UTAH at WASHINGTON STATE
Pullman, Wash. | May 7-9, 2016
Saturday, 7 p.m. | Sunday, 4 p.m. | Monday, 7 p.m.
Pac-12 Network
COUGARS HOST UTAH FOR THREE-GAME SERIES
Washington State (14-25, 7-14 Pac-12) returns to Bailey-Brayton Field to host a three-game series against the University of Utah (16-23, 11-7 Pac-12) beginning Saturday at 7 p.m. The series continues Sunday at 4 p.m. and concludes Monday at 7 p.m. All three contests will be on the Pac-12 Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
Cougar baseball fans can follow all the season's action on the Washington State baseball official twitter page @CougBaseball, instagram page @Coug_Baseball and wsucougars.com. Links to live stats and radio streams will be available at the baseball schedule page on wsucougars.com. Every Cougar home game will be webstreamed through Pac-12.org.
COMING UP
The Cougars will head to Seattle next weekend for a Wednesday contest at Seattle University followed by a weekend series at the University of Washington.
LAST WEEKEND
Washington State was in a position to take two of three at Oregon last weekend but the Ducks rallied with six runs in the eighth inning of Sunday's rubber game to win 11-7. WSU two-hit Oregon in Friday's 4-0 win but the Ducks evened the series with an 8-0 win Saturday.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the weekend with a 14-25 overall record including a 7-14 mark in Pac-12 Conference play under first-year head coach Marty Lees. Last weekend, the Cougars dropped a conference series 2-1 at Oregon. Offensively the Cougars are led by Trek Stemp who is tied for first in the Pac-12 with 11 stolen bases, fifth in hits (59) and tied for sixth in batting average (.358). Senior Patrick McGrath owns team-best 22 RBI and three players shared the team-lead with three homers (Frost, Hatten, Van Horn). The Cougars are second in the conference with 51 stolen bases). Washington State is expected to start lefthander Damon Jones Saturday, righthander Ian Hamilton Sunday and lefthander Scotty Sunitsch Monday. It will be the first start of the season for Sunitsch and third of his career after starting twice as freshman last season. In last year's start against Gonzaga, he went five innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits in a no-decision. He started against New Mexico State and again allowed just on earned run and struck out five in 3.2 innings.
ABOUT UTAH
Utah enters the week with a 16-23 overall record but tied for first in the standings with Washington with an 11-7 Pac-12 record after taking two of three from UCLA last weekend. The Cougars lead the all-time series with the Utes 19-8 and have won the last two series. Offensively, Utah is led by Cody Scaggari's .318 average and 23 RBI. Head coach Bill Kinneberg is in his 13th season at Utah.
COUGAR QUICK HITS
TEAM
• WSU's series win over No. 10 Oregon State was the first series win over a Top-10 ranked team since 2012
• WSU is second in the Pac-12 Conference with 51 stolen bases
INDIVIDUAL
• WSU head coach Marty Lees is in his first season with the Cougars
• Lees and pitching coach Dan Spencer were assistants on Oregon State's National Championship teams (2006-07)
• Assistant coach Jim Horner played for the Cougars (1993-96), earned All-Pac-10 honors as an OF in 1996
• RHP Ian Hamilton owns the WSU record with 28 career saves, third-most among active pitchers in the NCAA
• Hamilton named to 2016 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List, two-time All-Pac-12 Conference selection
• UTL Trek Stemp has posted three different hitting streaks of 10+ games (11, 12, 11) this season
• Stemp entered the week tied for 6th in the Pac-12 in hitting (.358), 5th in hits (59), and tied for 1st in SB (11)
• Stemp has hit safely in 35 of the 39 games played this season
• RHP Ryan Walker is 4th in the Pac-12 with a 2.05 ERA and 2nd in batting average against (.185)
• In Pac-12 play, Walker is 4th in ERA (2.35) and 2nd in batting averaged against (.172), Sunitsch is 8th (.227)
STEMP AMONG PAC-12 LEADING HITTERS
Utility man Trek Stemp started the 2016 season on fire and hasn't let up, entering the weekend tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Conference in batting average (.358), fifth in hits (59) and tied for the league lead in stolen bases (11). The Kennewick, Wash. native recorded hits in the first 11 games before losing the hit streak with a pinch-hit fly out March 6. He followed that with a hit in 12 straight games before that streak ended and added another a 10-game streak. He owns a hit in 35 of the 39 games this season. Stemp redshirted last season but hasn't missed a beat since his return, recording 16 multiple-hit games including three 4-hit performances. He has started seven games in centerfield and 31 at second base.
STEMP NAMED PAC-12 CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Washington State second baseman Trek Stemp was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week after helping WSU to a series win against No. 10 Oregon State. Stemp went 9-for-14 (.692), recording multiple hits in all three games including four in the series finale. The Kennewick, Wash. native slugged .769, scored four runs and drove in two. In the opener, Stemp tallied three hits and scored a run before registering two hits and a run scored in the game two win. In the rubber game, Stemp recorded four hits, his third 4-hit game of the season, and also scored twice and drove in two. It was the first career Pac-12 weekly accolade for Stemp and the first of the season for WSU.
HAMILTON ADJUSTS TO STARTING ROLE
Right-hander Ian Hamilton has pitched well after making the move from closer to starter this season. His 1-8 record doesn't reflect his effectiveness but the junior owns a 4.76 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 64.1 innings, all team-bests. Hamilton has also been on the wrong end of close ball games and the offense had scored a combined nine runs in his first seven starts before scoring nine in the win over Arizona State to give him his first win of the year. Against No. 10 Oregon State, Hamilton took a no-hitter into the seventh before allowing two hits. Hamilton was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection as a reliever, setting the school record with 28 career saves.
WALKER LEADING COUGAR BULLPEN
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Walker has excelled out of the bullpen this season, owning a team-best and fourth-lowest in the Pac-12 ERA (2.05) and second-best opponent batting average (.185). He has recorded six wins (tied for fourth in the Pac-12) and three saves (tied for 10th in the Pac-12) in 13 appearances this season, all out of the pen. The Arlington, Wash. native picked up a win after pitching five innings of one-hit ball to earn a win over Houston Baptist, earned his first career save after striking out six in four innings against Utah Valley and another win after going 5.1 innings out of the bullpen against Northeastern. Walker earned the win at Stanford after not allowing an earned run in four relief innings, surrendering just one hit while striking out three and picked up the save against Arizona State with four scoreless innings. At Arizona, Walker added another win with 3.2 innings while allowing one hit and striking out five. Against No. 10 Oregon State, he earned the win with three innings of relief and came back the next day to pitch the final two innings to earn the save. In last Friday's two-hit shutout win at Oregon, Walker fired six scoreless innings of relief to seal up the win. Of WSU's seven conference wins, Walker owns four of the wins and saved two others.
ADAM CONLEY OPENS SEASON AS MARLINS NO. 3 STARTER
Former Washington State Cougar left-handed pitcher Adam Conley, a second-round pick by the Marlins in 2011, is in his second season in the big leagues with the Miami Marlins. Conley opened the year as the No. 3 starter and is coming off a start where he no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers for 7.2 innings, striking out seven before leaving the game after throwing 116 pitches. Conley will start Thursday against Arizona. Last season with the Marlins, making his debut in June and went on to make 11 starts and posted a 4-1 record with a .376 ERA in 67 innings.
NEW COUGS IN THE MIX
Washington State has seen 14 newcomers make their Cougar debuts this season including 11 freshmen. Freshman utility man Mason Cerrillo owns a .271 batting average against Pac-12 pitching highlighted by a go-ahead two-run single in the 10-inning win at Stanford, a three-hit performance in a win over Arizona State and a go-ahead grand slam against No. 10 Oregon State. On the mound, nine pitchers have made their debuts this year including seven true freshmen. Redshirt-sophomore Damon Jones has had three straight solid starts for the Cougars, not allowing a hit in his three innings of work in last Friday's two-hit shutout win at Oregon. Freshman Parker McFadden, a 20th-round draft selection by the Seattle Mariners last June, picked up his first career win after striking our four against Prairie View A&M and later struck out six, allowed two earned runs in six innings to pick up the win over Northeastern. Freshman starter Ryan Ward, the Oregon Player of the Year last season, struck out six at Texas State in his first career start and picked up his first career win after striking out eight and allowing just one earned run in a five-inning start against Utah Valley.
WASHINGTON STATE POSTS TWO-HIT SHUTOUT AT OREGON
Washington State allowed just two hits in a 4-0 series-opening win over Oregon last Friday. The Cougars saw freshman catcher Ty Johnson go 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI to back starting pitcher Damon Jones and reliever Ryan Walker who combined to strike out nine and didn't allow an Oregon hit until one out in the sixth. Washington State scored three runs in the first and added one more in the third in WSU's first two-hitter since 2009 at Rice. Walker finished with six strikeouts in six shutout innings.
COUGARS TAKE SERIES FROM NO. 10 OREGON STATE
Washington State won the final two games of its home series against No. 10 Oregon State to take the series. The Cougars dropped game one 12-3 but received a solid starting pitching performance form Ian Hamilton to take game two 7-5 and the offense came alive to win the finale 8-3. It was WSU's first series win against OSU since 2010 and first series win against a Top-10 team since beating No. 6 Oregon in 2012.
COUGARS RALLY LATE AT TEXAS STATE TO GET MARTY LEES FIRST WIN
Washington State rallied with two runs in the ninth inning and scored two more in the tenth inning to beat Texas State 9-8 in 10 innings in the final game of a season-opening four-game series in San Marcos, Texas, also giving first-year Cougar Head Coach Marty Lees his first career win. Down four runs to start the seventh inning, the Cougars scored twice in the seventh and two more in the ninth to send the game extra innings. In the tenth, Stefan Van Horn, who entered the game in the eighth, launched a solo homer high over the left field fence on the first pitch he saw. Jack Strunc, who also entered the game in the eighth, followed with a double down the left field line and later came around to score on Derek Chapman's sacrifice fly to left field which proved to be the game winner. In the bottom half of the tenth, Texas State opened the inning with a double and RBI single. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt and was called safe at first to put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Bobcats bunted both runners up a base and WSU intentionally walked the next hitter to load the bases with one out. Lefthander Scotty Sunitsch came up big for the Cougars striking out the final two hitters to seal up the win.
COUGARS 2016 SIGNING CLASS
Washington State have 13 players signed to National Letters of Intent to join the program in 2016.
NAME POS B/T HT WT HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)
Andres Alvarez SS R/R 5-10 160 San Diego, Calif. (San Ysidro HS/Trinidad State JC)
*Cody Anderson LHP L/L 6-6 200 Marysville, Wash. (Marysville-Pilchuck HS/Bellevue CC)
*A.J. Block LHP L/L 6-5 190 Bellevue, Wash. (Newport HS)
Nate Easley OF R/R 5-10 170 Glendale, Ariz. (Sandra Day O'Connor HS/Yavapai College)
*Peter Hutzal INF L/R 5-11 175 Calgary, Alberta (Bishop Carroll HS)
*Cory Meyer C R/R 5-10 180 Pocatello, Ida. (Highland HS/Spokane Falls CC)
*Dillon Plew INF L/R 6-3 180 Kennewick, Wash. (Kennewick HS)
Jake Polancic RHP R/R 6-3 200 Langley, British Columbia (Langley Secondary)
Ryan Ramsower 3B R/R 6-0 190 Tucson, Ariz. (Salpointe Catholic HS/Pima CC)
*Joe Rosenstein RHP R/R 6-6 215 Arvada, Colo. (Arvada HS/Seina/Lamar CC)
*James Rudkin 1B R/R 6-0 200 Plano, Texas (Plano East HS/McLennan JC)
*James Sinatro INF L/R 5-10 165 Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline HS)
Cal Waterman C R/R 6-2 205 Bend, Ore. (Summit HS)
*Signed in November, 2015
HAMILTON GARNERS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Junior pitcher Ian Hamilton was named to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Second Team by Collegiate Baseball, one of two Pac-12 Conference pitchers placed on the first or second team, appearing as a reliever. He was also rated No. 44 among the Top-100 college prospects by Baseball America prior to the season. In 2015, Hamilton repeated as a member of the All-Pac-12 Conference team after finishing the year with a 1.67 ERA in 43 innings and tied for the Pac-12 lead with 13 saves. His total ranked him tied for 16th nationally as he became WSU's all-time leader with 28. The Vancouver, Wash. native earned Freshman All-America honors as a freshman in 2014 after setting a school record with 15 saves and posted a 2.70 ERA.
ABOUT ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH / PITCHING COACH DAN SPENCER
In his first official move as head baseball coach, Marty Lees named Dan Spencer as the Cougars' associate head coach. Spencer will oversee WSU's pitching staff and reunites with Lees as the two spent four seasons together at Oregon State, winning back-to-back College World Series titles in 2006 and 2007. Spencer coached three seasons with the New Mexico Lobos after serving the previous four years as the head coach of Texas Tech, compiling a 115-112 record. Before joining Texas Tech for the 2008 season, Spencer spent 11 seasons at Oregon State as the Beavers hitting coach (1997-2003) and pitching coach (2004-2007). He began his head coaching career at Green River Community College (1992-96) in Auburn, Wash. In 1992 and 1994 he was named the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Coach of the Year. A native of Vancouver, Wash., Spencer received his bachelor's degree in history from Portland State University in 1990. He and his wife, Susie, have three children: Wade, Logan, and Elizabeth.
ABOUT ASSISTANT COACH JIM HORNER
Marty Lees filled out his coaching staff hiring former WSU catcher and minor league manager Jim Horner as an assistant coach in June. Horner, a first-team All-Pacific-10 catcher for the Cougars in 1996, jumped at the opportunity to return to the Palouse after managing the Seattle Mariners Double-A affiliate Jackson Generals (Tenn.) for the 2014 season and the first half of the 2015 campaign. Horner owns seven-plus years of managerial experience, serving as the skipper of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Seattle – Low-A) from 2006-07 before managing the High Desert Mavericks (Seattle - High-A) from 2008-10 and 2013. In 2009, he was named California League Manager of the Year and Seattle Mariners Staff Member of the Year after guiding the Mavericks to South Division first and second half titles. From 2011-12, Horner coached two seasons at Texas Tech as the hitting coach under then head coach Dan Spencer. Horner joined the coaching ranks immediately after completing a nine-year professional playing career, all with the Mariners' organization. He was a catcher in the Seattle farm system from 1996-2004. In 2000, Horner reached the Triple-A level with the Tacoma Rainiers. Horner played at Washington State for coaches Bobo Brayton (1993-94) and Steve Farrington (1995-96). The Twin Falls, Idaho native earned first-team All-Pac-10 Conference honors as a senior after leading the Cougars with a .332 batting average. Horner was also named the Pacific-10 Conference Medal Winner for Washington State as WSU's top male student-athlete and received all-academic honors while earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Jim and his wife, Katie, hav
e four children: daughters, Madison and Reagan, and sons, Jackson and Tyler.
