Hawkisnon breaks school double-double record, Sweeps season series with ASU

Senior forward Josh Hawksinson was consistent as usual, leading the Cougars to a 86-71 victory over Arizona State while breaking the WSU school record for double-doubles with the 54th of his career.

With a more energetic crowd on hand than usual at Beasley Coliseum, the Cougar Seniors stepped up big for their home fans. Hawkisnon had 14 points and 15 rebounds and two of his fellow seniors also contributed greatly. Redshirt Senior Connor Clifford led the Cougars with 19 points and Senior guard Ike Iroegbu had a near triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

“Find me another guy in the country who has done that in the last ten years,” WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent said, reffering to Hawkinsons school double-double record. “The fact that he (Hawksinson) stayed here, and did not transfer, allowed us to grow this program.”

WSU (12-15, 5-10) has now swept the Sun Devils (13-15, 6-9) this year, marking the first time the Cougars have swept a conference foe since the 2011-12 season. A 22-2 run to end the game sealed the victory for the Cougars. Freshman guard Malachi Flynn gave the Cougars a one-point lead, making a three-pointer with nearly seven minutes to play.

WSU trailed by six points at halftime after  ten first-half Cougar turnovers led to 15 Sun Devil points. The Cougars would start the second-half hot by scoring the first seven points to take a one-point lead. WSU shot 62 percent from the field in the second-half and dished out 28 assists for the game, four shy of the school record.

Junior Guard Shannon Evans II led the Sun Devils with 21 points, while Senior Guard Torian Graham added 18 points, including four three’s.

“We knew since they were a smaller team, they’d be perimeter-oriented,” Hawksinson said. “We forced them to be driver’s and had good help defense by being in the gaps.”

WSU prepares to face their in-state rival Washington (9-18, 2-13) on Sunday. The Cougars beat the Huskies earlier in the season in Seattle. The game is at 5:30 pm. on Sunday in Beasley Coliseum and can be seen on ESPNU.

 

 

Junior standout Matheny looks to have breakout year

By Tyler Shuey

Shane Matheny is grinding pretty hard right now getting ready for the season as are all his hungry teammates. Washington State is entering their second season under head coach Marty Lees and haven’t had a winning PAC-12 record since 2010. Matheny, Junior, has been the Cougars starting third baseman since his freshman year in 2015. He and his team are poised to make a postseason run this year.

“I am very excited about this upcoming year,” Matheny said. “I feel that we are deeper in every position, deeper on the mound, and have a lot more experience playing at the collegiate level than last year.”

Junior catcher J.J. Hancock is also determined this is the year to put it all together. “Our team is competing and working hard so we are going to see a way better outlook than last year.”

Matheny and Hancock, both juniors, met during their official visits to WSU during their senior years of high school. There freshman years, they went down to the Dominican Republic during Thanksgiving break to play baseball where the two really began to bond.

“He (Matheny) is dedicated to his craft and self-disciplined,” Hancock said. “He is a great person to be around, you never leave a conversation with Shane without laughing.”

Matheny grew up in Bremerton, WA on the other side of the Puget Sound from Seattle. Shane grew up playing many sports including baseball, soccer, and basketball.

“I was the type of kid who would put everything into whatever sport was in season.”

It didn’t take long for Shane to figure out that baseball was his sport. During the 7^th grade, he started playing summer ball and stopped playing other sports.

Matheny lettered all four years in high school baseball, was a four-year captain, a three-time all-state selection in 2A, and Olympic League MVP in his junior and senior seasons hitting .453 in his last. He knew he could go Division 1 his sophomore year.

“The summer of that year is when I got my first scholarship offer here to WSU and it was surreal, I had no idea I would have the chance to play at this level,” Matheny said.

Shane ultimately picked WSU as his destination to play baseball for many reasons. He loved the campus atmosphere, the coaching staff and facilities, but above all he wanted to continue his education at a great institution.

Shane says his dad, Daryl, is his biggest role model to date.

“He was always the coach of the team of whatever sport I was playing growing up until high school and he taught me how to be the person that I am today.”

Daryl Matheny is the General Manager at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton and is an avid golfer.

“I played a lot of baseball growing up, but golf was my sport and I stopped playing baseball when I was about 15,” Daryl Matheny said. “His mother and I didn’t push (Shane) at all, we both encouraged him to be the best at what he was passionate about and it happened to be baseball.”

Shane describes his WSU baseball career to this point as “up and down”. He batted .207 with 20 runs batted in his freshman year and improved his offensive numbers slightly his sophomore year by hitting .226 with 26 RBI’s.

“The competition playing here is second to none, the guys that I play alongside are among the best around and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Matheny preaches about every player doing their role on the team for them to win at a high level.

“Anything that I can do to help this team win and get to that championship level I will do.”

Matheny’s future ambitions still involve the game of baseball as he is still pursuing his dream to become a professional baseball player. However, if that doesn’t pan out, he is close to getting his degree in Criminology and Biology and wants to be a forensic investigator or a crime scene technician.

The Cougars start their season Feb. 17 with a four game series at Sacramento State.