PITCHER OF THE WEEK - TCU right-handed pitcher Chris Bradshaw, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas (Eastern Hills HS), threw a no-hitter in TCU's 9-0 win against Hawai'i-Hilo on Friday. He allowed three base runners in the game, including the first two in the ninth inning on a strikeout-wild pitch and a hit batsmen, but got the next three hitters out including the last two on strikeouts. Bradshaw struck out 10 and gave up no walks in recording TCU's first no-hitter since 1995 and first complete-game no-hitter since 1985.
OTHERS NOMINATED - Other player of the week nominations included:
Gregg Omori, Jr., 2B/DH, Hawai'i - was 5-for-12 (.357) in four games last week. He hit two home runs, scored twice and had eight RBI.
Mike Gillies, Jr., 3B, Nevada - hit .556 (10-18) in four wins for the Wolf Pack. He scored five runs, had four RBI and was 5-for-6 in one game versus Sacramento State. Gillies extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Tom Bates, Sr., OF, TCU - was 9-for-19 (.474) in four games. In the opener against Hawai'i-Hilo, he had three hits, including a game-winning three-run home run in the 9th inning. In the third game against the Vulcans, he had a RBI-single in the eighth that tied the game 1-1 as the Horned Frogs went on to win 3-1 and complete the sweep.
Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Jeff Coleman, Jr., Hawai'i - threw the Rainbows' first complete game of the season in a 4-0 shutout over San Jose State. He struck out 10 and gave up no walks and seven hits.
Darrell Rasner, So., Nevada - won his fifth consecutive start pitching seven innings of a 27-1 win versus Southern Utah. He allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out eight.
Steven Herce, So., Rice - had two relief appearances last week and picked up a win and a save. He earned the win against 16th-ranked Baylor by giving up just one hit in 4.1 innings. Herce got his second save of the year with three innings of two-hit relief against Fresno State on Saturday.
STREAKING - Nevada's Mike Gillies has the longest current hitting streak in the WAC at 15 games. The longest streak this season was by Rice third baseman Hunter Brown who hit safely in 20 straight games from Feb. 13-March 20.
WAC GAMES - Rice and TCU meet this weekend in a battle of the top two teams in the WAC. Rice (14-1) travels to Fort Worth, Friday-Sunday, to take on the Horned Frogs (11-2) who are two games back in the standings. In other WAC action, Hawai'i-Hilo hosts San Jose State and Nevada travels to Fresno State, two teams tied for third place.
RAINBOWS HOST EASTER TOURNAMENT - Hawai'i is hosting the 26th Rainbow Easter Tournament this week. The Rainbows opened the tournament with a 13-1 victory over Centenary on Monday. Hawai'i plays UC Santa Barbara today, Wichita State on Wednesday, Kita-Kyushu on Thursday, Lewis-Clark State on Friday and Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday. The championship game will be played Sunday. The game against Kita-Kyushu will not count in the standings, nor will the stats, as the team is from Japan and the game will be considered an exhibition.
IN THE POLLS - In this week's polls, only Rice is ranked. The Owls remained No. 1 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll and dropped one spot in the Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America polls to No. 2.
NATIONAL STATISTICS - The first national statistic rankings are expected to be released Wednesday, April 4. In subsequent weeks, the stats will be available on Tuesdays.
NON-CONFERENCE - In non-conference games, the WAC is 60-39-1 (.605). Fresno State is 14-7 (.667), Hawai'i is 6-4 (.600), Hawai'i-Hilo is 1-7 (.125), Nevada is 9-6 (.600), Rice is 11-5 (.688), San Jose State is 10-3-1 (.750) and TCU is 9-7 (.563).
BASEHITS - Hawai'i's sweep of San Jose State was its first of the season and first against the Spartans since San Jose State joined the WAC ... Nevada has won four games in a row and 14 of its last 18 ... Rice's 14-1 WAC start is its best since a 15-1 start in 1998 ... Rice has won seven straight home games but plays 13 of its next 17 on the road ... Rice has won 11 straight WAC series ... Rice's Kenny Baugh has won nine straight WAC decisions ... Rice pitcher Jeff Nichols picked up his 40th career win to equal Arizona State's Eddie Bane (1971-73) for second-place all-time in the WAC ... TCU has won seven straight games, its longest streak since 1996 when it also won seven in a row ... TCU swept both Hawai'i and Hawai'i-Hilo on the road last week, the first three-game road sweep of an opponent since 1995 (Baylor) ... TCU has already won 20 games this year after not posting its 20th win in 2000 until April 28 ... TCU's Chris Bradshaw was also named a Collegiate Baseball "Louisville Slugger" National Player of the Week after throwing a no-hitter last Friday against Hawai'i-Hilo.
POSTSEASON - The WAC does not have a postseason tournament, but the regular season champion as determined by winning percentage in conference games will earn an automatic berth into this year's NCAA Tournament which begins May 25.
WAC EXPANDS IN 2002 - Next year, the WAC will have six baseball teams. Louisiana Tech will join the conference, while TCU and Hawai'i-Hilo are leaving. The teams will continue to play each other a total of six times for a 30-game schedule.