University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, April 1
Sacramento, Calif.
4:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
at
Sacramento State
Photo by: Rob Trubia
@NCBearsBaseball Opens WAC Play Against Sacramento State
3/30/2016 1:53:00 PM | Baseball
Northern Colorado baseball takes on Sacramento State in its WAC season opener
GREELEY, Colo. – The Northern Colorado baseball team will beginning its 2016 Western Athletic Conference season this weekend when they had to Sacramento State for a three game series. The series will take place over April 1-3.
Series Notes: Northern Colorado | Sacramento State | WAC
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado played its first game in a week on Tuesday when they took on in-state rival Air Force. The Falcons would top the Bears 14-7 in Colorado Springs.
• It was another arms day for the Bears using seven different pitchers on Tuesday. Connor Leedholm went the farthest of any UNC pitcher. He went three innings allowing two runs on three hits, strucking out two of the 11 batters he faced.
• After starting the day on bench, Ryan Yamane came into the game late, walking both times he came up to bat.
• UNC had an odd day at the plate, recording only five hits while scoring seven runs. The Bears reached base in other ways including four hit by pitches, eight walks and started the game reaching on a strike out passed ball.
• The Bears finally get to start Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play this weekend when they head to Sacramento State. UNC was supposed to start WAC play last week, but a blizzard hit the Denver metro area that caused UT Rio Grande Valley to be unable to make it to Greeley.
• This is the second straight year UNC goes to Sacramento State, last year the Hornets were scheduled to come to Greeley, but rain all weekend forced a shift in the schedule with UNC going to California instead.
• The Bears and Hornets also met in Mesa last season during the WAC Tournament. Sac. St. would win the game 5-0 to end UNC's season.
Scouting Sacramento State
Sacramento State started WAC play last week, sweeping North Dakota. All three games were nail bitters, being decided by one run including going to extra innings in one of them. The Hornets followed up the weekend sweep by dropping two straight games to New Mexico on Monday and Tuesday.
Sac. St. pitcher Sam Long had an exceptional weekend, last week going seven innings of four hit ball not allowing a run while striking out seven to earn the WAC Pitcher of the Week honor. For the season Long is leading the Hornets staff with a 3.86 ERA and 2-4 record, striking out 24 hitters.
At the plate the duo of Matt Smith and Bronson Grubbs have been keys for Sacramento State. Smith leads the team with a .400 batting average, to go with his 11 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Grubbs is the only other Hornet hitting above .300, currently at a clip of .301. Grubbs has scored seven times this year and driven in three more runs.
Coming into the 2016 season, the WAC coaches picked Sac. St. to finish second in the conference, just behind defending regular season champion Grand Canyon. The Hornets picked up four the 10 first place votes and was just three points behind the Lopes.
Series History vs the Hornets
Northern Colorado trails Sac. St. in the all-time series between the two teams 3-13. The Hornets are currently on a seven game win streak in the series, and swept the Bears 4-0 last year including ending their season in Mesa. The Hornets have only made one trip to Greeley, back in 2007 when UNC took the series 2-1.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of turning two this season. The Bears have turned 18 double plays already for the year. Those 18 double plays rank 119th overall in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC. Utah Valley leads the conference with 23 turned.
Crafty Lefty
Nick Tanner may not light up the radar gun, but he knows how to paint the corners, which has shown so far this year. Tanner leads the team with a 1.50 ERA. That places him in the top 100 for ERAs in the nation (53rd) and top 5 in the WAC (4th).
Going, Going, Gone!
Brett Minnick hit his fifth home run of the year on Tuesday against Air Force. He is one off the team's high from last year at six, hit by both Cole Maltese and Jensen Park. Minnick's five long balls have him ranked first in the WAC and 86th in the nation.
Yamane The Man
• After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks fifth in at bats with 660, tied for12th in hits (190) and now first in walks with 130. Yamane broke the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
• Having taken over the all-time walks record, Yamane is one of the top players to draw a walk this season. His 20 walks are the second most in the WAC and 51st most in the NCAA. At his current pace he is averaging one walk a game.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won most of their games this year. The team is 4-1 on Sunday and 1-15 on any other day of the week.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 25 bags so far this season, to rank 125th nationally and fourth in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with five stolen bases.
All Arms in
Tuesday's have become staff days for the Bears. Northern Colorado used seven pitchers again this week at Air Force, with no one going more than three innings.
• Against Regis, the team used seven different pitchers who would hold the Rangers hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings
• Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com. Finally after all of the team's home games make sure to get on Facebook and look for the update on the live look at the postgame press conference.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
UNC will play its second of four games against Air Force on Tuesday. This game will take place in Greeley with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Falcons took the first game on Tuesday 14-7 in Colorado Springs.
In the Hole
Northern Colorado has its second straight WAC road series when they head to Orem, Utah for a three game series against Utah Valley, beginning on April 8.
Around the Den
Track and field hosts its annual Tom Benich Invite on Saturday. The event will be all day at Nottingham Field and free for fans to attend.
Softball continues Big Sky play when they head to Ogden, Utah for three games beginning on Friday.
Men's tennis has a pair of road Big Sky matches at Southern Utah Friday and Northern Arizona on Saturday.
Women's tennis hosts Big Sky powerhouse Sacramento State on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
| Series Information |
| Friday, April 1 at 4 pm | RHP Corey Nakakura (2-1, 4.24 ERA) vs LHP Sam Long (2-4, 3.86 ERA) | Gameday Central |
| Saturday, April 2 at 2 pm | RHP Alex Werbach (0-2, 6.16 ERA) vs RHP Max Karnos (1-1, 3.86 ERA) | Gameday Central |
| Sunday, April 3 at 1 pm | LHP Nick Tanner (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs RHP Grant Kukuk (2-1, 4.50 ERA) | Gameday Central |
Series Notes: Northern Colorado | Sacramento State | WAC
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado played its first game in a week on Tuesday when they took on in-state rival Air Force. The Falcons would top the Bears 14-7 in Colorado Springs.
• It was another arms day for the Bears using seven different pitchers on Tuesday. Connor Leedholm went the farthest of any UNC pitcher. He went three innings allowing two runs on three hits, strucking out two of the 11 batters he faced.
• After starting the day on bench, Ryan Yamane came into the game late, walking both times he came up to bat.
• UNC had an odd day at the plate, recording only five hits while scoring seven runs. The Bears reached base in other ways including four hit by pitches, eight walks and started the game reaching on a strike out passed ball.
• The Bears finally get to start Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play this weekend when they head to Sacramento State. UNC was supposed to start WAC play last week, but a blizzard hit the Denver metro area that caused UT Rio Grande Valley to be unable to make it to Greeley.
• This is the second straight year UNC goes to Sacramento State, last year the Hornets were scheduled to come to Greeley, but rain all weekend forced a shift in the schedule with UNC going to California instead.
• The Bears and Hornets also met in Mesa last season during the WAC Tournament. Sac. St. would win the game 5-0 to end UNC's season.
Scouting Sacramento State
Sacramento State started WAC play last week, sweeping North Dakota. All three games were nail bitters, being decided by one run including going to extra innings in one of them. The Hornets followed up the weekend sweep by dropping two straight games to New Mexico on Monday and Tuesday.
Sac. St. pitcher Sam Long had an exceptional weekend, last week going seven innings of four hit ball not allowing a run while striking out seven to earn the WAC Pitcher of the Week honor. For the season Long is leading the Hornets staff with a 3.86 ERA and 2-4 record, striking out 24 hitters.
At the plate the duo of Matt Smith and Bronson Grubbs have been keys for Sacramento State. Smith leads the team with a .400 batting average, to go with his 11 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Grubbs is the only other Hornet hitting above .300, currently at a clip of .301. Grubbs has scored seven times this year and driven in three more runs.
Coming into the 2016 season, the WAC coaches picked Sac. St. to finish second in the conference, just behind defending regular season champion Grand Canyon. The Hornets picked up four the 10 first place votes and was just three points behind the Lopes.
Series History vs the Hornets
Northern Colorado trails Sac. St. in the all-time series between the two teams 3-13. The Hornets are currently on a seven game win streak in the series, and swept the Bears 4-0 last year including ending their season in Mesa. The Hornets have only made one trip to Greeley, back in 2007 when UNC took the series 2-1.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of turning two this season. The Bears have turned 18 double plays already for the year. Those 18 double plays rank 119th overall in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC. Utah Valley leads the conference with 23 turned.
Crafty Lefty
Nick Tanner may not light up the radar gun, but he knows how to paint the corners, which has shown so far this year. Tanner leads the team with a 1.50 ERA. That places him in the top 100 for ERAs in the nation (53rd) and top 5 in the WAC (4th).
Going, Going, Gone!
Brett Minnick hit his fifth home run of the year on Tuesday against Air Force. He is one off the team's high from last year at six, hit by both Cole Maltese and Jensen Park. Minnick's five long balls have him ranked first in the WAC and 86th in the nation.
Yamane The Man
• After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks fifth in at bats with 660, tied for12th in hits (190) and now first in walks with 130. Yamane broke the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
• Having taken over the all-time walks record, Yamane is one of the top players to draw a walk this season. His 20 walks are the second most in the WAC and 51st most in the NCAA. At his current pace he is averaging one walk a game.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won most of their games this year. The team is 4-1 on Sunday and 1-15 on any other day of the week.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 25 bags so far this season, to rank 125th nationally and fourth in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with five stolen bases.
All Arms in
Tuesday's have become staff days for the Bears. Northern Colorado used seven pitchers again this week at Air Force, with no one going more than three innings.
• Against Regis, the team used seven different pitchers who would hold the Rangers hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings
• Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com. Finally after all of the team's home games make sure to get on Facebook and look for the update on the live look at the postgame press conference.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
UNC will play its second of four games against Air Force on Tuesday. This game will take place in Greeley with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Falcons took the first game on Tuesday 14-7 in Colorado Springs.
In the Hole
Northern Colorado has its second straight WAC road series when they head to Orem, Utah for a three game series against Utah Valley, beginning on April 8.
Around the Den
Track and field hosts its annual Tom Benich Invite on Saturday. The event will be all day at Nottingham Field and free for fans to attend.
Softball continues Big Sky play when they head to Ogden, Utah for three games beginning on Friday.
Men's tennis has a pair of road Big Sky matches at Southern Utah Friday and Northern Arizona on Saturday.
Women's tennis hosts Big Sky powerhouse Sacramento State on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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