Cinderella Huskies Prepared For College Baseball's Grandest Ball

Saturday, June 16

Omaha, NE

5:00 PM

University of Washington

Mississippi State

Cinderella Huskies Prepared For College Baseball's Grandest Ball

June 13, 2018 | Baseball

College World Series Central 2019 Season Ticket Deposits UW Record Book - Post Season UW News Clips

By: Brian Tom

WASHINGTON'S EARLY MCWS SCHEDULE
(all times Pacific // TD Ameritrade Park Omaha)

FRIDAY, JUNE 15
10:10-11:00 a.m. Practice
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Autograph Session
6:30 p.m. Team Parade to TDAPO
6:45-8:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies

SATURDAY, JUNE 16
5:00 p.m. Washington vs. Mississippi State (ESPN)

MONDAY, JUNE 18
11 a.m. or 4 p.m. North Carolina or Oregon State (ESPN)

SEATTLE - The Washington Huskies (35-24) bucked trends and overcame long odds and are headed to Omaha, Neb., for their first-ever trip to the Men's College World Series (MCWS). The Huskies entered post-season as the lowest RPI (63) at-large team to receive a bid, were a No. 3 seed and won their first ever regional in Conway, S.C., and had to travel to Fullerton, Calif., to face Cal State Fullerton who were competing in their 14th Super Regional and trying to qualify for their 19th MCWS berth. Yet, it is the Cinderella Huskies that have crashed baseball's grandest ball, and are more than ready for their first dance.

UW will face the MCWS's only other non-national seed left on the docket, Mississippi State (37-27) on Saturday, June 16 at 5:00 p.m. PT. The Bulldogs advanced as a No. 2 regional seed.

While the Huskies will be in uncharted post-season territory, they ride into Omaha red hot and are 10-2 over their last 12 games, winners of 12 of 15 and 14 of 18.

Awaiting the Huskies on Monday, June 18 is either Oregon State or North Carolina.

The first two games will be carried live on ESPN. The broadcast team will consist of Karl Ravech, Kyle Peterson and Eduardo Perez with Laura Rutledge providing reports from the field. Constant updates are also available via Twitter: @UW_Baseball and fans can find all links at GoHuskies.com.

LAST WEEK
Washington traveled to Cal State Fullerton for its first ever endeavor into a Super Regional and by the end of the weekend, both teams were emotionally drained. The Huskies drew first blood, pounding out 14 hits to win game one, 8-5. UW fell behind 2-0, but tied the game in the third and took the lead for good in the fifth with a pair of runs. They scored two more in the seventh, but Fullerton answered with three in its half of the inning to close the gap to one run. Kaiser Weiss gave the Huskies some huge insurance with a two-run double in the ninth.

The Titans evened the score in game two, scoring a pair of runs in the second and never looking back. Joe Wainhouse hit a pair of home runs, but they accounted for the Huskies' only two runs in a 5-2 loss, setting up a decisive game three.

Ace Joe DeMers was on the hill for the Huskies in the final game and he was dominant for eight innings. He was perfect until giving up a lead-off single in the seventh and he was backed offensively by solo home runs from Nick Kahle and Willie MacIver, plus another run in the sixth. He led 3-1 heading into the ninth when all kinds of craziness ensued. Spinning a one-hitter, the Titans finally got to DeMers in the ninth. After a hit batter to start the inning, they would wedge four hits around a pair of out and score three times to take a 4-3 lead.

The Huskies would not roll over as a pair of freshmen teammed up to send the game to extra innings. Weiss doubled and Jonathan Schiffer singled him home to send the game to the 10th.

With two outs in the 10th, Titans second baseman Hank LoForte would hit a solo home run to give his team the lead, but once again, the Huskies did not back down. Wainhouse singled to start the inning, and pinch runner Jack Johnson moved all the way to third base when pitcher Brett Conine threw a bunt by Levi Jordan into right field. AJ Graffanino reached on an infield single that scored Johnson and after a fielding error at short by Sahid Valenzuela loaded the bases, Weiss calmly lifted a deep fly to left that scored Jordan, setting off a wild celebration between first and second base.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Saturday's meeting will be the fifth between the Huskies and Bulldogs with Mississippi State holding the 4-1 series advantage. The teams first met in 1967 with MSU beating UW, 5-3, in that game. They would not meet again until 1997 in the NCAA Regionals hosted in Starkville. The Huskies rolled into that regional scorching hot. They won the Pac-10 champions the previous weekend and arrived in Mississippi winners in 14 of 15 games. The Huskies beat Mississippi State in the first game, 5-4, and then took down Georgia Tech in the second game. The Huskies were one win away from advancing to their first-ever CWS, but MSU won the next two games, 7-5 and 4-3 to turn the Huskies away from history. The next year, in 1998, UW would once again see Mississippi State in the post-season. Once again, the Huskies rode in red-hot, 16-2 over their previous 18 games, but this time MSU defeated the Huskies in that first game, 7-6. The Huskies would win their next two games before losing to Texas A&M in the regional.

TEAM NOTES:
• Season Of Firsts: Washington had never been to a Super Regional, nor had they ever advanced to the Men's College World Series before this year. In 1994 and 1997, before Super Regionals existed, the Huskies were one win away from advancing to the MCWS.
• Baseball And Football Elite Company: Washington and Florida State are the only teams to compete in both the College Football Playoff and the MCWS. The UW football team made the CFP in 2016.
• Baseball And Softball Elite Company: Washington and Florida are the only teams to compete in both the 2018 Women's and Men's College World Series. The Husky women finished runner-up to Florida State.
• Meggs CWS Experience: While Washington is new to the MCWS their head coach Lindsay Meggs has participated in seven Division II College World Series, winning a pair of national titles in 1997 and 1999. Meggs spent 13 years at Chico State from 1994-2003.
• Pac-12 Recognition: Five Huskies earned All-Pac-12 honors, the most by UW since six earned honors in 1998. Joe DeMers (P), Alex Hardy (P), Levi Jordan (INF), Nick Kahle (C) and Joe Wainhouse (DH) were all named first team while Mason Cerrillo (OF) and Jordan Jones (P) earned honorable mention recognition.
• Draft Dawgs: AJ Graffanino (8th, Braves) and Willie MacIver (9th, Colorado) heard their names called for the MLB Draft on day two and on day three, Joe DeMers (11th, A's) and Levi Jordan (29th, Cubs), heard their names called. There have been 33 Huskies drafted under Lindsay Meggs, since 2010. In addition, Alex Hardy will sign as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners after the Huskies complete their year. A pair of UW signees also heard their names called: Jayson Schroeder (2nd, Astros), Alex Guerrero (18th, Yankees) and David Rhodes (40th, Mariners).
• The Turnaround: After losing to Texas Rio Grande Valley on April 23 the Huskies were 18-18 overall and the post-season looked like a long shot. Since then, they have went 17-7, won five-consecutive Pac-12 series and now, a pair of NCAA post-season series.
• Pitch Perfect Aim: Despite having played in six post-season games, the Washington pitching staff still leads the Pac-12 in fewest walks allowed (172), fewest hit batters (36) and fewest wild pitches (19). Ironically, the Huskies lead the Conference in intentional walks issued (28). Being around the plate so much does have its disadvantages though as UW lead the Pac-12 in most doubles allowed (132) and have allowed the second most home runs (44) and triples (16).
• Big House HR Frenzy: Joe Wainhouse has hit a home run in each of the last 10 weekend series, including both the Regional and Super Regional. He has 13 home runs in the last 18 games, including five in six post-season games. His 19 home runs are tied for third most in single-season history. Only Chad Boudon (22 in 2003) and Zach Clem (20 in 2006) have reached the 20-home run plateau in UW history.
• Offense Warming Up: The month of May was particularly kind to the Huskies' bats, and has continued into June. UW was batting .255 when April ended but hit .300 in May to raise the team average up to .267. UW had a 10-4 record and averaged 6.6 runs per game in May. They had been averaging 4.2 runs per contest prior to May. They've kept it up in June and hit .332 in the Regional up to a season high .274 on the year.
• DeMers' Perfect-O: Junior Joe DeMers threw a 84-pitch perfect game Feb. 24 against UC Riverside. DeMers struck out a career-high tying nine batters, reached a three-ball count just once and threw over 10 pitches three times with a high of 13. It was the first perfect game by a UW pitcher and fifth ever in Pac-12 history. It was the ninth no hitter in Washington history, the first since Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone threw a combined no-no in 2006 vs. Santa Clara.
• DeMers Earns Major League Honor: Joe DeMers along with Husky softball player Gabbie Plain threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Seattle Mariners game on Wednesday, May 2. The two were honored for throwing perfect games earlier this season. Their pitches were caught by Felix Hernandez, who threw a perfect game Aug. 12, 2012.
• DeMers Shutout Note: Joe DeMers has thrown two shutouts this year. The only Huskies over the last 20 years to throw a pair of shutouts in the same year are Jacob Clem (2011), Tim Lincecum (2006) and Shawn Kohn (2001). John Martin (1980) is the last Husky to throw three shutouts in the same season.
• Not Your Typical Joe: Joe Wainhouse is the first player in Lindsay Meggs' nine years at Washington to both pitch and hit. He made his first two appearances of 2018 on the mound vs. Illinois State, coming in for late relief while also serving as the designated hitter. The Huskies last true two-way player was Brian Pearl in 2009.

PLAYERS IN THE RANKINGS: (for more info, see UW top-10 lists on Page 14 of notes)
• Joe Wainhouse led the Conference in Pac-12 games with 37 runs batted in and was second with 12 home runs. He also was third with a .689 slugging percentage. His 19 home runs are 3rd overall in the Conference and 59 RBI are 5th most overall. His 19 HRs are 3rd most in UW single-season history.
• Alex Hardy leads the Pac-12 with a 2.14 ERA, is tied for 4th with 8 saves and 2nd in appearances (35). In Pac-12 play, he led the league with an ERA of 1.27 and opposing batting average against of .176. His 35 appearances are a new UW single-season record. The fifth-year senior ranks 6th all-time with 74 career appearances. His next save will give him 10 in his career and move him into UW's top-10 career list.
• Joe DeMers is fourth on the all-time UW starts list with 46 and is third with 294.0 IP and could become the 3rd UW pitcher to reach 300 innings. His 189 strikeouts are seventh all-time. His 123 innings in 2018 are third most in single-season history and with 2.1 innings he will tie Tim Lincecum (2006, 125.1) for second.
• Four-year walk-on Levi Jordan ranks 5th all-time in UW with 208 games and ranks 4th all-time with 702 career at bats.
• Nick Kahle has 19 doubles, which are the second most ever by a UW catcher, trailing Dominic Woody, who had 22 in 1999. The sophomore has also caught 518.2 of a possible 535.2 (96.8%) innings behind the plate. • Braiden Ward leads the Pac-12 with 18 stolen bases. His total is the most by a UW freshman since Chris Magruder swiped 18 in 1996.

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM: Prior to Coach Lindsay Meggs arriving on campus, the grade point average of the baseball program rarely, if ever, reached 3.0 or higher. Meggs has turned around the culture in the classroom and the baseball team has a streak of reach 3.0 or higher in the classroom in 16 of the last 18 quarters. In the fall of 2017, the team recorded a 3.25 GPA, the second-highest ever in the program's history. In the Winter 2018 quarter, they combined for a 3.11 GPA. A total of 23 players had a GPA of 3.00 or higher, 10 made the Dean's List (3.5 or better) and Adam Davenport posted a perfect 4.0 GPA.

NEW FOR MEGGS: For the first time in his nine years at Washington, Lindsay Meggs will not be coaching one of his sons on the field. During his first four years from 2010-13, oldest son, Joe, was and everyday outfielder on the roster. From 2014-17, youngest son, Jack, manned the outfield for the Dawgs. Jack is currently playing professionally after being a 10th round selection by the Oakland A's in the 2017 MLB Draft, while Joe is in his third season serving at the Huskies' Director of Baseball Operations.

INJURY REPORT: Injuries have plagued the Huskies for most of the season. At this time, the Huskies are probably the healthiest they have been all year. The Huskies projected starting infield in the pre-season of Willie MacIver (1B), Levi Jordan (2B), AJ Graffanino (SS) and Ben Baird (3B) were never in the lineup at the same time. Baird is the only one of the four that is still out. He was last available on May 4 and is not expected back this season with a wrist injury. MacIver made his first starts in late March at USC, missing 21 games after a hamate bone break. Graffanino pulled a hamstring March 4 and did not return fully to lineup until May 11 vs. UCLA (out 32 games). The Huskies also missed Josh Burgmann for the first month of the season as he recovered from Tommy John Surgery. The Huskies have also had others in and out of the lineup with injuries, including Mason Cerrillo, Jonathan Schiffer and ace Joe DeMers. The following demonstrates how injuries have wreaked havoc on the Huskies:
• Played six different second baseman this year, including an outfielder Braiden Ward for a game.
• Played three different shortstops.
• Played five different third basemen.
• Played five different first basemen.
• Played five different left fielders.
• Played four different right fielders.

THE BONDS THAT LAST: Juniors Willie MacIver (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) and Joe DeMers (Martinez, Calif.) have been connected on the baseball field for well over a decade. The pair grew up in the East Bay of California and began playing baseball together around the age of seven. Since then, they have been teammates at nearly every level including little league, high school (College Park), summer ball (Walla Walla Sweets, WCL) and college (UW). This summer, both were in the Cape Cod League but on different teams. MacIver was an All-Star for Wareham, while DeMers won a championship with Brewster. The pair figure to be playing their last season together as both are considered high draft prospects for 2018. DeMers and MacIver also say their other best friends of their close-knit group include Oregon State's Trevor Larnach and California's Jeffrey Mitchell.

MAJOR LEAGUE CONNECTIONS: AJ Graffanino and Joe Wainhouse are both sons of former Major Leaguers. Graffanino's dad, Tony, spent parts of 13 years in the Majors from 1996 to 2009. He hit .265 in 981 games. Wainhouse's dad, Dave, spent seven seasons (spanning 1991-2000) as a pitcher with five different teams in the Majors. He broke in with Montreal in 1991 and ended his career with St. Louis. Dylan Lamb is the brother of former Husky and current Arizona Diamondbacks' All-Star Jake Lamb.

SQUAD BREAKDOWN: Among the 35 players on the 2018 Husky roster, there are 5 seniors, 5 juniors, 11 sophomores and 14 freshmen. The squad includes 19 returners and 16 newcomers (11 true freshmen, 3 redshirt-freshmen and 2 upperclass transfers). The roster includes players from four different states and Canada: 19 are from Washington, 12 are from California, two from British Columbia and one each from Delaware and Oregon. Washington's baseball roster has traditionally been heavily dominated by in-state players. In Meggs first season in 2010, 34 of 35 players hailed from Washington. All 19 players from Washington this year come from west of the Cascade Mountains, (the western half of the state).

HUSKIES IN THE MLB DRAFT: Since Coach Lindsay Meggs arrived at Washington, Huskies have heard their names called in the MLB Draft 33 times. See page 1 for 2018 selections. (complete list on pg. 10). In 2017, four Huskies were selected by MLB teams, with the first to hear his name called being catcher Joey Morgan in the third round by the Detroit Tigers. Pitcher Noah Bremer (6th, Rangers) and outfielder Joe Meggs (10th, Athletics) also heard their names called in the first ten rounds of the draft. Left-handed pitcher Greg Minier was the final Husky selected in 2017, hearing his name in the 32nd round by Chicago. In 2014, a record eight Huskies were selected by MLB teams. On the current roster, four Huskies were drafted prior to arriving on campus at Washington. AJ Graffanino was picked in the 26th round of the 2015 draft by the Cleveland Indians. In 2016, three heard their names called during the draft: Ben Baird (20th, Indians), Josh Burgmann (30th, Cardinals) and Christian Jones (31st, Red Sox).

PRE-SEASON POLLS ... WHO NEEDS 'EM: The Huskies were picked to finish seventh out of 11 teams by the Pac-12 coaches in the pre-season poll and ended up third. Lately, being picked to finish in the bottom half of the poll has proved to be fortuitous for the Dawgs. In 2016, the Huskies were picked eighth and ended up second, while in 2014 they were picked 10th and also ended up second. Oregon State was the pick to win the conference, garnering 10 first-place votes, while Stanford was picked second and received the other first-place vote.