Washington Baseball: February In Review

Washington baseball is underway, with the Huskies wrapping up their first month of play with a record of 4-2.

The Washington baseball team began the season in mid-February. They won the season opener on the road at UC Irvine on February 16, 9-5. It was the first game of a double-header. The home opener was supposed to take place on February 15, but the game was rained out. UC Irvine won the second game by a score of 2-1. UCI then won the rubber game on Sunday  February 17, 6-4.

Washington designated hitter Joe Wainhouse, last seasons home run leader for the Huskies with 19, had one in the season opener along with catcher Nick Kahle. Last year, Kahle hit six home runs on the season. Now a junior, the Huskies are hoping he can develop his power hitting this season to go along with Wainhouse.

Last week, the Washington baseball team went to Phoenix, Arizona taking on North Colorado for three games. The Huskies swept the series, winning the first game 25-8 on Wednesday February 20. Due to unexpected rain, the teams didn’t play again until Saturday February 23 . The Huskies won the opening game 3-2 followed by 11-1 in the second game of the double header.

Joe Wainhouse and Nick Kahle each hit a home run in the opening game of the series against North Colorado. Both came in the six run second inning to put the Huskies ahead 10-0 before North Colorado could get on the board.

Connor Blair, starting in right field had his first home run as a Husky in the opening game of the series then followed with another in the third game. He is a junior transfer from Butte College where he hit 21 home runs last year. Blair, Wainhouse and Kahle are tied for the team lead in home runs with two a piece. Last year, Winehouse’s 19 home run were ranked 3rd in Pac-12 conference. Having Blair and Kahle pushing Wainhouse this year will help.  Kahle leads the Huskies  in RBI’s with eleven after these six games. He’s getting off to a hot start hitting .421.

Shortstop Ramon Bramasco, another junior transfer, leads the Washington baseball team in hitting with an average of .429. Center fielder Braiden Ward has gotten off to a good start as well. Ward is batting .400 while leading the Huskies in runs scored with ten coming from the leadoff spot.

The Washington Huskies are showing early on in the season they should score a lot of runs though they may get a slow start depending who the opposing starting pitcher they are facing.

Freshmen David Rhodes has gotten off to a good start with a record of 2-0. He pitched two innings of relief in the season opener, then went five innings while giving up just one run while starting against North Colorado in the series opener. He leads the Huskies in ERA at 1.29.

Jordan Jones, who is expected to be the Huskies ace, lost the first game of the double-header against UCI, giving up two runs on three hits. He also pitched the first game in the double-header against North Colorado. He gave up two runs in that game as well, both unearned. He sits with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 1.46 with 15 strikeouts.

Steve Emanuels has appeared in three games out of the bullpen. He leads the relievers with an ERA of 1.93. He has record eight strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. The rest of the relievers haven’t done quite as well. Emanuels is the only relief pitcher with an ERA lower than seven. It will be important the relievers pick things up along with the starters to be able to go deep in games.

Washington baseball team will have seven more non-league games before starting Pac-12 play. The Huskies begin a three-game series at home against Cal Poly on March 1. They will follow with a game against Seattle University on Tuesday March 5 in Bellevue, Washington. The following week, they will play Indiana Hoosiers on Friday March 8, Coastal Carolina on March 9, and Minnesota on March 10.

The Pac-12 schedule will begin on Friday March 15 against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, Oregon for three games. They will play three games against USC Trojans the following week at home.

The last week of March, the Huskies will face Gonzaga in Spokane for two games. They will then finish the month facing Oregon State on March 29-31st. The Oregon State Beavers come into the season being defending College World Series champions.