VIDEO: Marty Lees previews UW series
What: No. 30 WASHINGTON (20-14, 7-2 Pac-12) at WASHINGTON STATE (16-18, 2-10 Pac-12)
Where: Bailey-Brayton Field (3,500), Pullman, WA
When: April 21-23, 2017; Friday, 5 p.m., Saturday, 4 p.m., Sunday, Noon (Pac-12 Network)
Washington State Pitchers:
Fri - Damon Jones
Sat. - Cody Anderson
Sun - TBA
Washington State (16-18, 2-10 Pac-12) hosts rival No. 30 Washington (20-14, 7-5 Pac-12) for a three-game Pac-12 Conference series at Bailey-Brayton Field. All three games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
LAST TIME OUT: WSU used a go-ahead two-run double from Blake Clanton to post a 9-4 win over Seattle Wednesday.
ON DECK: The Cougars will host Gonzaga Tuesday at 5 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars dropped three games at Arizona State in Tempe last weekend. The Cougars lost a 9-4 contest at Gonzaga Monday but bounced back with a 9-4 victory over Seattle Wednesday. Sophomore leftfielder Justin Harrer paces the club with a .324 batting average and 14 doubles and shares the lead of 24 RBI with junior third baseman Shane Matheny and junior first baseman James Rudkin.
Junior reliever Scotty Sunitsch enters the weekend third in the Pac-12 with seven saves. Head coach Marty Lees is in his second season at Washington State.
UW-WSU SERIES HISTORY: Washington State leads the all-time series 240-192 after two of three from the No. 14 Huskies in Seattle last season, the Cougars first series win in Seattle since 2004. The Cougars have claimed the last two series, also taking two of three in Pullman in 2015. UW claimed the 2015 series in Seattle and all three meetings in Pasco in 2014. WSU has won three straight series in Pullman with UW's last series win in Pullman coming in 2007.
PAC-12 LEADERS: WSU enters the weekend among the top teams of the Pac-12 Conference in a couple categories. Offensively, the Cougars are second in the league in doubles (73), second in runs (190) and on-base percentage (.377), and fourth in slugging (.399). The pitching staff has picked off eight baserunners, second in the Pac-12, while the defense is tied for third with 28 double plays turned. Justin Harrer enters the weekend third in the Pac-12 with 14 doubles, tied for ninth with 24 RBI and tied for ninth in home runs with four. Sophomore catcher Cory Meyer is tied for the league-lead with 10 hit-by-pitches while freshman Dillon Plew is tenth in on-base percentage (.439). On the mound, Scotty Sunitsch enters the weekend third in the Pac-12 with seven saves while Cody Anderson is eighth in ERA (2.57), tied for sixth in batting average against (.213) and ninth in strikeouts (42).
BY THE NUMBERS
73 - WSU owns 73 doubles in 34 games this season after hitting 70 last season in 54 games
32 - 32 years since the last WSU no-hitter, Kurt Waananen - Rockford College (Ill.) (3/14/85)
16 - 16 players have made their Cougar debuts
17 - WSU owns 17 home runs in 34 games this season after hitting 16 last season in 54 games
13 - James Rudkin leads the team with 13 two-out RBI, J.J. Hancock is second with 12, Matheny - 10
9 - WSU owns nine comeback wins this season
7 - The first seven wins this season were all come-from-behind wins
7 - WSU's seven-game winning streak was the longest since the 2013 team won eight in a row
7 - Junior LHP Scotty Sunitsch enters the weekend third in the Pac-12 with seven saves 4 - In his last four appearances (7.2 IP), Sunitsch has not allowed a run and recorded four strikeouts
4 - Four players own 10+ doubles this season after just two reached that mark last season .545 - In his last 4 games, Cal Waterman has gone 6-for-11 with his first career HR and 4 runs scored
.442 - In the last 12 games, Justin Harrer is hitting .442 with 6 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 12 runs scored, slugging .721, an on-base percentage of .519 and 8 multiple-hit games
.444 - In his last 4 games, Andres Alvarez its hitting .444 (8-18) with 3 multiple-hit games
.344 - Since taking over the starting CF job 9 games ago, Danny Sinatro is hitting .344 with 6 runs and a .400 on-base percentage
COUGAR OFFENSE MAKING BIG STEPS IN 2017: The Washington State offense has made big strides in year two under head coach Marty Lees and hitting coach Jim Horner. In 34 games this season, the Cougars have surpassed last year's home run total (16) and doubles total (70). WSU enters the weekend with 17 home runs and second in the Pac-12 with 73 doubles. Four Cougars have recorded 10+ doubles in 2017 after just two players had double-digit doubles last year. This season WSU has also posted a higher batting average, averaged more runs and more hits per game compared to the previous two seasons.