University of Washington
San Francisco
Washington Set To Face San Francisco In Midweek Clash
February 25, 2025 | Baseball
The game wil be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at Huskystats.com.
DAWG BITES
- Seven Huskies have produced 13 multiple hit games (Kole β 4, Bower β 2, Whitton β 2, Taggart β 2, Guerrero β 1, Knight β 1, Terry β 1)
- Casen Taggart provided Washington's first three-hit game of the season on Monday against Stanford which included his team-leading third homer
- Colton Bower has caught seven runners stealing, including three on Monday against Stanford
- Washington had its second-best offensive output against Stanford on Saturday, tallying nine runs and 12 hits
- Across two starts, Max Banks is averaging 6.0 IP, 5.5 Ks, and has a 1.50 ERA
- 17 of Washington's 35 RBIs have come from new transfer players (Casen Taggart - 10, Trevor Kole - 4, Malakhi Knight β 2, Julian Sanders β 1)
- Trevor Kole leads the huskies in batting average (.345) and has collected five runs and 10 hits including two home runs
- Three Huskies are batting.300 or better β Trevor Kole (.345), Malakhi Knight (.333), AJ Guerrero (.313)
- 17 Huskies have made their program debuts through four games (Banks, Brandenburg Bujacich, Crawford, Curran, Gilbert, Henning, Hotchkiss, Knight, Kole, Nichols, O'Neal, Taggart, Thomas, Tims, W. Woodward)
FIRST SEASON UNDER SMITH
On July 9, 2024, Eddie Smith was named the 25th head coach of University of Washington baseball, announced by UW Director of Athletics Pat Chun. Smith, a native of Olympia, Washington, comes to Montlake after three seasons at Utah Valley, quickly turning the Wolverines around from a Western Athletic Conference bottom dweller to one of the nation's most feared mid-major outfits.
UP NEXT
Washington concludes the California portion of its road trip on Wednesday, facing off against San Francisco following a four-game series against Stanford. Following the game against USF, the Huskies fly to Las Vegas to compete in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic.
OFF AND RUNNING
The Huskies opened the season with a 9-2 win against Kansas State on Feb. 14, officially beginning the Eddie Smith era with a victory. Washington concluded the Baseball at the Beach tournament with a 2-2 record, collecting its second win against Saint Joseph's on Monday, Feb. 17.
TRANSFER POWER
The Huskies have hit nine home runs this season, six of which have come from transfer players. Casen Taggart leads Washington, is fifth in the Big Ten, and 27th nationally with three home runs so far. Trevor Kole hit his second homer against Stanford while Malakhi Knight added one during the opening tournament at Coastal Carolina. Washington's other home runs have come from Colton Bower (2), and Sam DeCarlo (1).
MAX BANKS DOMINANCE
Washington's new ace had once of the best Husky pitching debuts in recent memory. The opening day starter threw scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out nine batters. He pitched the most innings by a Husky opening day starter since 2018 when Joe Demers also tossed six innings. His strikeout total was also the most by an opening day pitcher for Washington since 2017, when Noah Bremer fanned 10 batters.
In his second start, Banks pitched six innings again, allowing two runs and striking out two batters in the series opener against Stanford.
CRUSHED BY KOLE
Trevor Kole showed his prowess at the plate over the opening weekend. He recorded six hits, two in each of the first three games before earning three walks in game four of the weekend. Against Stanford, Kole added four more hits, including his second home run of the season. He currently leads the Huskies with a .345 batting average and 10 hits.
BOWER BOOMING
Colton Bower has been a force behind the plate and as a hitter so far this season. Defensively, he's caught seven runners stealing across the first eight games of the season. As a batter, Bower's hit two home runs and has seven hits on the season, including a team-leading three doubles. His .667 slugging percentage is the third-best on the team as well.
WASHINGTON DEBUTS
17 Huskies have made their program debuts through four games (Banks, Brandenburg Bujacich, Crawford, Curran, Gilbert, Henning, Hotchkiss, Knight, Kole, Nichols, O'Neal, Taggart, Thomas, Tims, W. Woodward).
IMPACT RELIEVER
Josh Emanuels collected a save in both of Washington's wins during the opening weekend. The redshirt senior currently leads the Big Ten in saves and ranks second nationally. He also is third in the conference in pitching appearances, the 34th best mark nationally.
INAUGURAL BIG TEN SEASON
Washington will compete in the Big Ten for the first time in 2025. The Huskies join the new-look conference as one of 17 competitors. Washington will face Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue, UCLA, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Oregon, and USC this season.
This year'sΒ conference tournament will feature 12 teams and incorporate pool play with four groups consisting of three teams each. The four pool winners will meet in the single-elimination semifinals on May 24, followed by the championship game on May 25.
DRAFT DEPARTURE
Completing a dream every young ball player dreams of, Washington junior shortstop Cam Clayton heard his named called during the 2024 MLB Draft, being selected in the 14th round by the Miami Marlins. Clayton becomes the first Husky infielder to be selected in the MLB Draft since Ben Baird was taken in the 34th round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019. The Huskies have had at least one player drafted in each of the last 13 years dating back to 2012. A three-year starter at shortstop for the Huskies, Clayton established himself as one of the finest glove in the West, earning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024, becoming the second Husky to receive the honor.
NEW FACES
The Huskies return 20 players while losing 21 following the 2024 season. Of the returners, four position starters come back to Montlake along with 10 pitchers.
COACHING INTRODUCTION
Head coach Eddie Smith bolstered his staff by retaining Mike Gange and hiring on Connor Lambert, Anthony Gilich, and Damon Lessler.
Gange, in his third season at Washington and serves as the recruiting coordinator, also works closely with the outfielders and hitters. He played collegiately at Everett Community College and Western Oregon.
Lambert serves as Smith's pitching coach. He spent the last seven seasons as the pitching coach at Portland and spent the 2023 season as Portland's associate head coach. During his playing career, he led Washington State to NCAA Appearances in 2009 and 2019 as a pitcher.
Gilich is also in his first year on the staff, serving as an assistant coach and as the defensive coordinator. He spent the 2024 season at ASU as an assistant coach as well. Prior to ASU, he served as longtime head coach at Central Arizona College where he was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in both 2019 and 2022. Gilich is also a Washington State native and a 2003 graduate of Central Washington University.
Lessler serves as the team's Director of Player Development. He spent the last two seasons at Ohio State as director of operations/recruiting & player development. He also played shortstop collegiately at Mesa Community College, Sonoma State, and Mississippi Valley State.
BIG TEN PLAYERS TO WATCH
Transfer pitcher Max Banks, along with returners Isaac Yeager and AJ Guerrero were each named among the Big Ten's most notable players for the 2025 season.
Banks, a native of San Francisco, pitched three seasons at Chapman before joining the Huskies. He was named to the ABCA All-Region third team his sophomore year, and also earned first team All-SCIAC honors following a season with 12 starts, 76 innings, and 84 strikeouts.
Isaac Yeager was a key pitcher for the Dawgs in 2024, as he made 21 relief appearances and posted a 6.34 ERA in 38.1 innings with 31strikeouts.
AJ Guerrero figures to be one of the conference's best run producers in 2025. The senior slugger moved into a tie for fifth all-time in career home runs last season with 33, with a career-high 15 of them coming in 2024. He also knocked in a career-high 50 RBIs last season.
D1 BASEBALL BIG TEN PREVIEW
Of the 17 teams in the Big Ten, Washington experienced the most impactful changes. Coach Smith is a quality hire based on the success he has enjoyed at previous stops β most recently he instantly turned Utah Valley into a winner β and he assembled a proven collection of coaches with strong ties to the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the significant roster turnover, the Huskies will be playing in a new conference with rigorous travel challenges.
D1 BASEBALL IMPACT PLAYERS
AJ Guerrero figures to be a top run producer in the Big Ten and enjoyed a loud season a year ago, batting .305/.367/.563 while leading the team in home runs (14) and RBIs (48). He has a career .317 average in three years with the Huskies.
After missing most of the 2024 season due to injury, slider specialist Josh Emanuels returns for his redshirt senior season to anchor the back end of the bullpen. He enjoyed a strong 2023 season when he posted a 4.68 ERA with six saves in 28 relief appearances spanning 42 1/3 innings.Β
Sam DeCarlo is moving from third base to shortstop for the 2025 season and the catching tandem of Colton Bower and Colin Blanchard provides stability to the pitching staff.
On the offensive side of the ball first baseman Casen Taggert has shown intriguing power potential with a long and lean build from the lefthanded batter's box, most recently hitting .269 with six home runs at Washington State.
D3 DIAMONDS
For the third straight year, Washington has hit the NCAA Division III ranks to add to its pitching staff through the transfer portal. The Huskies added right-hander Max Banks who enjoyed a strong three-year career at Division III Chapman, collectively going 12-4, 3.35 in three seasons with a 185-to-67 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 150 2/3 innings. Last season, Washington signed right-hander Spencer Dessart out of Middlebury College in Vermont, who posted a 4.32 ERA with 63 strikeouts over 50 innings. And in 2023, UW brought in D3 transfer Kiefer Lord out of Minnesota's Carleton College, with Lord going on to be a third round draft choice in the 2023 MLB Draft.Β
IT CAN WAIT
For the third year in a row, a Washington commit turned down the opportunity to sign with an MLB team to join the Husky roster. Jackson Hotchkiss was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but opted to take his talents to UW first. Last season, Blake Wilson was drafted in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals but still made his way to Montlake. Former Husky Aiva Arquette was a 18th round draft choice by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 before coming to campus.
