STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific baseball team is set to start the 2024 season this weekend at Klein Family Field, beginning at 5 pm on Friday, Feb. 16, with a three-game series against UNLV, followed by a standalone contest against Seattle at 11 am on Monday, Feb. 19.
The first pitch on Friday will be thrown out by Pacific Director of Athletics Adam Tschuor.
"We are excited to open up against UNLV with this team and coaching staff," said Pacific head coach
Chris Rodriguez, who enters his fourth season as head coach. "There is a new energy floating around the athletic department and baseball program. We have many second-year guys that saw ample playing time last season and have shown signs of playing at a high level now. We have sprinkled in some transfers and incoming freshman that will see a good number of innings."
The Tigers, who were picked to finish in ninth place in the West Coast Conference preseason poll, are ready to make some noise right off the bat at home. The team begins the 2024 campaign with seven straight home games, marking the longest stretch of consecutive home games to begin a year since the 2020 season (eight games). Pacific has won seven straight home openers, going back to the 2017 season.
The Tigers face off against the Rebels for the second year in a row. The two teams kicked off the 2023 season where UNLV swept Pacific in three straight games in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the Tigers own a 1-11 record against the Rebels since 2013, 10 of those 12 games were on the road (0-10). The two other contests were in Stockton (1-1) with the Tigers winning the latest home matchup on Feb. 22, 2013, by a score of 3-0. In that contest, junior right-handed pitcher Cory Popham threw a complete-game shutout, striking out five and walking just one across nine innings.
The Rebels finished last season with a 21-30 overall record and a 7-18 record away from Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UNLV was picked to finish in a tie for fifth place in the Mountain West preseason coaches' poll with New Mexico. Senior outfielder Ryan Charles was selected to the Preseason All-Mountain West team. In 50 games last season, Charles hit .280 with seven home runs, 46 runs and 39 RBIs in 214 at-bats.
Following their three-game series against the Rebels, the Tigers play one game against the Redhawks, who open their season with eight straight games on the road. Since 2010, Pacific owns the edge in the series against Seattle with a 11-10 record, including an 8-3 home record. The two teams last met during the 2020 season in Seattle where the Tigers and Redhawks split a four-game series.
In Seattle's 15th year, the team was picked to finish in eighth place in the Western Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, bringing an abundance of returning players this season.
One of those key returnees for the Redhawks is senior Cole Kleckner who appeared in 51 of Seattle's 53 games a season ago. Kleckner finished the 2023 season on a 27-game hitting streak and a 40-game reached base streak, ending with the 3rd highest single season batting average (.361) in program history. His 65 hits were 10th all-time in a single season.
The Tigers will look for some familiar faces to lead the charge offensively, including senior outfielder
Chase Graves and sophomore infielder
Jack Metcho. On the mound, Pacific has an influx of new arms that will seek to make great first impressions, such as junior
Jakob Guardado, junior
Ethan Shaver and redshirt junior
Josh Souza.
For all the latest news on the Tigers, be sure to visit
www.pacifictigers.com and follow us on X (
@PacificTigers), Instagram (
@PacificTigers) and like the department's official Facebook page (
Pacific Athletics).
#PacificProud
