University of Washington
Pepperdine
Washington Closes Southern California Trip At Pepperdine On Tuesday
March 23, 2026 | Baseball
DAWG BITES
- Jackson Hotchkiss chipped in a multi-home run game on Sunday.
- He now leads the team with six home runs despite only making 12 starts this season.
- Hotchkiss paces the team in home runs (6), doubles (6), is second in total bases (44), and third in total hits (20).
- Hotchkiss is 2-2 when facing left-handed pitchers and has a .429 average against right-handed pitchers. He's also 1-1 with the bases loaded after tagging a grand slam last Tuesday.
- He also leads the team in batting average (.455), slugging (1.000), and on base percentage (.500)
- Mic Paul hit Washington's ninth triple of the season, the 10th most in the NCAA.
- Braeden Terry leads the team with 24 hits while Colton Bower has the most RBIs on the team with 20.
- Tomy Brandenburg has been one of the most consistent relievers for Washington, allowing just eight total hits. Right-handed hitters are batting .179 against him while lefties are a combined 3-17 coming in at .176.
- Daniel Porras was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week last week, becoming Washington's first Freshman of the Week honoree since Jackson Hotchkiss (April 7, 2025) and the second Husky to claim a weekly award this season after Colton Bower's player of the week nod the previous week.
- Washington welcomed four new staff members to Montlake ahead of the 2026 season. Kade Kryzsko joins as an assistant coach, Justin Jacobs is the new recruiting coordinator, Scott Junck serves as the director of baseball operations, and Jake Rook is the director of baseball analytics.
- The Huskies were picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten conference by D1Baseball.
SECOND SEASON UNDER SMITH
On July 9, 2024, Eddie Smith was named the 25th head coach of University of Washington baseball, announced by UW Director of Athletics Pat Chun. Smith, a native of Olympia, Washington, comes to Montlake after three seasons at Utah Valley. Smith begins his second season at the helm of the Huskies in 2026.
UP NEXT
The Huskies face Pepperdine on Tuesday for a midweek matchup before returning home to host Northwestern for a three-game set at Husky Ballpark.
BATTLE IN LA
Washington faced a strong No. 13 USC team over the weekend in the third Big Ten series of the season. Jackson Hotchkiss led the way offensively on Sunday, going 3-4 with two home runs and a double.
Colton Bower hit safely in all three games, pushing his hitting streak to a season-best five straight games, along with his sixth home run of the season on Saturday.
The Husky bullpen was dominant on Friday and Saturday, allowing zero runs and four hits across nine innings of work in the first two games of the series.
MIDWEEK MONEY
The Huskies took the midweek matchup decisively on Tuesday, defeating Saint Martin's 13-1 in seven innings. Washington improves to 9-11 with the win. The Dawgs have now won eight of their last 10 games.
The Huskies started hot and didn't look back. The Diamond Dawgs plated five in the second inning, punctuated by a three-run blast from Braeden Terry to deep right field. In the third inning, the Dawgs hung another five, this time in large part thanks to a Jackson Hotchkiss grand slam. It was the first bases-loaded bomb of the season for the Huskies.
B1G TIME FRESHMAN
Following a walk-off winner and an impressive week at the plate, Daniel Porras was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
He becomes Washington's first Freshman of the Week honoree since Jackson Hotchkiss (April 7, 2025) and the second Husky to claim a weekly award this season after Colton Bower's player of the week nod last Monday.
Porras was dominant for the Dawgs over the four-game stretch, batting .353, going 6-17 with four runs scored, three doubles, one home run, and four RBIs. He added a .706 slugging percentage and a .405 on base percentage while driving in the game-winning run in Saturday's 5-4 walk off win over Ohio State in 11 innings.
KEEP YOUR EYES ON KENNEY
Noah Kenney has been named to the College Baseball Foundation's Pitcher of the Year watch list, the organization announced last week. Kenney is on of 141 of the nation's best hurlers that were listed according to the CBF. The pitchers on the watch list represent 26 different conferences and reflect the top mound performers to this point of the 2026 season.
Kenney has had a strong start to the campaign which has garnered him the national attention. He's collected one win so far in his five starts and has the most innings pitched (30.1) and strikeouts (33) of any Husky.
The right-hander has six appearances and five starts this year, pitching more than four innings each time he's taken the mound. Among his starts, he's thrown at least five innings in each, including five frames of hitless ball in a win against LMU.
B1G-TIME BOWER
Colton Bower has been one of the best offensive outputs for the Huskies as of late. He claimed his first Big Ten Player of the Week award (March 9) after a massive week at the plate.
Over the last 13 games, the catcher leads the team in RBIs (14), is second on the team in batting average (.455), slugging percentage (.972), on base percentage (.463), total hits (15), and home runs (5).
He's contributed eight runs, 15 hits, three doubles, one triple, five home runs, and 14 RBIs to power the Huskies to eight wins. Defensively, he's also added the most plate outs (66) of any Husky and chipped in five assists.
BRAEDEN TERRY BOOMING
Braeden has been on a tear for the Dawgs, owning the second-best batting average on the team at .313 batting average with a team-leading 24 total hits. Terry has also tagged three triples this season, the 12th-most in the NCAA and is averaging 0.13 triples per game, the 39th-best clip in the nation.
He's one of three Huskies to feature in all 23 games this season and has made a team-high 22 starts.
Terry has been terrorizing right handed pitchers this season. He's batting 24-68 against righties this year, hitting at a .353 rate. He's also hitting 9-21 (.429) when batting leadoff.
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER
Landon Young made the most of his action over the past two weekends after entering as a defensive replacement against Indiana. In the sixth inning, he bagged his first collegiate hit and RBI. The following day, he made his first career start and did not disappoint. The freshman tagged his first career home run, helping Washington to a 13-4 victory.
Since then, Young has made nine starts and is batting .333 with 10 runs, 11 hits, and five RBIs.
FIRST START, FIRST HIT
Alexander Pearson made his first start for the Huskies on Saturday night in the designated hitter position and he made the most of his opportunity. He recorded his first career hit against No. 13 USC and followed up by scoring the first run of his career in his second start as DH on Sunday.
HUSKY HURLERS
The Huskies pitching staff has been dominant in the month of March. In total, the Washington pitching staff allowed an ERA of 4.39 over the last 13 contests. During the 8-5 stretch, the Husky pitchers have struck out 124 batters while allowing just 45 walks. Washington has surrendered just seven home runs as well.
The Husky pitchers have climbed the national rankings thanks to an impressive clip of strikeouts per walk. Washington ranks seventh in the Big Ten and 67th in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.31). The Dawgs are averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, the sixth best in conference and 75th nationally. Washington is also surrendering just 4.1 walks per nine innings, seventh in the Big Ten and 82nd in the NCAA.
TRIPLE THREAT
The Huskies have knocked nine triples this season, the most in the Big Ten and the 10th-most in the NCAA. Braeden Terry leads the way with three, Sam DeCarlo and Mic Paul each have two, and Colton Bower and Casen Taggart each have one. The Huskies are averaging .39 triples per game, the 15th-most in the nation.
DAWG DEBUTS
18 Diamond Dawgs made their first career appearance so far this season. Position player debuts included Ian Draper, Ty Cowan, Aidan Dougherty, Drew Johnson, Mic Paul, Alexander Pearson, Daniel Porras, Kevin Spear, Ethan Swidler, and Landon Young. Pitching debuts include Carson Boesel, Bryce Johnson, Noah Kenney, Hayden Lewis, Liam Lierman, Jay Miller, Jack Wade, and Tyler Walker.
FRESH FACES
Washington features a new-look team in 2026, including 23 newcomers, 16 of whom are transfer players. The Huskies return 13 letterwinners from a season ago, including nine position player starters.
BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
Despite Washington's rise from 17th place in last season's poll to a fifth place finish, the Huskies have been left out of this season's Big Ten Preseason Poll. This year, the conference announced the voted top-six finishing programs.
1. UCLA
2. Oregon
3. USC
4. Nebraska
5. Indiana
6. Iowa
