By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University baseball squad is off to an 8-7 start so far this season. One key reason the Bearcats have been competitive in nearly every game -- five of the losses are by two runs or less -- is because Willamette has consistently put runners on base.
In the first 15 games, the Bearcats have received a nation-high 88 walks and have been hit by 18 pitches. That's 106 bases runners in addition to the team's 138 hits. WU has a .391 team on-base percentage.
Willamette's 88 walks lead NCAA Division III by a sizable margin. Northwest Conference rival Pacific University ranks second with 72 walks. Another NWC foe, Lewis & Clark College, is tied for third with 71 walks. Huntingdon College (Ala.) also has walked 71 times. The Bearcats have walked at least five times in 10 games this year.
The season stats tend to favor teams in the Pacific Northwest this time of year because NWC teams have been able to play more games than many teams across the nation -- thanks to breaks in the weather and the availability of artificial turf fields. Even so, Willamette is averaging nearly six walks and more than one hit by pitch per game.
So, it's not surprising that five Willamette players are ranked in the top 25 in walks received by NCAA Division III players this season.
Connor Bailey (Fr., OF, San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) leads the way with 14 bases on balls and is tied for first in the nation. Also tied with 14 walks are Jay Jordan from Huntingdon and Drew Oord from Pacific Lutheran University.
Mason Fessler (So., INF, Woodburn, OR/Blanchet Catholic School) of WU is tied for sixth in the nation with 11 walks. Austin Hagarty (Sr., 2B, Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) and Tyler Janitz (Fr., INF, Modesto, CA/Joseph A. Gregori HS) are tied for 13th with 10 walks. Ty Wyatt (So., INF, Keizer, OR/McNary HS) is tied for 25th with nine walks.
Willamette's 18 hit by pitches include three each involving Wyatt and Perry Van Eckhardt (So., OF, El Cerrito, CA/El Cerrito HS). A total of 12 Bearcats have been hit by at least one pitch. Willamette ranks 10th in the nation overall.
The team leader in on-base percentage -- which includes hits, walks and hit by pitches -- is Fessler at .523. Van Eckhardt is second on the squad with a .484 on-base percentage, while Janits is third with a .466 on-base percentage.
On the national team statistics, Willamette is ranked fourth in sacrifice bunts (18), fifth in home runs (9) and seventh in hits (138). The Bearcats are eighth in the nation with 29 doubles and are 22nd with nine double plays on defense.
Individually, Fessler is fifth in Division III with 21 hits. Jackson Watt (Sr., RHP, Rocklin, CA/Whitney HS) is fourth in pitching appearances (7) and Brandon Nelson (Fr., RHP, Murrieta, CA/Vista Murrieta HS) ranks 10th in pitching strikeout-to-walk ratio (+11.0).
The Bearcats will return to action this weekend with three NWC games at Pacific Lutheran in Parkland, Washington. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 5 starting at 11 a.m. (PST). The series will conclude with a single game on Sunday, March 6 at 12 p.m.
