Cougs head to Arizona to play Long Island

Series to be played at Peoria Sports Complex; site of Arizona Fall League

WSU+pitcher+Dakota+Hawkins+throws+a+pitch+during+a+scrimmage%2C+Saturday%2C+Oct.+18%2C+2021%2C+in+Pullman.

KEDZIE MOE

WSU pitcher Dakota Hawkins throws a pitch during a scrimmage, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2021, in Pullman.

JAKE HULL, Evergreen reporter

WSU baseball (2-2) is set to take on the Long Island Sharks (2-2) for a four-game series, beginning today in Peoria, Ariz. 

Long Island finished last season with a 20-15 record, going 18-11 in conference play. Notable wins for the Sharks include winning eight games against Fairleigh, two against Sacred Heart and three against Mount St. Mary’s. 

So far this season, the Sharks are 2-2, matching WSU’s early-season performance. They won their game against Northeastern University, then split a two-game series against the Nittany Lions of Penn State and lost to Monmouth on Sunday.

WSU is coming off a 2-2 series tie against the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors. The Cougs won the first two games and then lost the next two in Hawai’i. The biggest problem for the Cougs so far this season has been errors. The Cougs had seven errors in four games and gave up a total of 19 runs. WSU scored 16 runs in the series and had 27 hits. The Cougs also had two home runs in the series and have a .214 team batting average.

Bryce Matthews and Kyle Russell led the WSU offense in Hawai’i, putting up five hits each. Matthews has an impressive .417 batting average with two RBIs, one home run and has scored four runs. Russell has a .357 batting average with three RBIs. 

Cole McMillan is WSU’s best pitcher so far, with a 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA. McMillan gave up three hits and two runs in five innings against Hawai’i and had six strikeouts in the series. Tyler Hoeft also pitched in the series, earning himself a record of 1-1, with a 3.86 ERA on five hits and three runs in four innings of action. Hoeft also added three strikeouts to his name. Cam Liss pitched five innings in Hawai’i and gave up one hit, zero runs and four strikeouts. 

The three starting pitchers for the Cougs gave up seven walks combined. The WSU starting rotation gave up five of the 19 runs against Hawai’i. The bullpen is a weak point in WSU’s game, with some field players taking the mound in Hawai’i. Together, the bullpen gave up 15 hits and 14 runs. The bullpen gave the Cougs 22 strikeouts, but their 19 walks and seven wild pitches can be attributed to the two losses.

For the Long Island Sharks, their first four games were led by Giovanni Ciaccio and Michael Edelman. Ciaccio has five RBIs on four hits, while Edelman has four RBIs on three hits. Pitching for Long Island is led by Joshua Loeschorn, who has a 1-0 record with a zero ERA in five innings of work. Loeschorn has only given up one hit this season and has five strikeouts. Josh Gainer has eight strikeouts and two hits given up in four innings of work. 

The first game of the series is set for noon today in Peoria. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday with the final game of the series on Saturday.