Huskies' Focus Pointed Towards Season-Opening Road Swing

Saturday, February 16

Irvine, CA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

Washington at UC Irvine - GM 1

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

Huskies' Focus Pointed Towards Season-Opening Road Swing

February 14, 2019 | Baseball

UW Baseball Weekly Release

By: Brian Tom

Suddenly the Washington Huskies find themselves starting the 2019 baseball season on a two-week road trip after weather forced the Huskies to move their opening home series from Husky Ballpark to Phoenix, Ariz. First up, UW heads to Orange County, Calif., to face Baseball America's 25th-ranked team, UC-Irvine, followed by a single game on Monday against D1Baseball.com's No. 25 ranked team, Cal-State Fullerton.

The Huskies will face the Anteaters Friday, Feb. 15 through Sunday, Feb. 17 at Cicerone Field in Irvine, before meeting the Titans for a single game on Monday, Feb. 18 at Goodwin Field. Following the Orange County swing, the Huskies will bus to Phoenix, Ariz., and host Northern Colorado at Grand Canyon University's Bazell Field, Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, Feb. 23.

Links to Live Stats/Live Audio/Live Video can all be found online at GoHuskies.com // Sports // Baseball // Schedule. Constant updates are also available via Twitter: @UW_Baseball.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UC IRVINE
The all-time series between UW and UC Irvine is knotted at 11-11. This marks the fifth series between the two teams in Irvine. The Huskies are 4-7 all-time at Anteater Ballpark, but did win 2 of 3 the last time the teams met in 2012. All-time at Irvine, UCI has swept a two-game set in 1980 and three games in 2005, while UW took 2 of 3 in 2012 and 2003. The 1980 series was the first year the two squads met. The Huskies lead the all-time series in Seattle, 7-4, with the squads last facing each other splitting two games at Husky Ballpark in 2009. Lindsay Meggs is 2-1 all-time as UW's head coach against UC Irvine. Meggs' daughter, Kelly, was a four-year letter winner for the Anteaters' basketball team from 2011-14, averaging 5.5 points in 110 games.

SERIES HISTORY VS. CS FULLERTON
Washington took 2 of 3 against Fullerton last year in the Super Regional to earn its first-ever trip to the College World Series. The Huskies took the first game of the series, 8-5, and fell, 5-2, in game two before they achieved their biggest win in school history. UW won a back-and-forth game, 6-5, in 10 innings, sending them to Omaha. Entering last year's series, the Huskies had never beat the Titans in eight previous games. They first met when the Huskies kicked off their 1987 season on the road against the Titans. Interestingly, while it was the Huskies first games of the season, Fullerton entered the two-game series with a 17-9 record. In Lindsay Meggs' first year at UW in 2010, the Huskies were swept by the Titans. The Huskies made a return trip to Fullerton the next season, and the results were much the same, with the Titans again sweeping three games.

WHO ARE THESE HUSKIES:
• The Huskies return 23 players who were on the 2018 roster and welcome in 10 newcomers.
Fielders: Washington returns two All-Pac-12 players in senior designated hitter Joe Wainhouse and junior catcher Nick Kahle. Outfielder Mason Cerrillo, was honorable mention All-Pac-12. The Huskies return all three starting outfielders - Cerrillo, Braiden Ward and Christian Jones - plus their top option off the bench in Kaiser Weiss. Only one starter from their College World Series infield, first baseman Jonathan Schiffer, returns but there are still plenty of experienced options. Ben Baird made 31 starts, mostly at third base, in 2018, and Noah Hsue made 26 starts at second base. Junior college transfer Ramon Bramasco will be the starter at shortstop.
Pitchers: The Huskies will have to replace ace Joe DeMers and closer Alex Hardy - both All-Pac-12 players - plus starter, Lucas Knowles, but retutn nine arms that contributed in 2018. Jordan Jones was honorable mention All-Pac-12 and will be certainly joined in the rotation by Josh Burgmann. Sophomore Jack DeCooman will get the first shot to hammer down the third spot in the rotation, with freshman David Rhodes as a strong mid-week possibility. Stevie Emanuels is another option as a starter, but might prove to be too valuable in the bullpen after appearing in 34 games as a freshman and picking up eight wins. The Huskies have three other experienced bullpen arms in lefty Chris Micheles and righties Dylan Lamb and Leo Nierenberg, who will set the table for sophomore closer, Jack Enger, who was electric in summer ball and fall camp.

SQUAD BREAKDOWN:
Among the 33 players on the 2019 Husky roster, there are 2 seniors, 13 juniors, 11 sophomores and 6 freshmen. The squad includes 23 returners and 10 newcomers (5 true freshmen, 1 redshirt-freshman and 4 JC transfers). The roster includes players from four different states and Canada: 15 are from Washington, 13 are from California, 3 from British Columbia and one each from Arizona 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. Fourteen players from Washington come from west of the Cascade Mountains, (the western half of the state). Only Riley Benedetti (Yakima) comes from Eastern Washington.

TEAM NOTES:
• Milestone Wins: The 2019 season is the 119th year of Husky Baseball. The Huskies enter the year needing 32 wins to reach 2,000 in program history. With two wins in Pac-12 play, the Huskies will reach 900 in Conference action.
• Season Of Firsts: Washington had never been to a Super Regional, nor had they ever advanced to the Men's College World Series before 2018. In 1994 and 1997, before Super Regionals existed, the Huskies were one win away from advancing to the MCWS.
• Five Year Run: Over the last five years, the Huskies are 86-64-1, the second best record among Pac-12 teams, trailing only Oregon State. UW's three postseason appearances during that span are tied for second most in the Conference. The Huskies' run of success coincides with the opening of their new home field: Husky Ballpark.
• Big House HR Frenzy: Joe Wainhouse hit a home run in each of the last 10 weekend series, including both the Regional and Super Regional. He had 13 home runs in the last 21 games, including five in eight post-season games. His 19 home runs tied for third most in UW 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.
• Iron Man: Nick Kahle caught 536 out of a possible 553 innings (96.9%) behind the plate in 2018.
• Man of Steal: As a freshman, Braiden Ward led the Pac-12 with 19 stolen bases in 24 attempts.
• Steady Starter: Jordan Jones tied a UW record in 2018 by making 18 starts on the hill. He equaled Tim Lincecum's total from 2004.
• Mr. Dependable: In his freshman season, Stevie Emanuels pitched in 34 games, the second most appearnces on the hill by any Husky all-time.
• Pac-12 Recognition: Five Huskies earned All-Pac-12 honors in 2018, 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.

PAC-12 COACHES POLL:
The Huskies were picked to finish fifth out of 11 teams by the Pac-12 coaches in the pre-season poll. The Huskies have exceeded expectations lately. They finished third last year after being chosen seventh. In 2016, the Huskies were picked eighth and ended up second, while in 2014 they were picked 10th and also ended up second. UCLA was the pick to win the conference, garnering 8 first-place votes, while Stanford was picked second and received the other two first-place vote. Here is the complete order of finish predicted by the coaches: 1. UCLA, 2. Stanford, 3. Oregon State, 4. Arizona, 5. Washington, 6. Arizona State, 7. Oregon, 8. California, 9. USC, 10. Washington State and 11. Utah.

PRESEASON RECOGNITION:
The Huskies two returning All-Pac-12 players each garnered some preseason All-America recognition. Senior Joe Wainhouse was picked as second team All-American designated hitter by NCBWA, while junior catcher Nick Kahle was selected third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

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. But the team has now accomplished a GPA of 3.0 or higher in 18 of the last 20 main session quarters (fall, winter, spring). They once again had another stellar quarter in the classroom, combining for a 3.16 grade point average during the fall and earning Most Improved Team among the department's 22 teams. In all, 22 baseball student-athletes recorded a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Six players -- Riley Benedetti, Blake Burton, Mason Cerrillo, Albert Hsiao, Noah Hsue and Dylan Lamb -- made the Dean's List for obtaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Cerrillo, a senior majoring in public and environmental health, led all Huskies with a 3.85 GPA during the fall quarter.

MAJOR LEAGUE CONNECTIONS:
Joe Wainhouse is the son of former Major Leaguer, Dave Wainhouse, who 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 third baseman, Jake Lamb.

DRAFT DAWGS:
Since Lindsay Meggs took over at Washington in 2010, a total of 33 Huskies have heard their names called in the Draft. In 2018, the Huskies saw four picked: AJ Graffanino (8th Rd, Braves), Willie MacIver (9th, Rockies), Joe DeMers (11th, A's) and Levi Jordan (29th, Cubs). On the current roster, four Huskies were drafted prior to arriving on campus at Washington. Most recently, David Rhodes was picked in the 40th round of the 2018 draft by the Mariners. In 2016, three heard their names called during the draft: Ben Baird (20th, Indians), Josh Burgmann (30th, Cardinals) and Christian Jones (31st, Red Sox).