2024 WAC Baseball Release - Week 2

GCU A PERFECT 4-0 TO START OFF THE SEASON
Grand Canyon posted a perfect 4-0 record to kick off the 2024 season entering games on Feb. 21, with wins against Southern California, BYU and Ohio State highlighting the early streak for the Lopes. GCU outscored its first four opponents by a combined 29-8 aggregate run count.

ANKENEY WINS SEASONS FIRST PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Grand Canyon infielder Beau Ankeney earned the first WAC Player of the Week accolade of the 2024 season following an explosive opening weekend for the Lopes. In wins against Georgetown and Southern California, Ankeney batted .667 with two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored, leading all WAC players with a 1.444 slugging percentage and 3.00 hits per game over opening weekend.

STELLAR DEBUT FOR ACU’S CAMPA AS PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Abilene Christian right-hander Iain Campa shined in his first Division I start on Feb. 16 against Northern Illinois, allowing two base runners over five full innings to earn the win in a 12-2 ACU victory. Campa struck out nine batters on 66 pitches and allowed a lone hit, a solo home run, in his first DI outing as a junior college transfer.

RUNS APLENTY FOR ACU OUT OF THE GATE
Four games into the 2024 season, Abilene Christian has been the hottest offense in the WAC to begin the new year. Entering games on Feb. 21, ACU led the conference with a .368 team batting average and 45 runs scored. Five separate Wildcats were batting .400 or above and six different players had scored at least four runs in the early going.

TAKE YOUR BASE X8
Sacramento State’s Matt Masciangelo found himself on the basepaths frequently for the Hornets over his first three starts in 2024 despite being 0-for-3 in official at-bats. Masciangelo still posted a .692 on-base percentage after being hit by pitch eight different times during his first 13 plate appearances of the season to lead NCAA DI in HBP as of Feb. 20. He was hit three times in game one and four times in game two of a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 16, and reached by way of an HBP one additional time in the series finale on Feb. 18.

CBU OFFENSIVE OUTBURST ONE OF THE NATION’S BEST
California Baptist’s 25-4 win over Pepperdine on Feb. 18 featured the sixth-most runs (25) scored by any DI team thus far in a game this season as of Feb. 20.