field and sophomore Chase Wells returns as the starting right fielder after hitting .286 with 23 RBIs as a freshman. Left field has great competition and speed to offer defensively, with four different Redhawks looking to break into a starting role on opening day.
“Our schedule is once again tough, but should prepare us for the most competitive WAC schedule in our five-year history,” said Harrel. “Our early home series against Pacific and Rhode Island will prepare us well before heading to the Notre Dame tournament in Kissimmee, Fla. We will also be playing Washington, Washington State and Gonzaga at home this year, so we look forward to seeing how we match up against other quality teams from the Northwest.”
“Our primary team goal continues to be that of winning the conference championship,” Harrel continued. “We do need to play better on the road this season, but also take care of our home and not give up wins like we did at Bannerwood last season. The injury bug really took away from our success last year, but hopefully the experience those younger players got last season, along with getting our injured players back will help us work toward another tremendous season for Seattle University.”