Each week, we here at Mountain West Connection will briefly preview every series going on in the conference, detailing how each team is going into the series and a key item to note that we feel will dictate the winner. Afterwards, if there are any non-conference series going on, we will go through each series similarly.
Conference series
Nevada (12-6) vs San Diego State (10-5)
Ever since the Mountain West got settled into conference play, these two teams have been the standard for the league, almost always saying atop
of the rest of the conference. San Diego State comes into this week on an eight game winning streak, taking Cal State Fullerton down 6-3 in the middle of the week to continue their hot streak. Nevada, on the other hand, had momentum after winning their most recent Silver State Series against UNLV, but dropped their second game against Sacramento State 13-7 on Tuesday.
This series will be a special final conference series between Nevada and San Diego State. The Wolf Pack’s bats are still the best in the conference, as they boast a .354 conference team batting average. Meanwhile, SDSU has maintained their title of best pitching team in the conference, as the program has a 5.79 team ERA in conference and a staggering 5.06 overall, the best ERA by 1.37 runs. However, the big factor in the back of our heads is the fact that the Aztecs swept Air Force when they played them, while Nevada lost their series to the Falcons. That was in the beginning of the conference schedule, but based on that, I predict San Diego State coming out on top.
Air Force (12-6) vs New Mexico (10-7-1)
Another marquee matchup that will potentially determine who will compete for a top seed and who will be in the mix with the rest of the conference. Both programs are coming into the weekend with a loss. Air Force took on Northern Colorado on Tuesday for their non-conference warm up, but took a tough 4-5 loss in the process. New Mexico continued their rivalry with New Mexico State, and even though they had the lead for the majority of the contest, the Lobos wound up taking a 10th inning, 15-16 loss.
Both of these programs have been great in the batters’ box at multiple different points in the season, but have been on completely different ends of the spectrum in conference play. Air Force sits at second with a .340 team batting average while New Mexico is tied for eighth with San Jose State with a .283. For their pitching, it’s the exact opposite, as the Lobos are fifth with a 6.81 team ERA while the Falcons sit at seventh with a 8.64. We have seen how much Air Force’s pitching woes have hurt them before, and while I am hesitant to call a prediction, I will say that if New Mexico can expose that weakness like San Diego State and Grand Canyon have done earlier this season, they will come out on top.
Grand Canyon (6-9) vs San Jose State (5-10)
It is safe to assume that whichever team wins this series knocks the other out of contention for the conference tournament, so it is do or die for both programs this week. Both Grand Canyon and San Jose State have a bit of momentum in their sails, but the Lopes are a tick higher. GCU took on two Big-12 opponents in BYU and Arizona, winning both games 10-3 and 9-8 respectively. San Jose State bounced back after their series loss to Air Force with a quick, 10-0 seven inning win against San Francisco.
Statistically speaking, GCU is the clear favorite. As mentioned earlier, San Jose State is tied for the worst batting average in conference play with a .283, all the while the Lopes have pulled themselves up and sit middle of the pack with a .302. Grand Canyon has also been one of the best teams in pitching, as they have fallen from the first spot, the program still sits third with a 6.06 team ERA and the second least amount of earned runs (89), while San Jose State has moved down to second to last with a 9.10 team ERA, only in front of UNLV. I will go with the statistics and say GCU will come out on top and send SJSU out of the playoffs, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Spartans use their home advantage and squeeze out two close wins.
Washington State (11-7) vs Fresno State (1-13-1)
Two teams who have swapped positions from their final standings from last year, which is equally as great for Washington State as it is sad for Fresno State. But just like last week, this one will be rough for Fresno State, especially in terms of momentum. The Diamond Dogs are in the middle of a four game losing streak, being swept by San Diego State and beaten by CSUN 4-7, all the while Wazzu is coming off the back of a 2-1 series win against New Mexico, including a 13-3, eight inning win to clinch the weekend.
Honestly, Fresno State could actually do decently and get a win against the Cougars this weekend, which is solely based on last week’s performance. Even though they were swept by the Aztecs, the Bulldogs were competitive all throughout the weekend, including the first game where they kept things close and only lost 4-3. If they are able to continue that performance and get to Washington State’s troop the same way they did to SDSU’s, then we could see Fresno State’s second and maybe more conference wins. But if not, then they will remain at just one win.
Non-Conference series
Milwaukee (15-27) vs UNLV (24-20)
UNLV got the conference bye this week, but they filled the space with a three game set at home against the UW-Milwaukee, a junior college in the Horizon League. The Panthers have had a bad season overall, as they have lost nearly 75 percent of their games and are currently on a three game losing streak. However, Milwaukee is 10-8 in conference play, and have played in series against teams like LSU and Duke, so the program’s performance is also due to playing much better opponents. Meanwhile, UNLV tried to patch up their wounds after losing the Silver State Series against Nevada over last weekend, but dropped their third game of the last four in a mid-week loss to Utah Tech 8-3.
The Runnin’ Rebels are pretty similar to the Panthers in terms of stats, which should make this weekend fun in Las Vegas. Milwaukee currently has a .268 team batting average overall, with players like junior outfielder Dylan O’Connell, sophomore outfielder Bradyn Horn and junior outfielder/catcher Dominic Kibler all batting above .300. Their pitching is a sore spot, as their team ERA is at 7.57. Those numbers would put Milwaukee in last place in batting and eighth in pitching, which UNLV is leagues above in the former and right next to them in the latter. This is a lower tier opponent, so the hope is UNLV uses this weekend to get right back in the mix for the final two spots in the conference tournament.
