Weekend Walkup: The Wolves battle for the top spot amid a stacked Mountain West weekend

UNLV and Washington State, despite having exactly opposite records, are two programs vying for the chance at a top four seed, and will have to go through each other to get there. Wazzu was one of the hottest teams in the conference, sweeping Gardner-Webb in a three game set and beating Portland 9-3. However, a quick trip to visit Utah Tech finished with an 8-18, seven inning loss. The Rebels, on the other hand, also took care of business over the weekend, beating GCU 2-1 in their three-game set and Utah Tech in their runback 8-6 on Tuesday.

This series in Las Vegas will be the battle of polar opposites, similar to the Nevada/New Mexico series but even more extreme. UNLV has the worst team ERA in the conference, which it has held since the beginning of conference play last month, while sitting third in team batting average (.332). The exact opposite is happening with Washington State, who has had the worst team batting average (.280) for multiple weeks, while recently fighting for the best team ERA in the conference (5.91). It’s a bit repetitive, but just like the battle of the wolves, this series should come down to whose forte will be taken down a peg first. While UNLV does have the better record overall, their conference record has shown they have more cracks in their armor, so Wazzu will most likely have the edge this weekend.

Air Force (8-4) vs GCU (4-8)

Once again two schools with opposite records (there are a lot of mirror matches in various ways this weekend), the Falcons and the Lopes will meet in Arizona on two different wavelengths. All of the energy is in Air Force’s sails after sweeping Fresno State in conference play and then sweeping Utah Valley in two games. Grand Canyon is very much not on the same trail, as they lost their conference series against UNLV last weekend while taking the week to prepare.

Besides entering with the best active winning streak, Air Force has still been the most productive offense in the conference. Over their 12 games played, the Falcons have scored 134 runs, with 33 of those runs against the Bulldogs last weekend. And while GCU does have a top-three team ERA (6.59), their batting has not complemented when the pitching staff does well, hence why the Lopes are where they are in the standings. Grand Canyon will need to find that mix quickly, otherwise Air Force will fly right over the program.

Non-Conference Series

San Jose State (5-7) vs Fresno State (1-10-1)

So, I am still confused about this one, but the only explanation for why this is labeled non-conference I can think of is because San Jose State and Fresno State are only playing two games. However, if I (as well as the Mountain West website and each team’s schedule page) are wrong, then just ignore the heading.

Both San Jose State and Fresno State are coming off of series that they most likely would want back. In the Spartans’ case, they choked a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth to lose the series in Reno against the Wolf Pack, but then bounced back against the Cal Golden Bears 10-7 on Wednesday. The Diamond Dogs had similar results to their visitors, being swept by Air Force in three straight games, but then got back on the right track against CSU Bakersfield 10-6 on Tuesday.

As much as I don’t want to make a clear prediction, this should be San Jose State’s weekend. The Spartans’ weakness has been their hitting, but they have been able to compensate for that with a better pitching staff that has contended with every single top team they have faced so far. Should the Diamond Dogs get things started quickly and can tap back into their pitching from various points of the season, then Fresno State can expect at least one clean win. But if not, then they will have an uphill battle in both games this weekend.

Teams on a bye: San Diego State (7-5, tied for fourth at time of writing)