United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice second baseman Eric Arnold, a senior from La Porte, Texas (La Porte HS), hit .550 (11-20) with 10 RBI and six runs as Rice won all five games it played last week. In a two-game sweep of seventh-ranked Houston, Arnold was 3-for-8 with three RBI. Against Nevada, he hit .667 (8-12), drove in seven, scored five runs, hit two home runs and stole two bases in three games. Arnold has now hit safely in 10 straight games.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State right-handed pitcher Bob Runyon, a senior from Atwater, Calif. (Atwater HS), pitched Fresno State's first shutout of the season in a complete-game 2-0 victory at Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Runyon allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out eight. It was his second straight complete game and third consecutive victory after starting the season 1-5.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Casey McGehee, So., 3B, Fresno State - hit .429 (6-14) with six RBI, two home runs and four runs scored in a three-game sweep of Louisiana Tech.
Gregg Omori, Sr., 1B, Hawaii - led the Rainbows last week with a .455 average in three games. Omori hit two doubles and leads the WAC in doubles per game with 0.46.
Mike Gillies, Sr., 3B, Nevada - hit .467 (7-15) in four games with three doubles, three runs and three RBI.
Gabe Lopez, Sr., 2B, San Jose State - extended his hitting streak to 19 games after a 6-for-13 (.462) performance in three games against Hawaii. Lopez had two hits in all three games and also drove in three during the series.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Chris George, Jr., Hawaii - pitched 7.2 innings and allowed one unearned run, six hits and three walks while picking up a victory over San Jose State on Friday.
Philip Humber, Fr., Rice - earned a victory against Nevada on Saturday by striking out 12 batters in just seven innings. He also threw four shutout innings at Houston on Wednesday and struck out eight hitters. Humber leads the WAC with 12.14 strikeouts per game.
Matt Durkin, Fr., San Jose State - recorded the win in Sundays finale against Hawaii, pitching eight innings and allowing just three hits, one run and no walks. Durking gave up no hits in the first six innings of the contest.

TOP TWO TEAMS MEET THIS WEEKEND League leader Rice hosts second-place Fresno State in a three-game series beginning Friday. The Owls are 6-0 in the WAC after sweeping Hawaii and Nevada. Fresno State is a game back at 5-1. Rice leads the all-time series 11-10 and won four of six last year. In other conference action, Nevada hosts Louisiana Tech, Friday-Sunday.

HAWAII HOSTS SPARTANS IN EASTER TOURNAMENT The 27th Ohana Hotels and Resorts Rainbow Easter Tournament began yesterday in Honolulu. The tournament features seven teams, including host Hawaii and WAC member San Jose State. Two-time defending champion Lewis-Clark State is also competing. Hawaii has won the tournament 11 times with its last title coming in 1999. San Jose State opened the tournament yesterday with a 12-4 victory over UC-Riverside. Today, the Spartans take on Hawaii Pacific while Hawaii will play Birmingham Southern.

POWERS TWO AWAY FROM 600 Nevada head coach Gary Powers is two victories away from 600 for his career. Powers, a 1971 graduate of Nevada, is in his 20th season with the Wolf Pack and is 598-443-4.

STREAKING San Jose State second baseman Gabe Lopez has the longest current hitting streak in the WAC at 20 games which is also the longest of the season in the league. Lopez has hit .406 (39-96) with 15 runs, 28 RBI and nine doubles during that span.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is 3rd in the Baseball America poll, 3rd in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll and 4th in the Collegiate Baseball poll. The Owls are also 3rd in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. Fresno State received votes in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll to rank tied for 42nd.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 73-54 (.575). Fresno State is 12-11 (.522), Hawaii is 7-13 (.350), Louisiana Tech is 12-9 (.571), Nevada is 11-11 (.500), Rice is 17-4 (.810) and San Jose State is 14-6 (.700).

BASEHITS Fresno State: has an 11-game winning streak, currently tied with Rice for the longest in the WAC this season ... during the streak, Fresno State is hitting .326 and has a team ERA of 3.18 ... head coach Bob Bennett is the fifth winningest active coach in Division I with 1,285 victories ... Bennett is retiring after this season ... Hawaii: the Rainbows snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over San Jose State on Friday ... it was the longest losing streak in the WAC this season ... UH has lost 12 of its last 14 games ... junior 3B Brent Cook leads the WAC in stolen bases (11-for-12) ... Louisiana Tech: the Bulldogs have struck out 232 batters in 222.2 innings ... Techs six-game losing streak is currently the longest in the WAC and one shy of the longest by a WAC team this season ... last week, Cullen Simmons was second in the WAC in hitting with a .403 batting average but went 1-for-14 last week to drop his average to .352 ... Nevada: has lost seven of its last 10 games ... Wolf Pack hitters have struck out a WAC-leading 216 times, 34 more than the next closest team ... Nevada has had its last two Sunday home games cancelled due to poor weather ... senior third baseman Mike Gillies led the WAC last year with a .402 batting average and is currently third with a .381 average ... Rice: the Owls 23-4 record equals the 1993 teams start which is the best since the 1984 team started 24-4 ... has an 11-game winning streak, currently tied with Fresno State for the longest in the WAC this season ... during its current streak, Rice is hitting .378 and has a team ERA of 2.23 ... after winning two games against Houston last week, the Owls have won the first three games in the five-game series to clinch the Silver Glove, their fourth in the five-year history of the trophy ... Owls freshmen are hitting .399 with five home runs and 43 RBI ... the freshmen pitchers have a 2.96 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 100.1 innings ... Rice has the longest winning streak in conference games at 10 straight dating back to last season ... San Jose State: has won 11 of its last 15 games ... senior Gabe Lopezs 20-game hitting streak is the longest of his career and one shy of tying the school record set in 1985 ... the WAC record is 45 games set by Arizona States Roger Schmuck in 1972 ... catcher Adam Shorsher leads the WAC with 10 home runs.

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 years NCAA Tournament which begins May 31.