Thursday, February 23
San Jose, CA
1:00 PM
University of Washington
at
San Jose State
UW Remains in the Bay for Four Game Set at San Jose State
February 22, 2023 | Baseball
SAN JOSE, Calif. β After opening the season with a four-game split at Santa Clara, Washington continues the 2023 season in the Bay Area, taking on San Jose State in a four-game series Feb. 23-26 at Excite Park.
QUICK HITS
β’ Washington remains in the Bay Area for the second consecutive week to start the 2023 season, taking on San Jose State in a four-game series at Excite Park.
β’ Sunday's series finale against the Spartans will air on the Mountain West Network. It will be the only game of the series with a live stream. All four games will have live stats available.
β’ The Huskies kicked off the Jason Kelly era with a 10-5 win over Santa Clara, splitting the series 2-2.
β’ UW's 10 runs in Friday's opener with the Broncos were its most since defeating New Mexico State 11-10 in 2006.
β’ Washington's 29 runs overall against Santa Clara were its most in the season's opening weekend since scoring 30 in 2015.
β’ Eight players made their Husky debut in the series against Santa Clara in, Colin Blanchard, Sam Boyle, Grant Cunningham, Sam DeCarlo, Kiefer Lord, Peysen Sweeney, Jeter Ybarra and Isaac Yeager.
β’ In his Washington debut, Carleton College transfer Kiefer Lord struck out nine of the 15 batters he retired over five innings.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN JOSE STATE
Washington has squared off with San Jose State 11 times, dating back to 1960, with nine of those meeting's coming in San Jose. While the Spartans have won eight of those nine California matchups, UW took the most recent game, a 7-0 victory in 2014.
OFF AND RUNNING
Washington racked up 29 runs against Santa Clara, the most runs scored during the opening series of the season for the Huskies since hanging 29 runs over four games at the Texas State Baseball Invitational in 2015. It was the first time the Dawgs have scored double digit runs twice in the season's first series since 2004.
PATIENCE PAYS
Sophomore AJ Guerrero drew seven walks in the series with Santa Clara, ranking as the 15th most in the nation and the most in the Pac-12. Guerrero's .450 on-base percentage leads the Huskies.
BOMBS ON THE BAY
Coby Morales put a charge into UW's opening day lineup, hammering a pair of home runs, becoming the first Husky to record a multi-homer game in the season's first game since Zach Clem in 2006.
HOMEGROWN DAWGS
Nearly half of the Husky roster, 19 of 39 players overall, are homegrown talents from the state of Washington. Of those 19 local products, 16 hail from the greater Seattle Metropolitan area. Below is a breakdown of the counties UW's Washington natives call home.
UW Washington Natives by County
King County - 14
Clark County - 2
Pierce County - 1
Snohomish County - 1
Spokane County - 1
HEEEEEEERE's JOHNNY
After earning All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors in 2022, Washington catcher Johnny Tincher was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
A redshirt junior, Tincher enters his fourth season at UW coming off of a campaign in which he ranked second on the team with a .314 average. He drove in 35 runs and scored 27 more while posting 19 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles, five home runs and a triple. Defensively, Tincher threw out 10 of 31 runners attempting to swipe a bag last season, while garnering a .989 fielding percentage.
RUN IT BACK
Washington returns nearly the entirety of its offense from the 2022 season with seven of eight positional starters returning that started more than 40 games, the Dawgs are poised once again to put up big numbers on the scoreboard.
Percentage Return from 2022
β’ Games Started - 88.5%
β’ Runs - 87.7%
β’ Hits - 91.4%
β’ Doubles - 92.3%
β’ Triples - 87.5%
β’ Home Runs - 93.8%
β’ RBIs - 90.9%
β’ Walks - 82.5%
FINISHING ON A HEATER
The Huskies finished the 2022 regular season as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning their last 12 regular season games. Only two teams in the nation finished that strong in College World Series participant Stanford (also 12 games) and Super Regional host East Carolina (14 games).
During the streak, the Dawgs batted .361 as a team, averaging over 8.4 runs per game. Of the 150 hits UW recorded over the 12 games, 46 went for extra bases. Meanwhile, the pitching staff put together a 3.00 ERA, racking up 96 strikeouts to 30 walks over 102 innings.
Both McKay Barney and AJ Guerrero recorded at least one hit in every game of the streak, with Barney batting .500 and Guerrero posting a .447 average with five doubles, six home runs and 22 RBIs.
PROVE 'EM WRONG
The Huskies were picked seventh in the 2023 Pac-12 Preseason Poll by the league's head coaches. In last season's poll, UW outpaced its preseason projection of 10th significantly, earning the sixth place in the standings.
POSITION RANKINGS
Washington has five players listed in D1Baseball.com's position rankings, released ahead of the start of the 2023 season. The full list of UW players ranked is below.
UW in D1Baseball's Position Rankings
Johnny Tincher - No. 22 catcher
AJ Guerrero - No. 52 outfielder
Kiefer Lord - No. 100 starting pitcher
Jared Engman - No. 154 starting pitcher
Stu Flesland III - No. 166 starting pitcher
EYES ON THE PROS
During the preseason, ProspectsLive.com listed four under-the-radar college pitchers that "move" like big leaguers, with half the list being made up by Huskies in Carleton College transfer Kiefer Lord and redshirt sophomore Case Matter.
ProspectsLive.com On Lord:
"Lord checks a ton of boxes in scouting circles. He's got a super-loose, whippy arm that is just now starting to show what it's capable of... Lord brushed 98 and 99 a couple times and appears poised to see his stuff move into the mid-90s this season."
ProspectsLive.com On Matter:
"Metrically, this kid checks a lot of boxes. He produces exceptional carry on his four-seam fastball and can rush it up to 96 at peak... Scouts love the way Matter moves. He's got big intent and aggressiveness, but he keeps it controlled. The kid clearly has feel for pitching and a feel for his delivery.
THE JUCO JUMP
Washington has 10 junior college products on its roster. Four players come from the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system, with four California Community College system products and two players from Arizona's Maricopa County Community College District.
2018 OMADAWGS
2023 marks the five-year anniversary of Washington's 2018 team that became the first squad in program-history to reach the College World Series. The Huskies ran through the Conway Regional, sweeping three games against UConn and host Coastal Carolina. UW then took a decisive Super Regional Game 3 at Cal State Fullerton, erasing a one-run deficit in the ninth to force extras and walking off the Titans on Kaiser Weiss' sacrifice fly to score Levi Jordan and send the Dawgs to Omaha.
15 GAMES TO AIR ON PAC-12 FAMILY OF NETWORKS
15 Washington baseball games have been selected to air across the Pac-12 family of networks this season. Six home games from Husky Ballpark will air on your television set, while nine road games are set to be broadcasted. Of the 15 TV games for the Dawgs, 10 will air on Pac-12 Washington.
For more information on the UW baseball team, follow @UW_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram.
QUICK HITS
β’ Washington remains in the Bay Area for the second consecutive week to start the 2023 season, taking on San Jose State in a four-game series at Excite Park.
β’ Sunday's series finale against the Spartans will air on the Mountain West Network. It will be the only game of the series with a live stream. All four games will have live stats available.
β’ The Huskies kicked off the Jason Kelly era with a 10-5 win over Santa Clara, splitting the series 2-2.
β’ UW's 10 runs in Friday's opener with the Broncos were its most since defeating New Mexico State 11-10 in 2006.
β’ Washington's 29 runs overall against Santa Clara were its most in the season's opening weekend since scoring 30 in 2015.
β’ Eight players made their Husky debut in the series against Santa Clara in, Colin Blanchard, Sam Boyle, Grant Cunningham, Sam DeCarlo, Kiefer Lord, Peysen Sweeney, Jeter Ybarra and Isaac Yeager.
β’ In his Washington debut, Carleton College transfer Kiefer Lord struck out nine of the 15 batters he retired over five innings.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN JOSE STATE
Washington has squared off with San Jose State 11 times, dating back to 1960, with nine of those meeting's coming in San Jose. While the Spartans have won eight of those nine California matchups, UW took the most recent game, a 7-0 victory in 2014.
OFF AND RUNNING
Washington racked up 29 runs against Santa Clara, the most runs scored during the opening series of the season for the Huskies since hanging 29 runs over four games at the Texas State Baseball Invitational in 2015. It was the first time the Dawgs have scored double digit runs twice in the season's first series since 2004.
PATIENCE PAYS
Sophomore AJ Guerrero drew seven walks in the series with Santa Clara, ranking as the 15th most in the nation and the most in the Pac-12. Guerrero's .450 on-base percentage leads the Huskies.
BOMBS ON THE BAY
Coby Morales put a charge into UW's opening day lineup, hammering a pair of home runs, becoming the first Husky to record a multi-homer game in the season's first game since Zach Clem in 2006.
HOMEGROWN DAWGS
Nearly half of the Husky roster, 19 of 39 players overall, are homegrown talents from the state of Washington. Of those 19 local products, 16 hail from the greater Seattle Metropolitan area. Below is a breakdown of the counties UW's Washington natives call home.
UW Washington Natives by County
King County - 14
Clark County - 2
Pierce County - 1
Snohomish County - 1
Spokane County - 1
HEEEEEEERE's JOHNNY
After earning All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors in 2022, Washington catcher Johnny Tincher was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
A redshirt junior, Tincher enters his fourth season at UW coming off of a campaign in which he ranked second on the team with a .314 average. He drove in 35 runs and scored 27 more while posting 19 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles, five home runs and a triple. Defensively, Tincher threw out 10 of 31 runners attempting to swipe a bag last season, while garnering a .989 fielding percentage.
RUN IT BACK
Washington returns nearly the entirety of its offense from the 2022 season with seven of eight positional starters returning that started more than 40 games, the Dawgs are poised once again to put up big numbers on the scoreboard.
Percentage Return from 2022
β’ Games Started - 88.5%
β’ Runs - 87.7%
β’ Hits - 91.4%
β’ Doubles - 92.3%
β’ Triples - 87.5%
β’ Home Runs - 93.8%
β’ RBIs - 90.9%
β’ Walks - 82.5%
FINISHING ON A HEATER
The Huskies finished the 2022 regular season as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning their last 12 regular season games. Only two teams in the nation finished that strong in College World Series participant Stanford (also 12 games) and Super Regional host East Carolina (14 games).
During the streak, the Dawgs batted .361 as a team, averaging over 8.4 runs per game. Of the 150 hits UW recorded over the 12 games, 46 went for extra bases. Meanwhile, the pitching staff put together a 3.00 ERA, racking up 96 strikeouts to 30 walks over 102 innings.
Both McKay Barney and AJ Guerrero recorded at least one hit in every game of the streak, with Barney batting .500 and Guerrero posting a .447 average with five doubles, six home runs and 22 RBIs.
PROVE 'EM WRONG
The Huskies were picked seventh in the 2023 Pac-12 Preseason Poll by the league's head coaches. In last season's poll, UW outpaced its preseason projection of 10th significantly, earning the sixth place in the standings.
POSITION RANKINGS
Washington has five players listed in D1Baseball.com's position rankings, released ahead of the start of the 2023 season. The full list of UW players ranked is below.
UW in D1Baseball's Position Rankings
Johnny Tincher - No. 22 catcher
AJ Guerrero - No. 52 outfielder
Kiefer Lord - No. 100 starting pitcher
Jared Engman - No. 154 starting pitcher
Stu Flesland III - No. 166 starting pitcher
EYES ON THE PROS
During the preseason, ProspectsLive.com listed four under-the-radar college pitchers that "move" like big leaguers, with half the list being made up by Huskies in Carleton College transfer Kiefer Lord and redshirt sophomore Case Matter.
ProspectsLive.com On Lord:
"Lord checks a ton of boxes in scouting circles. He's got a super-loose, whippy arm that is just now starting to show what it's capable of... Lord brushed 98 and 99 a couple times and appears poised to see his stuff move into the mid-90s this season."
ProspectsLive.com On Matter:
"Metrically, this kid checks a lot of boxes. He produces exceptional carry on his four-seam fastball and can rush it up to 96 at peak... Scouts love the way Matter moves. He's got big intent and aggressiveness, but he keeps it controlled. The kid clearly has feel for pitching and a feel for his delivery.
THE JUCO JUMP
Washington has 10 junior college products on its roster. Four players come from the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system, with four California Community College system products and two players from Arizona's Maricopa County Community College District.
2018 OMADAWGS
2023 marks the five-year anniversary of Washington's 2018 team that became the first squad in program-history to reach the College World Series. The Huskies ran through the Conway Regional, sweeping three games against UConn and host Coastal Carolina. UW then took a decisive Super Regional Game 3 at Cal State Fullerton, erasing a one-run deficit in the ninth to force extras and walking off the Titans on Kaiser Weiss' sacrifice fly to score Levi Jordan and send the Dawgs to Omaha.
15 GAMES TO AIR ON PAC-12 FAMILY OF NETWORKS
15 Washington baseball games have been selected to air across the Pac-12 family of networks this season. Six home games from Husky Ballpark will air on your television set, while nine road games are set to be broadcasted. Of the 15 TV games for the Dawgs, 10 will air on Pac-12 Washington.
For more information on the UW baseball team, follow @UW_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram.
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