2026 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament
| Teams | 6 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Tarleton State (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Fuller Smith (1st title) |
| MVP | Raphael Smeenk (Tarleton State) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton †‡y | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 34 | – | 19 | .642 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 43 | – | 13 | .768 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Tech | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 31 | – | 21 | .596 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sacramento State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 26 | – | 30 | .464 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 25 | – | 29 | .463 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 19 | – | 30 | .388 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 15 | – | 35 | .300 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of May 17, 2026[1] Rankings from D1Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament was held from May 20 through 23 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. The top six regular season finishers of the conference's seven teams met in the tournament, with the top 2 receiving byes to the second round.[2]
This was the last tournament held under the WAC name. On July 1, 2026, the conference will rebrand as the United Athletic Conference.
Seeding and format
The top six finishers of the league's seven teams qualify for the conference tournament. Teams are seeded based on conference winning percentage, with the first tiebreaker being head-to-head record.
Bracket
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | California Baptist | 10(14) | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Utah Tech | 4 | 3 | Utah Tech | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 0 | 2 | California Baptist | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tarleton | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tarleton State | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sacramento State | 9 | 4 | Sacramento State | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Abilene Christian | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tarleton | 21 | – | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sacramento State | 11 | – | ||||||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower final | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Utah Tech | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Abilene Christian | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Abilene Christian | 5 | 4 | Sacramento State | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Utah Tech | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
Schedule
| Game | Time (MST) | Matchup# | Score | Notes | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, May 20 | ||||||
| 1 | 11:00 am | No. 3 Utah Tech vs No. 6 UT Arlington | 4–0 | |||
| 2 | 3:00 pm | No. 4 Sacramento State vs No. 5 Abilene Christian | 9–4 | |||
| 3 | 7:00 pm | No. 6 UT Arlington vs No. 5 Abilene Christian | 3–5 | UT Arlington Eliminated | ||
| Thursday, May 21 | ||||||
| 4 | 11:00 am | No. 2 California Baptist vs No. 3 Utah Tech | 10–7(14) | |||
| 5 | 3:00 pm | No. 1 Tarleton State vs No. 4 Sacramento State | 9-0 | |||
| 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 5 Abilene Christian vs No. 3 Utah Tech | 5-6 | Abilene Christian Eliminated | ||
| Friday, May 22 | ||||||
| 7 | 11:00 am | No. 2 California Baptist vs No. 1 Tarleton State | 3-5 | |||
| 8 | 3:00 pm | No. 3 Utah Tech vs No. 4 Sacramento State | 3-5 | Utah Tech Eliminated | ||
| 9 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 Sacramento State vs No. 2 California Baptist | 12-7 | California Baptist Eliminated | ||
| Saturday, May 23 | ||||||
| 10 | 3:00 pm | No. 1 Tarleton State vs No. 4 Sacramento State | 21-11 | Sacramento State Eliminated | ||
All–Tournament Team
Source: [3]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Raphael Smeenk | Tarleton State |
| Sergio Guerra | |
| Rayner Heinrich | |
| Slade McCloud | |
| Carson Lorch (DH) | |
| Cort Lowry (P) | |
| Ryan Ellis | Sacramento State |
| Jace Jeremiah | |
| Luis Pimentel-Guerrero | |
| Sean Carey (P) | |
| Chris Ramirez | California Baptist |
| Miller Durham | Utah Tech |
MVP in bold
References
- ↑ "Western Athletic". d1baseball.com. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
- ↑ "WAC Baseball Championship 2026". WAC Sports. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ↑ "Tarleton State Wins 2026 University Credit Union WAC Baseball Tournament". wacsports.com. 23 May 2026. Retrieved 24 May 2026.