We are almost a month into the NCAA baseball season, and week three shook up a lot of perceptions regarding the Mountain West.
Two programs (Fresno State and San Diego State) took on power 4 teams on the road, with multiple teams taking on programs who have been prominent over the last couple of years at the same time. Some teams fell, other teams rose to extreme highs (including our new No. 1 program), and things are starting to get interesting with just one weekend left before conference play starts.
Here’s our week three power rankings.
1.San Diego State (prev. 4)
The Aztecs move up to our No. 1 spot after an excellent week against Power 4 teams, including the No. 1-ranked team in the country in UCLA. The Bruins fell in a 4-3 win for San Diego State, a game where Aztecs’ starter Alec Belardes escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam and pitched 5.1 innings with three strikeouts.
San Diego State moved on to win the first two games of a four-game series against Washington, winning 9-4 in the first game and 3-2 in the second. The Aztecs are taking advantage of a very tough non-conference schedule and are shutting down some of the best offenses in the country.
2.Fresno State (prev. 1)
The Bulldogs concluded their four-game series against Pepperdine to start the week, winning 11-3 and winning the series 3-1. They finished out the week with a three-game series against Stanford, winning that 2-1. Fresno State dropped the first game of the series in a 6-5 loss after Stanford walked it off. The Bulldogs apparently took that to heart, because the next two games ended in a 15-4 and 11-8 outcome for Fresno State.
The Bulldogs have now scored 85 runs en route to their 6-4 record and, similar to San Diego State, are taking advantage of some early action against power conference opponents.
3.New Mexico (prev. 3)
The perfect season for New Mexico lives on after a four-game sweep of St. Thomas this past week. The now 12-0 Lobos don’t have the upper hand in terms of their strength of schedule, but starting the season undefeated through your first dozen games deserves its flowers. After owning the best batting average in the nation last year, New Mexico continues to rank near the top this year. Its pitching has also taken a big step forward so far, sporting a 4.46 ERA through those 12 games. The competition will start to ramp up for New Mexico, but things are looking up in Albuquerque.
4.Nevada (prev. 2)
The Wolf Pack only played in one series, a three-game weekend matchup against UC Davis. Nevada dropped the first two games of the series before winning Game three to avoid the sweep. The offense is still trying to find a consistent rhythm, especially after the UC Davis series, where the Pack’s offense struck out 28 times. Nevada has also only left the yard five times and sports a .727 OPS.
Nevada will get a chance at Stanford and versus Pacific this week.
5.UNLV (prev. 5)
The Rebels played five games in total last week, winning four of them against two different programs. The first was a quick two-game series against Western Michigan, winning 9-5 in the first game and 16-1 in the second. UNLV then took down Santa Clara 2-1 in a three-game series, winning the first two before falling in the finale.
The team is still batting over .300 while going deep 13 times through 12 games. The pitching side picked up 45 strikeouts through 43 total innings last week, giving up no more than five runs in a game. The 9-3 Rebels will play Northern Colorado before playing in the Cambria Classic in Minneapolis, Minn., this weekend, playing teams such as Minnesota and Northwestern.
6.GCU (prev. 6)
GCU, similar to Wazzu, had a mixed week. The Lopes went to Irvine, Calif. to take on UC Irvine in a two game set, losing the first one 0-3 and winning the second 9-4 in 10 innings. Then, the program took on Pacific in a very competitive, three game series, winning games one and three 5-4 and 11-10 respectively while losing the middle matchup 2-3.
Grand Canyon University has been okay to start the year, hitting .243 as a team with a pretty good .758 team OPS. However, the Lopes pitching has been tied for the worst in the conference, with a 6.66 team ERA (second worst) and 1.67 WHIP (worst). Like many of the bottom teams in the Mountain West, GCU will have to punch up to right the ship, facing Arizona on the road on March 3 and the Utah Utes in a four game road set from March 6-9.
7.San Jose State (prev. 7)
All things considered, the Spartans had a decent run against Saint Mary’s. SJSU took the Gaels (who made the regional round of last year’s CWS and beat Oregon State in the same year) to 13 innings in a 4-5 loss to start the series, got mercy ruled 5-15, seven inning game two, skunked the home team 8-0, then got stomped 4-13 to ultimately lose the series. The second and final games were…rough to say the least, but competing against a former regional team in two games is notable.
Outside of the series, San Jose State has had better starts to a season. The program has hit .239 overall with a .675 OPS, the ladder is the worst in the conference. The biggest difference for the Spartans has been their pitching, though, as they have posted a 6.19 team ERA and a 1.68 WHIP compared to their opponents pitching a 3.76 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. SJSU don’t have an easier time ahead of them, as they play Pacific on March 3 and a three game series against Pitt over the weekend.
8.Washington State (prev. 9)
Wazzu had a split weekend to start March. On Feb. 26-27, the Cougars took on BYU, losing 4-6 and 4-5 in a close two-game contest against a power 4 club. From there, Washington State bounced back against Long Beach State (who played against Fresno State in the regional round of the CWS), taking a 10-4 win on Feb. 27 and a close 9-7 win on March 1.
Statistically, Washington State has been struggling. Pitching wise, the Cougars have a team ERA of 4.98 compared to their opponents’ 4.32 and a 1.6 WHIP to a 1.34 from their opponents. Hitting has been their worst area, however, as the program has an overall batting average of .234, which is worst in the Mountain West, and a .679 OPS. Wazzu is set to travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the Texas State Bobcats this weekend, who are 9-2 and are on a five-game win streak.
9.Air Force (prev. 8)
Looking to build up after losing three straight, Air Force did not in-fact right the ship over the weekend. After losing their game against Oral Roberts 3-6 on Feb. 27, the Falcons went toe-to-toe with Dallas Baptist University to start March. However, they did lose both games to the Patriots, dropping their Friday matchup 11-15 and Sunday’s matinee 15-16.
Air Force has been decent at best, as they have a total team batting average of .261 (opponents have a .296) and .750 OPS (opponents have a .868). Pitching has been their Achilles heel more than their hitting, as the team boasts a poor 7.68 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Falcons will have their work cut out for them this weekend, as they travel to Texas to take on the Baylor Bears.
