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SEATTLE – After starting the season with seven straight games, Washington Baseball makes its home debut with a four-game series against Northern Colorado at Husky Ballpark, where it faces the Bears March 3-5.
FAST STRIKES
• After playing the first seven games of the season away, Washington makes its home debut at Husky Ballpark in a four-game series against Northern Colorado.
• Originally scheduled for 6:05 pm PT, Friday’s home opener has been moved to 4:05 pm for the first pitch.
• All four games in the series are available to stream via Washington Live Stream 2.
• Washington and Northern Colorado met in a four-game set at the end of the 2022 regular season. The Huskies won the series with an aggregate score of 44-8.
• Husky’s pitching staff has only allowed one run in the last 15 innings.
• Stu Flesland III The 10-strikeout performance against San Jose State was the first double-digit strikeout performance by a husky pitcher since Adam Blobaum knocked out 10 batters against UTRGV in 2021.
• Josh Emmanuels has yet to allow a run through four relief appearances and 8.0 innings.
• Cam Clayton is currently on a 16-game hit streak.
SERIES STORY VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
Washington and northern Colorado have faced each other a total of nine times, with the Huskies coming out on top each time. Six of those games were played at Husky Ballpark, beginning with a 14-3 UW win in 2014. The Huskies and Bears faced off in a four-game series to conclude the 2022 regular season. In that series, UW shut out NCU twice, surpassing the Bears 44-8.
THE PEN IS MORE POWERFUL
The combination of Josh Emmanuels And case matter was a dynamic at the back end of Washington’s bullpen. Both Emanuels and Matter have made two saves this year, tied for the Pac-12 lead and the nation’s 8th place finish. Emanuels has yet to allow a run through four appearances and 8.0 innings, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits. Meanwhile, Matter has given up a single earned 6.0-inning run and hit six in three appearances.
BRING YOUR GREEN HAT
from last season, Cam Clayton is in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak, recording multiple base knocks in nine of those contests. The sophomore has scored in 28 of his last 30 games. Clayton is hitting .353 in those 30 games and .415 during his 16-game hitting streak.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF
Both AJ Guerrero And Coby Morales Ranked in the top-10 in Pac-12 walks, with Guerrero third in the league lead with nine free passes and Morales eighth with eight free passes after tying six walks in the San Jose State Series. As a result, the pair takes second and first place on the team, respectively, based on the base percentage.
HOMEMADE DAWGS
Nearly half of the Husky roster, 19 players out of a total of 39, are native Washington state talent. Of those 19 local products, 16 are from the Seattle area. Below is a breakdown of Washington Native Americans from UW counties.
UW Washington Natives by County
King County – 14
Clark County – 2
County Pierce – 1
Snohomish County – 1
Spokane County – 1st
HEEEEEEERE’S JOHNNY
After earning All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors in 2022, Washington became a catcher Johnny Tincher was named to the preseason All-Pac-12 team as voted by the conference head coaches.
Tincher, a redshirt junior, is entering his fourth season at UW after ending a campaign in which he finished second on the team with a .314 average. He drove in 35 carries and hit 27 more while hitting 19 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles, five home runs and a triple. Defensively, Tincher threw out 10 of 31 runners who tried to steal a pocket last season while posting a .989 field odds.
RUN IT BACK
Washington is returning almost all of its offense from the 2022 season, with seven of eight position starters returning who started more than 40 games. The Dawgs are ready to put big numbers on the scoreboard again.
Percentage return from 2022
• Games started – 88.5%
• Runs – 87.7%
• Hit – 91.4%
• Doubles – 92.3%
• Groups of three – 87.5%
• Homers – 93.8%
• RBI’s – 90.9%
• Walks – 82.5%
COMPLETION ON A HEATING
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 as strong: College World Series contenders Stanford (also 12 games) and Super Regional hosts East Carolina (14 games).
During the streak, the Dawgs battled .361 as a team and averaged over 8.4 runs per game. Of the 150 hits UW recorded in 12 games, 46 went for extra bases. Meanwhile, the pitching team compiled a 3.00 ERA and hit 96 strikeouts on 30 walks over 102 innings.
Both McKay Barney And AJ Guerrero recorded at least one hit in every game in the series, with Barney batting .500 and Guerrero averaging .447 with five doubles, six homers and 22 RBIs.
PROVE THIS WRONG
The Huskies were ranked seventh in the 2023 Pac-12 Preseason Poll by the league’s head coaches. In last season’s poll, UW easily surpassed their preseason prediction of 10th place and finished sixth overall.
POSITION RANKINGS
Washington has five players listed in D1Baseball.com’s position rankings, which were released prior to the start of the 2023 season. The full list of UW players ranked below.
UW in D1Baseball’s position rankings
Johnny Tincher – Catch #22
AJ Guerrero – Fielder No. 52
Mr. Kiefer – Starting pitcher #100
Jared Engman – Starting pitcher #154
Stu Flesland III – Starting pitcher #166
EYES ON THE PROS
During the preseason, ProspectsLive.com listed four under-the-radar college pitchers who are “moving” like big leagues, with half the list being formed by Huskies in the Carleton college transfer Mr. Kiefer and Redshirt sophomore case matter.
ProspectsLive.com About Lord:
“Lord checks a lot of boxes in scouting circles. He’s got a super loose, whipping arm that’s just now starting to show what he’s capable of… Lord has brushed 98s and 99s a few times and seems poised to see his stuff move into the mid-90s this season .”
ProspectsLive.com on the topic:
“Metrically speaking, this boy is checking a lot of boxes. He produces an exceptional carry on his four-seam fastball and can accelerate it to a 96 at the top…Scouts love the way Matter moves. He has great intention and aggressiveness, but he keeps The Kid clearly has a flair for pitching and a feel for his delivery.
THE JUCO JUMP
Washington has 10 junior college products on its list. Four players are from the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system, with four California Community College system products and two players from the Maricopa County Community College District in Arizona.
2018 OMADA WGS
2023 marks the fifth anniversary of Washington’s 2018 team becoming the first squad in program history to reach the College World Series. Running through the Conway Regional, the Huskies won three games against UConn and host Coastal Carolina. UW then won a crucial Super Regional Game 3 at Cal State Fullerton, erased a one-run deficit in the ninth to force extras and went with Kaiser Weiss’ sacrificial fly from the Titans to hit Levi Jordan and go after the Dawgs to send to Omaha.
15 GAMES ARE AWARDED ON THE PAC-12 FAMILY OF NETWORKS
15 Washington baseball games have been selected to be broadcast this season on the Pac-12 family of networks. Six home games from Husky Ballpark will be broadcast on your TV, while nine away games are scheduled to be broadcast. Of the 15 TV games for the Dawgs, 10 will be broadcast on Pac-12 Washington.
For more information about the UW baseball team, follow @UW_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram.