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Hope everyone enjoyed April Fools Day! Cougar baseball did their best to prank Cougar Nation. You would think that when the Wazzu offense puts up 9-runs on the scoreboard they would win the game. Not on AFD. WSU (9-16, 1-9 Pac-12) played host to Utah (16-9-1, 3-4 Pac-12) on a near-perfect Friday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field. There were nearly 1,400 fans in attendance to watch the guys in crimson pinstripes drop the opening game of a three-game series by the final of 10-9.
This one got away from the Cougs in the second inning when starter Cole McMillan (L, 1-3) gave up a trio of dingers off Ute bats. Wazzu relievers struggled down the stretch of the ballgame giving up three- runs over the last two innings. Despite being down 10-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Cougar bats came alive and plated four runs. It looked as though this one would at least go into extra innings with the tying run on second base with one out. Ute reliever Caden Kaelber settled in to get the last two outs, including a strikeout to end the game.
One of the excuses given to explain away the pathetic start by the Cougs in conference play is that the roster is relatively young. Okay. But McMillan, the Friday Night Guy for this team, is a JC All-American transfer. And to be honest, the southpaw has really good stuff. Clearly, he got in experience at the JC level, which isn't the same as playing in a Power Five conference. For whatever reason, this squad is struggling to find a way to win.
The same two teams will take to the field in Pullman again Saturday afternoon at 2:05pm. If you subscribe to the Pac-12 Network, the game will be broadcast on a live stream that requires their app for viewing.
https://wsucougars.com/news/2022/4/1/baseball-wsu-puts-tying-run-on-in-ninth-drop-series-opener-to-utah.aspx -
Washington State women's basketball sophomore Charlisse Leger-Walker was named to the 2021-21 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American honorable mention team Thursday, March 31. It is Leger-Walker's second-consecutive WBCA All-American honorable mention selection.
The guard from Waikato, New Zealand was one of nine Pac-12 Conference players to be named to the WBCA All-American team. Leger-Walker is the first WSU player to earn an All-American distinction from the WBCA, earning the honor in 2020-21 and in 2021-22.
Leger-Walker had a spectacular sophomore season, in which she was named All-Pac-12 for the second-straight season. The sophomore ended the 2021-22 regular season as the Pac-12 leader in points scored for the second-consecutive year, as she scored 483 points. The guard also had the most 20-point games collected by a Pac-12 player this season, eclipsing the 20-point plateau 11 times. -
Washington State's comeback at No. 21 USC fell just short as the Trojans held on for a 4-3 victory over the Cougs Friday afternoon at the Marks Tennis Stadium.
With the loss, WSU falls to 6-11 on the season, 1-5 in Pac-12 play. USC improves to 11-10, 4-3.
Trailing 3-2, the Cougars looked primed for the upset as senior Michaela Bayerlova was leading 4-0 in the third set on Court 1 and senior Yang Lee was up 4-1 in the third on Court 6. USC showed why they are so highly regarded as Sloane Morra on Court 6 captured the final five games to clinch the match for the Trojans.
Wazzu stays in Los Angeles to take on UCLA Saturday afternoon beginning at noon. Matches will be broadcast on the WSU Live Stream provided by the Pac-12 Network. -
The WSU men's hoops roster shakeup begins with the announcement of backup guard Ryan Rapp entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. This comes as no surprise as Rapp's minutes diminished this past season with the addition of Michael Flowers and Tyrell Roberts to a backcourt that included Noah Williams and TJ Bamba. Coach Kyle Smith simply didn't have enough playing time to distribute.
Rapp was a fan favorite in Beasley Coliseum, entering games to the roar of the crowd. His enthusiasm and hard play gained the attention of fans.
He posted a farewell to Cougar Nation on Instagram. Here's the text:
“Thanks for everything WSU,” Rapp wrote. “I was able to call this place home for the last three years. This has been three of the greatest years and experience I could ever ask for. The friendships I’ve made, the people I’ve met, I can’t thank you all enough. Just know I will forever be a Coug. Once a Coug, always a Coug.”
Coach Smith now has enough scholarships to cover the verbal commitments he's garnered over the past few weeks.
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
