Cougars Host Cal for Weekend Series on Pac-12 Network - Washington State University Athletics (2024)

COUGARS HOST CAL FOR WEEKEND SERIES ON PAC-12 NETWORK
Washington State returns to Bailey-Brayton Field after eight straight road games to host California for weekend series. Friday's opener is set for 6:05 p.m. on Pac-12 Washington, Saturday's game is set for 2:05 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network and Sunday's finale is set for 12:05 p.m. on Pac-12 Washington.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Austin Turkington | RHP | So. | 1-0, 4.85 ERA, 11 K, 13.0 IP VS. Grant Taylor | RHP | Sr. | 4-1, 3.04 ERA, 51 K, 47.1 IP
Ian May | LHP | So. | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K, 4.0 IP VS. Connor Wilford | RHP | Sr. | 3-3, 4.44 ERA, 32 K, 46.2 IP
TBA VS. TBA

FOLLOW ALONG
All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, have live stats and be on the radio through the WSU GameDay App, Varsity Network App, 104.7 FM and 1150 AM in Pullman, 920 AM in Spokane.

ON DECK
The Cougars head to the desert next week for a Wednesdy matchup at Grand Canyon and a weekend series at Arizona.

THIS WEEK IN COUGAR BASEBALL PODCAST
Every Wednesday a new episode of This Week in Cougar Baseball Podcast presented by Coors Light will be released featuring head coach Nathan Choate, a member of the Cougar Baseball program and the host, Matt Chazanow.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the weekend with a 17-14 overall record and a 7-8 mark in Pac-12 play after dropping two of three at Stanford last weekend, closing out the series with a 9-7 win in 11 innings Sunday. The Cougars enter the weekend fourth in the Pac-12 in hitting (.286) and second in fielding percentage (.977) and double plays turned (30). Third baseman Cole Cramer is fifth in the league in hitting (.368), leadoff hitter Max Hartman is tied for fourth in stolen bases (9) and Casen Taggart is tied for tenth in the Pac-12 with 32 RBI. Head coach Nathan Choate is in his first season at WSU after five seasons at Loyola Marymount.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA
California enters the weekend with a 17-14 overall record including a 5-10 Pac-12 Conference record after dropping all three games to Arizona in Berkeley last weekend before splitting a two-game set with Saint Mary's Tuesday and Wednesday.

SERIES HISTORY
Washington State trails the all-time series 45-62-1 after taking two of three in Berkeley last season. The Golden Bears at 20-17 all-time in Pullman and have won the last three series at Bailey-Brayton with WSU's last home series win against Cal coming in 2014, a sweep for the Cougars.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2801 - WSU entered the season with 2,801 all-time wins, 13th in NCAA history, 5th in the Pac-12
2014 - WSU won 12-5 at UCLA March 16, the Cougars first win in Westwood since 2014
29 - WSU's 29 wins last season were the most in 2015, notched fourth straight winning season
17 - Grant Taylor struck 17 Huskies in a 1-hit shutout in Seattle March 28
15 - WSU will play 15 games on the Pac-12 Networks this season, the most since 2017
13 - Chase Grillo's 13 career saves are tied for 4th-most in WSU history
9 - WSU hit 9 home runs on opening weekend at Utah Tech
2 - WSU swept Arizona State for the 2nd time in program history, each of last 2 series in Pullman
2 - 2 Cougars finished last season in the Major Leagues;
RHP Ian Hamilton (Yankees), RHP Ryan Walker (Giants)

GRANT TAYLOR NAMED NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK AFTER 17-STRIKEOUT GAME
Senior righthander Grant Taylor was named the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Week, National Co-Pitcher of the Week by Perfect Game and Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week after his 17-strikeout one-hit shutout win at Washington March 28. Taylor broke the previous WSU modern day record of 16 strikeouts set by John Olerud against Eastern Washington in 1988. It was the first shutout by a Cougar since Taylor shut out Arizona State in 2022 and the first one-hitter since Taylor and three relievers one-hit No. 15 Oregon State in Corvallis last season. The senior did not walk or hit a batter and allowed just a first-inning two-out infield single before retiring the next 25 Husky hitters. Fifteen of the 17 strikeouts were swinging, 17 strikeouts tied for the second-most by a pitcher in the country this season and are the most by a Pac-12 pitcher this season. Taylor struck out 10 straight hitters at one point after striking out the final hitter in the first inning and then struck out the side in the second, third and fourth innings before the first UW batter flew out to center to start the fifth inning. Taylor retired the next two hitters in the frame before striking out the side for a fourth time in the sixth inning, recorded two more strikeouts in the eighth inning and worked a perfect ninth with a strikeout, flyout to right field and a popout to shortstop to clinch the 4-0 Cougar win, WSU's first shutout against Washington since 1995 and first in Seattle since 1989.

JOEY KRAMER HOMERS AGAIN, COUGARS SWEEP ARIZONA STATE
Washington State closed out a series sweep of Arizona State with an 8-6 victory at Bailey-Brayton Field March 24, sweeping the Sun Devils in Pullman for the second straight meeting in Pullman after taking all three contests in 2022 for the first time in program history. WSU won Friday's game 8-7 and 3-2 Saturday before closing out the sweep Sunday. Kyle Russell collected three hits, Joey Kramer homered for the second straight game, starter Spencer Jones earned the win after working five innings, allowed two earned runs on five hits and matched a season-high with five strikeouts. Chase Grillo struck out the only batter he faced to finish off the sweep with his third save of the series.

IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE COMMUNITY
- Last fall, WSU posted a semester team GPA (3.32) the highest team GPA in program history and has set a program record with a 3.23 cumulative team GPA
- This past fall, WSU partnered with WSU ROAR to host a Lentil Cookoff for third straight year. WSU ROAR is a two-year postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

WSU WINS ROUND ROCK CLASSIC, KRAMER NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP
Washington State won the 2024 Karbach Round Rock Classic in Texas after defeating No. 24 Kentucky, 6-4 Friday and Kansas, 5-4 Saturday before dropping the tournament finale to Texas State Sunday evening. Kentucky also went 2-1 on the weekend but WSU won the head-to-head matchup while Kansas and Texas State each went 1-2. It was Washington State's first tournament title since sweeping all four games to win the 2010 Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech. Four Cougars earned Round Rock Classic All-Tournament Team honors led by first baseman Joey Kramer who was named the Tournament MVP. Outfielder Alan Shibley, starting pitcher Grant Taylor and reliever Kaden Wickersham were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Kramer collected three hits, scored three times and drove in three runs as his biggest hit of the weekend was the go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning of Saturday's 5-4 comeback win over Kansas.

NATHAN CHOATE NAMED COUGAR BASEBALL HEAD COACH
Nathan Choate was named the 18th head baseball coach in program history this past June. Choate arrived at WSU after leading Loyola Marymount to a 2023 West Coast Conference title. Choate was named the 2023 WCC Coach of the Year after leading LMU to their first outright regular season title in 25 years. He coached a pair of Lions to All-America honors while five players earned All-WCC honors in addition to the WCC Pitcher of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Choate's 2023 LMU club tallied road wins at Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State while in the classroom, the Lions posted a 3.18 team GPA including 24 players with a 3.0 or higher. Throughout his coaching career, Choate has accumulated 28 players selected in the MLB Draft, seven of which went in the top-10 rounds, 10 All-Americans, two College World Series appearances, three Team USA pitchers, four Fresh[1]man All-Americans, two Big West Freshman Pitchers of the Year, two WCC Pitchers of the Year and nine All-Conference Pitchers.

LAST SEASON
Washington State finished the season with a 29-23 overall record including a 10-19 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. The 29 wins were the most since 2015 and marked the fourth-straight winning season after posting series wins at No. 15 Oregon State, No. 12 UCLA, Arizona, Santa Clara, at California and season series win over Gonzaga.

COUGAR COACHING STAFF
Joe Perez begins his first season as the Cougars Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator and will serve as the infield coach and assist with the hitters after working the previous eight seasons as the Associated Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Central Arizona College, one of the premier junior college programs in the country, where worked with the infielders and hitters. Perez, the 2021 ABCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, helped the Vaqueros to a pair of Junior College National Championships, three Western District titles, two Region I Championships and three ACCAC Conference Championships. Prior to his time at Central Arizona, Perez spent four seasons at Grand Canyon University where he worked with Choate for Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz assisting with Infielders.

Quinn Hawksworth begins his first season as a assistant coach and will work with the Cougar hitters and assist with recruiting, after working the past three seasons at CSU Bakersfield competing in the Big West Conference. Hawksworth joined CSU Bakersfield Baseball prior to the 2021 season where he worked with hitters, infielders and recruiting before being promoted to recruiting coordinator following the 2022 season. Hawksworth went to Bakersfield after spending the 2020 season in a volunteer position at Big West Conference power, UC Santa Barbara where he coached hitters and infielders for the Gauchos, helping UCSB to a 13-2 mark during the shortened 15-game season on the strength of 37 extra-base hits and ten home runs.

Eric Hutting begins his first season as the Cougars Assistant Coach and will work with the catchers while assisting with the pitchers and hitters after working the past two seasons with Choate at Loyola Marymount as an assistant coach, working with the catchers and assisting with the LMU hitters. Hutting helped Loyola Marymount to a 2023 West Coast Conference title last season while the Lions captured the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Choate was named WCC Coach of the Year. LMU claimed its first outright regular season title in 25 years with a 29-24 mark including an impressive 21-6 record in conference play while a pair of Lions earned All-America honors with five players receiving All-WCC honors.

Brandon Vial begins his first season as the Cougars Director of Player Development after working the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Lewis-Clark State College, helping coach the pitchers and catchers as the Warriors reached the NAIA National Championship game in 2022 and 2023. The 2022 LC pitching staff finished the season second in the NAIA with a 3.21 ERA. In the summer of 2022, Vial was the head coach of the Walla Walla Sweets in the West Coast Summer League while in the 2021 summer, Vial was named the Northwoods League Coach of the Year after leading the St. Cloud Rox pitching staff to a record-setting summer.

Austin Ames begins his first season as the Director of Baseball Operations after working the 2023 summer as an operations intern at Team USA in North Carolina and as an operations intern for Major League Baseball at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida. Prior to working with MLB, Ames was a ticket sales associate for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2022 season and worked in a number of roles for the Southeast Missouri State Athletic Department (2020-22).

JOHN OLERUD NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE CENTURY
The Pac-12 Conference inducted Coug legend John Olerud into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2019. Olerud was named the Pac-12 Conference's Baseball Player of the Century in 2016. During his three seasons in a Cougar uniform, Olerud (1987-89) had one of the finest careers of any Cougar student-athlete, in any sport, in Washington State history, rewriting the WSU record books and becoming the only Cougar baseball athlete ever to be named College Athlete of the Year. In 1988, Olerud became the only player in NCAA history to win 15 games on the mound and hit 20 home runs in the same season, going 15-0 with 23 home runs that year. Olerud went 26-4 overall with a 3.17 ERA over 241.1 innings during his three seasons, hitting .434. He set two Pac-10 records and 10 Pac-10 North marks, highlighted by his sophom*ore season when he was named Athlete of the Year by Baseball America. In January prior to his junior year at WSU, Olerud suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of brain seizure. He missed the first 28 games of the spring season, but returned to hit .359 for WSU over the final 27 games. Prior to his senior season, Olerud signed a contract with Toronto and went directly to the Major Leagues. In 1993, he became the first Blue Jay to win a batting title, hitting .363. Olerud played for Toronto, the New York Mets and Yankees, Seattle and Boston during his 17-year career, winning back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993. In 2001 he joined his father, John Sr., in the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame, and is a member of the College Baseball, State of Washington and Inland Northwest Sports Halls of Fame. The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, given annually by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, was named in his honor and in 2016, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Century.

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