United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Rice right-handed pitcher Wade Townsend, a junior from Dripping Springs, Texas (Dripping Springs HS), threw his first career complete-game in a 1-0 victory over San Jose State on Saturday. Townsend did not allow a hit until the eighth inning. He walked four, hit two batters, gave up two hits and struck out nine in the contest. He is now 8-0 with a 1.29 ERA on the year. It is Townsends fifth career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and sixth for a Rice player this season.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Isaac Omura, So., 2B, Hawaii - hit. 545 (6-11) in three games against Louisiana Tech. On Saturday he went 3-for-4 and then followed that up with a 2-for-3 performance on Sunday.
Paul Janish, Jr., SS, Rice - was 6-for-14 (.429) in four games (3-1) for the Owls last week. Janish scored one run, drove in two, hit two doubles and was flawless in the field in 18 chances.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Clary Carlsen, Sr., Hawaii - allowed just one run, three hits and three walks in a 1-0 loss to Louisiana Tech on Sunday.
Mitch Tucker, Jr., Louisiana Tech - was 1-1 in two appearances last week with a 3.77 ERA. On Sunday, he pitched nine innings, struck out seven and allowed just four hits in a 1-0 win versus Hawaii to snap the Bulldogs nine-game losing streak.
Brandon Dewing, So., San Jose State - pitched a complete game in San Jose States 1-0 loss to Rice on Saturday. Dewing allowed one unearned run, five hits and three walks in the contest.
Travis Sutton, So., Nevada - threw eight innings against Fresno State on Friday and allowed just two runs, four hits and three walks in a 20-2 win.

UPCOMING WEEKEND ACTION For the second week in a row, all six teams will be playing WAC series this weekend with all three beginning on Friday. Rice is at Louisiana Tech, Fresno State hosts Hawaii and Nevada travels to San Jose State. Only Nevada and San Jose State have seen each other this year. The Spartans won two of three in Reno, March 26-28.

STREAKING Fresno State outfielder Richie Robnett and Nevada outfielder Jacob Butler currently have the WACs longest hitting streaks at 15 games, which is also the longest streak by any WAC player this year. Robnett has hit .393 (24-for-61) with 14 RBI and nine runs scored during his streak while Butler has his .470 (31-for-66) with 23 RBI and 23 runs scored. Nevadas Brett Hayes has a 10-game hitting streak, currently the third longest in the WAC. The longest streak last year by a WAC player was 19 games by Hayes.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is third for the second straight week in all four: Sports Weekly/ESPN,Baseball America, NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. No other WAC teams are ranked.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 76-69-1 (.524). Fresno State is 12-17 (.414), Hawaii is 15-8 (.652), Louisiana Tech is 9-17 (.346), Nevada is 14-12 (.538), Rice is 16-6 (.727) and San Jose State is 10-9-1 (.526).

BASEHITS Team and individual notes:

Fresno State: lost last weeks series against Nevada, 2-1, after winning its two previous WAC series ... allowed 38 runs in the three-game series, the most by Fresno State in a series this year ... completed its season-high seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record ... the Bulldogs are one win shy of 200 all-time in WAC play (199-135) ... senior second baseman Ryan Haag leads the WAC in hits with 58 ... sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett leads the WAC in total bases with 97 ... Robnett has a current 15-game hitting streak, tied for the longest in the WAC this season ... Matt Garza leads the WAC in saves with five.

Hawaii: has won five of its last seven games ... completed its eight-game homestand with a 5-3 record ... lost 1-0 against Louisiana Tech on Sunday ... it was the first 1-0 loss for the Bows since 1992 ... junior outfielder Greg Kish, a transfer from Oklahoma, is first in the WAC in hitting with a .382 average ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye leads the WAC in doubles per game with 0.47 and is 15th in the nation ... Inouye has 16 doubles on the season and is on pace to break the school record of 25 set by Charles Jackson (1984) and Gregg Omori (2001) ... senior Clary Carlsens four-game winning streak came to an end in Hawaiis 1-0 loss to Louisiana Tech on Sunday ... Carlsen has pitched three straight complete games.

Louisiana Tech: lost nine games in a row before beating Hawaii on Sunday, 1-0 ... the nine-game losing streak is the longest in the WAC this season ... outfielder Jeff Walker had all three Bulldogs hits in the 1-0 win ... Walkers 14-game hitting streak came to an end against Northwestern State last Tuesday ... Kyle Spangler had his 12-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday ... the Bulldogs play their next six games at home ... Louisiana Tech hosts Rice this weekend and has never beaten the Owls in WAC play (0-12) ... Tech leads the WAC in stolen bases with 57 on the season ... junior second baseman Brandon Haygood leads the league with 17 stolen bases in 23 attempts ... the Bulldogs have committed 96 errors, 46 more than the next worst team in the WAC.

Nevada: after losing its first nine Saturday games, Nevada has won two in a row after beating Fresno State on April 17, 10-8 ... Nevada had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped against Fresno State on Sunday, 12-8 ... the Pack also had its five-game streak of scoring 10 or more runs broken in that game as well ... Nevada averaged 17.0 runs per game during those five games ... the Pack has scored at least eight runs in seven straight games ... Nevada has hit at least one home run in each of the last seven games and a total of 21 in those seven games ... Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 11 and has hit six in his last seven games ... Butler hit two home runs against Fresno State on Saturday ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 54 ... junior outfielder Chris Gimenez has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 21 times this year ... Gimenez has been hit by a pitch 56 times in his career, the most of any player currently in the WAC.

Rice: has won 14 of its last 15 games ... had an 11-game winning streak snapped at Texas last Tuesday, 3-2 ... the Owls have not allowed an earned run in its last 27 innings ... its team ERA of 2.51 is ranked third in the nation while its winning percentage of .811 is ninth ... Adam Hale became the eighth Owl to earn a save this season for Rice when he pitched two shutout innings against San Jose State on Friday ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is fifth nationally with a 1.29 ERA ... Philip Humber leads the WAC and is ninth nationally with 12.2 strikeouts/game ... senior outfielder Chris Kolkhorst has been on base in 38 consecutive games dating back to the national title game last year ... is the only team in the WAC to not lose back-to-back games this season ... is the only team in the WAC to not play an extra inning game this season ... four of its seven losses have come against top-ranked Texas ... the Owls have won 26 consecutive WAC series (18 of which have been sweeps) dating back to the end of the 2001 season when they swept TCU, May 18-20, after Fresno State won two of three, May 11-13 ... senior outfielder Austin Davis is 13th in WAC history in career hits (279) and tied for 12th in doubles (57) ... junior Wade Townsends career ERA of 1.93 is currently the sixth best in WAC history (min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves are tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has 361 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC pitcher ... Humber was named the National Pitcher of the Week by Collegiate Baseball on March 22.

San Jose State: has lost eight of its last nine games, including a season-high five in a row ... plays its next seven games at home ... on Saturday, the Spartans took a 3-0 lead against Rice in the top of the fifth inning before they gave up five runs in the bottom of the inning to lose, 5-3 ... has been shut out a WAC-high five times this year ... junior Matt Durkin has pitched a WAC-high 77.1 innings ... Kevin Frandsen has been the toughest WAC player to strike out this season with 0.29 per game (10 strikeouts in 35 games).

NATIONAL WATCH LISTS AND AWARDS Several players from the WAC have been named to watch lists for national awards this year. Clemens Award (Best Pitcher): Matt Durkin, San Jose State; Philip Humber, Rice; Jeff Niemann, Rice; and Wade Townsend, Rice. Golden Spikes Award (Top Amateur Player): Philip Humber, Rice; and Wade Townsend, Rice. Johnny Bench Award (Top Catcher): Brett Hayes, Nevada.

WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE On Oct. 23, 2003, the WAC issued invitations to New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In baseball, New Mexico State is 25-14-1. Utah State does not sponsor baseball.

POSTSEASON The WAC does not conduct a postseason tournament, but the regular season champion as determined by winning percentage in conference games will earn an automatic bid into this years NCAA Tournament which begins June 4.