Limping into the Tourney

 I followed the seeding race to end the Western Athletic Conference baseball season and it didn't disappoint, if you weren't rooting for a particular team or outcome.

Sam Houston and Grand Canyon had a great race for the championship. Sam came in with a 1.5 game lead. They played a team that was in the bottom three in the standings. GCU, meanwhile, was playing one of the five teams in a virtual tie for third in CBU. Yet, GCU swept the Lancers and Tarleton won two of three to give the Lopes the regular season crown.

Utah Valley beat the UT Arlington squad two to one, same as Seattle's margin over ACU. The Wolverines, by virtue of game cancelations, get the third seed ahead of the Redhawks by percentage points. ACU, thanks to their 2-1 series win over UTA, gets the five seed. The Mavs get the sixth.

The Final Day

 I'll add another short entry here in following the end of the Western Athletic Conference baseball season. Friday answered some questions, but not a lot. 

What we learned was UTRGV's 15-1 victory gives them the eighth spot in the standings, and the last ticket to the conference tournament.

With Seattle's 16=6 win over Abilene Christian, they've secured a top four berth and a first round bye.

Sam Houston won over Tarleton and Grand Canyon beat California Baptist. That means a Sam win or a Lope loss gives the Bearkats a regular season title. A Sam loss and a GCU sweep will give it to GCU.

Updated Seeding Scenarios

 There's no surprise after Thursday's games that the Western Athletic Conference standings look a little more settled. We will know even more after today, but given yesterday's results, here's what we know:

GCU beat California Baptist and Tarleton upset Sam Houston, in a shutout no less. The Bearkats lead is now down to half a game with two to play.

Utah Valley's win over the UT Arlington squad puts them percentage points ahead for third place.

Seattle beat Abilene Christian, giving them the fourth spot currently.

Crunch Time in the WAC

 I wanted to get this post up a bit earlier but hit crunch time at work. Dang need for regular income...

But the Western Athletic Conference baseball season has come down to the last week and the standings are as tight as my jeans from college on me now. There's a somewhat close race for the conference crown, a five-way tie for third, of which the UT Arlington baseball team is a part of, and a two-team race for eighth place and the last invitation to the conference tournament.

I'll start with top, transition to the bottom, then move to the middle. But first, here's the standings:

Softball's Rollercoaster Return to the WAC

With UT Arlington's doubleheader sweep of Sam Houston this past Saturday in softball, the Mavericks concluded the 2023 season, the first in the Western Athletic Conference since 2013. There were some highs and some equally rough lows.

I'll start with this: I don't know what I expected from this team. They lost a lot of offense from last year, but the two main starting pitchers returned. Softball arms don't tire as easily as their baseball counterparts and the pitching really is dominated by a select few players. They were picked ninth in the preseason poll. They finished seventh.

I don't put stock in the polls, especially in this era of roster turnover (admittedly less than football or the two basketball sports) as well as the constant conference changes. However, the Mavericks were not far off, finishing with the seventh seed. However, due to some of those aforementioned low, there were some real head scratching moments, it could have been much, much better.