Coug baseball holds first competition of season
WSU will face in-state rival Central Washinton for first time under Lees
OLIVER MCKENNA | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Then-senior outfielder JJ Hancock hits a sacrifice bunt, advancing then-junior first baseman Wyatt Segle to second base during a game against Saint Mary’s on March 8 at Bailey-Brayton Field. Segle eventually scored from second.
October 5, 2018
WSU baseball will host two scrimmages this fall, the first against Central Washington University on Saturday.
This will be Head Coach Marty Lees’ first matchup against the Wildcats and the Cougars’ first since the 2001 season. The good news for WSU is that this matchup, as is the case for their scrimmage against Gonzaga University on Oct. 21, will be at its home park.
It’s good news for WSU that both scrimmages will be held at Bailey-Brayton Field because the Cougs play much better at home: they were 11-12-1 at home, 4-18 on the road and 1-3 at a neutral site last season.
The team has played much better at home every year under Lees. Playing well on the road with a young team may seem like a difficult task, but this years’ recruiting class appears to be a talented one.
The signing class of 2018 for WSU ranked No. 32 in the country, Lees’ second nationally-ranked recruiting class with the Cougars. These scrimmages will be a good chance for the team to see the recruiting class in game action.
WSU will field a younger team this year, including two who were selected as high schoolers in the Major League Baseball draft. There are currently 17 freshmen and just two seniors on the Cougars’ 2019 roster.
The scrimmages will be a good time to see this young roster in action and a chance for Lees to continue to watch how the team plays together.
The season starts at 1 p.m. Saturday when WSU takes on Central Washington at Bailey-Brayton Field in its first scrimmage of the year.
