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Cotton, Stankiewicz headline WAC Awards
5/22/2018 3:21:00 PM | Baseball
GCU wins Player and Coach of Year for second straight year
MESA, Ariz. - Eight individuals were recognized with All-Western Athletic Conference honors at the conference's banquet at Hohokam Stadium on Tuesday night. For the second consecutive year, GCU was home to the conference's winner of the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. Quin Cotton was named Player of the Year while Andy Stankiewicz repeated as Coach of the Year.
Recognized as first team All-WAC selections were Zach Malis (Third Base), Quin Cotton (Outfield), Tyler Wyatt (Outfield) and Pikai Winchester (Designated Hitter). Earning second team recognition was Jake Wong (Starting Pitcher), Mick Vorhof (Relief Pitcher) and Ethan Evanko (At-Large).
GCU and New Mexico State tied for the most individuals recognized with seven apiece.
Stankiewicz is the first WAC coach to repeat as Coach of the Year since Sam Piraro of San Jose State won the award in 2008 and 2009. GCU is the first school to have a WAC Player of the Year in back-to-back years since Fresno State had an individual win the award in four consecutive years from 2008-2011.
The Lopes also received their trophy for winning the WAC Regular Season title on Tuesday night.
Cotton, a sophomore outfielder from Parker, Colo., posted a .417 batting average in league play to help lead the Lopes to their third WAC regular season title in the past four seasons. He led the WAC with 32 runs and 45 hits in league play while ranking second in doubles (10) and total bases (70). Cotton's .393 average on the year ranks 18th nationally while his total of 92 hits ranks third.
Stankiewicz earns his second career Coach of the Year award after leading the Lopes to back-to-back titles. Heading into this week, he holds a 216-162-1 record in seven seasons at GCU, including an impressive 90-38 mark in WAC games. Under Stankiewicz's guidance, GCU has won 17 consecutive conference series, a mark which leads the nation.
Malis appeared in the top-five during WAC play in home runs (t-2nd, 6) and total bases (5th, 56). He posted the conference's best single-game performance of the year when he hit three home runs in an extra-inning win at CSU Bakersfield on May 6. The junior hit .318 and slugged .636 with 22 RBIs in WAC play alone.
Wyatt landed on the first team for the second straight year after being recognized as a third baseman last year. He compiled a .354 batting average during conference play, ranking ninth in the WAC. Wyatt capped off WAC play with his first career five-hit game in GCU's win over Seattle U on May 19.
Winchester finished fourth in average (.396), fourth in hits (38), fifth in runs scored (25) and fifth in RBIs (23) in an impressive all-around conference season. The junior from Honolulu, Hawaii had a nine-RBI weekend at Northern Colorado where he hit his first GCU home run. Last week in Seattle, he went 9-for-13 (.692) on the weekend and was named the WAC Hitter of the Week.
Wong, as GCU's ace and Friday night starter, tied for the conference lead with six wins on the season. The Lopes won all but one of Wong's WAC starts. He pitched the fourth-most innings (49.0) while ranking seventh in strikeouts (43). The right-hander finished with a 3.86 ERA in WAC games.
Vorhof tied for the WAC lead with five saves on the year, making 14 conference appearances as GCU's closer. The right-hander struck out 17 batters in 17.0 innings of relief work during conference play while walking just one. Vorhof allowed five runs during WAC games, compiling a 2.65 ERA.
Evanko proved to be the ultimate comeback story, returning to GCU's starting rotation just in time for WAC play after battling injury issues for the past two seasons. The fifth-year senior led the Lopes to a nearly-perfect 7-1 record in WAC series finales including a remarkable streak of four consecutive rubber match victories to help propel GCU to the title. The lefty finished sixth in ERA (2.93) and fifth in strikeouts (49) during conference play.
GCU will kick off its participation in the WAC Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.
Recognized as first team All-WAC selections were Zach Malis (Third Base), Quin Cotton (Outfield), Tyler Wyatt (Outfield) and Pikai Winchester (Designated Hitter). Earning second team recognition was Jake Wong (Starting Pitcher), Mick Vorhof (Relief Pitcher) and Ethan Evanko (At-Large).
GCU and New Mexico State tied for the most individuals recognized with seven apiece.
Stankiewicz is the first WAC coach to repeat as Coach of the Year since Sam Piraro of San Jose State won the award in 2008 and 2009. GCU is the first school to have a WAC Player of the Year in back-to-back years since Fresno State had an individual win the award in four consecutive years from 2008-2011.
The Lopes also received their trophy for winning the WAC Regular Season title on Tuesday night.
Cotton, a sophomore outfielder from Parker, Colo., posted a .417 batting average in league play to help lead the Lopes to their third WAC regular season title in the past four seasons. He led the WAC with 32 runs and 45 hits in league play while ranking second in doubles (10) and total bases (70). Cotton's .393 average on the year ranks 18th nationally while his total of 92 hits ranks third.
Stankiewicz earns his second career Coach of the Year award after leading the Lopes to back-to-back titles. Heading into this week, he holds a 216-162-1 record in seven seasons at GCU, including an impressive 90-38 mark in WAC games. Under Stankiewicz's guidance, GCU has won 17 consecutive conference series, a mark which leads the nation.
Malis appeared in the top-five during WAC play in home runs (t-2nd, 6) and total bases (5th, 56). He posted the conference's best single-game performance of the year when he hit three home runs in an extra-inning win at CSU Bakersfield on May 6. The junior hit .318 and slugged .636 with 22 RBIs in WAC play alone.
Wyatt landed on the first team for the second straight year after being recognized as a third baseman last year. He compiled a .354 batting average during conference play, ranking ninth in the WAC. Wyatt capped off WAC play with his first career five-hit game in GCU's win over Seattle U on May 19.
Winchester finished fourth in average (.396), fourth in hits (38), fifth in runs scored (25) and fifth in RBIs (23) in an impressive all-around conference season. The junior from Honolulu, Hawaii had a nine-RBI weekend at Northern Colorado where he hit his first GCU home run. Last week in Seattle, he went 9-for-13 (.692) on the weekend and was named the WAC Hitter of the Week.
Wong, as GCU's ace and Friday night starter, tied for the conference lead with six wins on the season. The Lopes won all but one of Wong's WAC starts. He pitched the fourth-most innings (49.0) while ranking seventh in strikeouts (43). The right-hander finished with a 3.86 ERA in WAC games.
Vorhof tied for the WAC lead with five saves on the year, making 14 conference appearances as GCU's closer. The right-hander struck out 17 batters in 17.0 innings of relief work during conference play while walking just one. Vorhof allowed five runs during WAC games, compiling a 2.65 ERA.
Evanko proved to be the ultimate comeback story, returning to GCU's starting rotation just in time for WAC play after battling injury issues for the past two seasons. The fifth-year senior led the Lopes to a nearly-perfect 7-1 record in WAC series finales including a remarkable streak of four consecutive rubber match victories to help propel GCU to the title. The lefty finished sixth in ERA (2.93) and fifth in strikeouts (49) during conference play.
GCU will kick off its participation in the WAC Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.
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