To put the WSU baseball team’s season in perspective through 22 games, its record has spiked from an 8-13 mark on this date in 2016 to 14-8 in 2017.

Much of the team’s statistical success can be attributed to 16 newcomers who have found their way into the Cougars’ starting lineup. Before the season, Head Coach Marty Lees compared his recruiting class, ranked 28th in the nation by d1baseball.com, to the ones he fielded as an assistant head coach at Oregon State and Oklahoma State.

Lees said a big reason his team has found success in 2017 is consistency. He said in a news conference on Wednesday that his team is well rounded, capable of getting on base, hitting for power, throwing strikes and playing great defense.

As a team, the Cougars rank in the top half of nearly every offensive category in the Pac-12, after scoring the fewest runs in the Pac-12 in 2016.

No player on the team has impacted WSU’s revamped offense more than junior third baseman Shane Matheny.

In 2016, Matheny hit .226 with a .313 on-base percentage and .314 slugging percentage in 52 games for the Cougars. Of his 36 hits, nine were doubles and one was a home run.

Only halfway into his junior season one year later, Matheny already has 28 hits with 11 doubles and a pair of home runs. His team-leading .384 batting average is fifth best in the conference and he leads the Pac-12 with a .671 slugging percentage.

Lees said Matheny has always been a good defensive player, but a change of mindset at the plate has helped him greatly.

“It all comes down to him,” Lees said. “He’s more mature, he knows what he’s looking for, he knows who he is, he knows what he’s trying to do and when you have that confidence you can do just about anything.”

Freshman second baseman Dillon Plew has also contributed to the Cougars’ offensive surge, stabilizing the leadoff spot and ranking sixth in the Pac-12 in on-base percentage with a .466 mark. He also leads WSU in walks with 18, a tally good enough for fourth-best in the conference.

“[Plew] has one of the best eyes for the strike zone as I’ve ever coached,” Lees said.

Lees said he did not expect Plew to play at the beginning of the year, but his quick improvements forced him into finding the freshman a position.

Lees said Plew took to the leadoff spot well since being inserted there at the beginning of March and relays valuable information about the starting pitcher to the rest of the batting order.

The skipper also said he even sees Plew calming down older players in the dugout and that he has a great locker room presence, a rare trait for a true freshman.

The Cougars have improved on the mound as well. Similar to their offense, the WSU pitching staff finished last in every major statistical category in the conference last season.

In 2016, WSU posted a team ERA of 5.32, the lowest mark in the Pac-12, and finished last in runs allowed (327), walks allowed (262) and strikeouts (341).

While the improvements on the mound have been less dramatic, they are still noteworthy. WSU ranks seventh in the conference with a 3.81 team ERA. Additionally, they rank sixth in batting average against (.246), seventh in strikeouts (169), sixth in runs allowed (81) and sixth in walks allowed (84).

A big reason for the improvement is the consistency displayed by the Cougars’ weekend starters.

Redshirt junior left-hander Damon Jones (2-1, 3.94 ERA) moved from one of Lees’ midweek starters last season to headlining the staff on Friday nights. Junior right-hander Ryan Walker (2-2, 6.21 ERA) has become the Saturday starter after pitching in middle and late-inning relief last season and earning Pac-12 honorable mention.

However, six-foot-six-inch junior left-hander and Bellevue Community College transfer Cody Anderson has provided the greatest improvements to the WSU pitching staff.

Anderson allowed just three earned runs and struck out 21 batters in 26 innings across his last four starts. Anderson has also not walked a batter in his last 18 innings pitched.

Anderson’s season ERA of 2.06 ranks seventh in the conference and his 33 strikeouts rank eighth.

Lees said one of his most anticipated facets of the team before the season began was the bullpen’s ability to shut down and shorten games. So far, juniors Joe Rosenstein and Scotty Sunitsch have justified their head coach’s confidence.

Rosenstein earned the team’s setup role and has pitched well thus far, having not allowed an earned run in 11-and-two-thirds innings of work.

Sunitsch’s seven saves are the second most in the conference. Lees said Sunitsch has thrived in the role and that he is confident to give him the ball to finish games.

After this statistical analysis of the Cougars, the team is markedly improved in all three phases of the game, compared to where it was halfway through last year’s season.