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 (4-2) vs Washington State (4-2)
In a battle for second place, Nevada travels to Pullman to take on a Washington State team that had almost the polar opposite week that the Wolf
Pack had going into this weekend. Where Nevada lost its series to Air Force 1-2 then bounced back with a win against San Francisco 14-9, Wazzu swept GCU in three games, but then lost to Gonzaga 8-19 in seven innings.
Ultimately, this weekend between the Pack and the Cougars will come down to whether or not Washington State can calm Nevada’s bats. The Wolf Pack has the best overall team batting average in the conference (.319) and the third-best in conference games (.348). The potential loss of Nevada infielder Sean Yamaguchi, as previously mentioned in our power rankings earlier this week, will make that easier for the home team, but with how Nevada has been moving as of late, it will be a steep hill to climb.
San Diego State (2-1) vs GCU (0-3)
After a horrific start to conference play, GCU will now host their first Mountain West Conference series, taking on San Diego State in a three game set. The Lopes come into this series on a very deep low, currently in the middle of a five-game losing streak after getting swept by Washington State to start conference play and losing to the Arizona Wildcats in a close, 4-5 night game. Meanwhile, SDSU had a rough time in San Jose, losing in both non-conference games in extras to the Spartans while splitting games with the UConn Huskies on the weekend, then beating UC Irvine 8-4.
If the Nevada series is a hill to climb for Wazzu, this series will be a mountain for the Antelopes. SDSU sports the best team ERA in the conference with a 5.59, the only team that has a sub-six ERA. GCU sits fourth at 6.44, but its team batting average is the worst in the conference at .239 (SDSU’s is sixth at .274). The one pro for the Lopes is the fact that they are home, but that hasn’t been much of an advantage in conference play so far, so we will have to see if GCU can scale their production up as a host or fall even deeper.
San Jose State (2-1) vs UNLV (0-3)
The Spartans and Runnin’ Rebels will set the stage in Las Vegas, and are looking to get some conference momentum after playing some non-conference games last week. San Jose State took on UConn and San Diego State in a round-robin, four game series, winning all but the last game against the Huskies, then beat the Santa Clara Broncos 18-6 in seven innings. UNLV, on the other hand, hosted Utah Tech last weekend, winning 11-1 in seven then losing by the same score in eight, then played No. 22 Arizona State at Las Vegas Ballpark, just barely losing 11-12.
San Jose State has had one of the better pitching performances, garnering a 6.10 team ERA overall and currently boasts the best conference pitching performance when they took on New Mexico two weeks ago. However, the Spartans have had the second-worst time at the plate in the conference with a sub-par (in comparison to the rest of the league) team batting average of .256. UNLV is basically the exact opposite, with one of the best team batting averages (.310) and the worst team ERA (7.36) in the conference. Whichever program can exploit the other’s weakness in this series first will be the one to come out on top
Fresno State (0-3) vs New Mexico (1-2)
New Mexico and Fresno State have had their fair share of losing since the start of March, and will need to climb over each other in order to get some juice pumping after last week. The Bulldogs were done early last week, taking on Utah Tech in a two game set, losing both games while putting up seven or more runs each game. Then, after going 10 straight without a win, the Diamond Dogs took down Long Beach State 8-1. Meanwhile, New Mexico hosted Abilene Christian University, losing the series 2-1 while pushing the second game into extras and ending the weekend with an 11-5 win. However, the momentum was cut short when the Lobos visited Texas Tech, as they lost 2-12 in eight innings.
Despite the recent problems, New Mexico is still second in team batting average at .311, while Fresno State has stayed in the middle of the pack with .281. Both teams are close in pitching stats as well, with New Mexico sporting a 6.23 team ERA and Fresno State 6.79. However, the big difference is strength of schedule, as New Mexico still sits at 257, the lowest in the conference, while Fresno State has sunk to 223. This should be a good matchup to see how both programs will do down the line.
Non-Conference Series
Air Force (10-12) vs Tarleton State (16-8)
In the only non-conference matchup this week, the Air Force Falcons will take on Tarleton State. The Texans have won 10 of their last 14 games, which includes a four-game sweep against New Mexico and a great 6-1 win against the No. 2 Texas Longhorns. Air Force, on the other hand, is coming off of a 2-1 series win against Nevada where they took the top spot in the conference and a close 4-3 win against Oral Roberts, all of which was on the road.
The Falcons have the edge in the batters’ box, as they sport a .301 team batting average (Tarleton State has a .286) and have put up an average of 14.38 runs per game, astonishing numbers to say the least. Air Force’s lineup will be tested over the next three games, as Tarleton State boasts a 5.06 team ERA, almost a full run better than the Mountain West’s best pitching rotation. Their pitching has been better, as the Falcons held Nevada and Oral Roberts to five runs or less in two of their last four games, but having a 7.29 team ERA (only above Nevada and UNLV) is something of concern. If the bats can get going or we see a whole new performance from the pitching staff, then Air Force will have a chance to take the series
