WSU baseball team returns to Pullman

For the first time in nearly three weeks, the Washington State baseball team will get to play in front of its home fans. The three-game series against Arizona State couldn’t come at a better time, as WSU is in desperate need of wins.

The Cougars are off to a 1-5 start in Pac-12 play, which is tied for the worst mark in the conference. They were swept by UCLA to start Pac-12 play and then took the opener against Stanford before losing the next two games 6-1 and 5-0.

“I think it’s a reality check for some and just about where we’re at and the guys that we’re facing,” WSU coach Marty Lees said. “UCLA had a very good staff. Stanford is as good as I’ve seen of a staff.”

Luckily for the Cougars, ASU enters tonight’s 7 p.m. game with an identical Pac-12 record. Overall, however, WSU is just 8-14 while the Sun Devils are 14-9.

Ryan Ward will start the opener, while Ian Hamilton will take the bump for the second game. Despite the 0-6 record, he has put up a respectable 4.14 ERA, but he has yet to thrive in his first season as a starting pitcher. As for the series finale, freshman Parker McFadden will take the mound.

“We feel like each time he gets on the mound he can get better. He’s got a really good fastball, a really good slider,” Lees said. “He needs to command both pitches a little bit better. He’s got a little bit of a get out of jail card too. He can walk a couple and strike out the next three, but we like to see a little more attacking in his presence on the mound.”

At the plate WSU is hitting .267 this season, but scored just one run over the last two games against the Cardinal. One of the bright spots is Trek Stemp, who has hit safely in every game with year, with the exception of one game where he had just one plate appearance as a pinch hitter. He will likely lead off tonight’s game, and will be followed by Dugan Shirer at the No. 2 spot.

“As it sits right now, this is what we have to do and need to do for our team to succeed,” Lees said. “I feel comfortable with Dugan leading off hitting 2, hitting 9, he’s hit in the six hole a couple times... very versatile person for him because he’s able to see pitches. Ideally I’d like him in the 9 hole because I just think it restarts the whole top of our lineup — I think as a leadoff in the nine hole and when you have Trek coming up after him and then we get to the middle of the order it lends itself to be pretty good.”

Stemp is hitting .374 on the year while Shirer is hitting .341, and Patrick McGrath is also thriving with a .358 average. The bottom of the order has struggled so far this year, but Lees might have a solution in Mason Cerrillo. He has batted .292 in 15 games this year, and has impressed the coaching staff.

“He’s competing very well at the plate,” Lees said. “Maybe he loses a step than (Derek) Chapman but he’s steady and we’re looking for some production as a whole.”

Friday’s game also starts at 7 p.m. while Saturday’s game begins at 1 p.m.

Tom Hager can be reached at (208) 883-4633 or by email to thager@dnews.com.