United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State right-handed pitcher Matt Garza, a sophomore from Fresno, Calif. (Washington Union), threw a four-hit complete game shutout in Fresno States 2-0 win over Hawaii on Saturday. It was his first career complete game performance. Garza struck out a career-high seven batters in the game and walked just one. At one point, he retired 18 consecutive batters, the longest such streak by a Fresno State pitcher this season. It is Garzas first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and second for a Fresno State pitcher this season.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Brian Finegan, Sr., SS, Hawaii - was 8-for-19 (.421) in four games last week. He led off all four games with a hit including a double against San Francisco on Wednesday. He also scored three runs, drove in two, hit a home run and stole a base over the week.
Chris Gimenez, Jr., OF, Nevada - hit .429 (6-14) with four RBI and two runs in four games. On Saturday, he went 3-for-5 against San Jose State with a run and a RBI after making a game-saving catch in Friday nights win versus the Spartans.
Paul Janish, Jr., SS, Rice - was 7-for-9 (.778) in three wins for the Owls. He had two RBI, one run, stole a base, walked three times and hit a home run during the week. He was also perfect in 13 chances in the field and started three double plays.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Ricky Bauer, Jr., Hawaii - made two appearances and recorded his first career save in the win over San Francisco and picked up his seventh win of the year against Fresno State on Friday. He pitched a total of 7.2 innings and allowed nine hits and two runs.
Travis Sutton, So., Nevada - recorded his first career nine-inning complete game in a 3-2 win over San Jose state on Friday. Sutton allowed nine hits, two runs, two walks and struck out six in the victory.
Wade Townsend, Jr., Rice - threw eight shutout innings in Rices 7-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. He allowed just two hits with no walks while striking out 11.

UPCOMING WEEKEND ACTION The WAC features only two league series this week as Rice is off until May 5. Hawaii hosts Nevada beginning Thursday in a matchup of two teams tied for second place in the WAC. Its the first meeting between the two schools this year. Nevada is 15-3 versus Hawaii since joining the WAC in 2001 and has won 11 in a row. On Friday, Fresno State travels to Louisiana Tech for a three-game series. Fresno State won the earlier series, 2-1, April 2-4, in Fresno and leads Louisiana Tech in the all-time series, 12-3. San Jose State hosts Sacramento State in a three-game non-conference series beginning Friday night.

STREAKING Nevada outfielder Jacob Butler currently has the WACs longest hitting streak at 19 games, which is also the longest streak by any WAC player this year. Butler has hit .446 (37-for-83) with 29 RBI and 30 runs scored. Fresno States Richie Robnett has an 18-game hitting streak, currently the second longest in the WAC. The longest streak last year by a WAC player was 19 games by Nevadas Brett Hayes. The longest streak in 2002 was by Fresno States Casey McGehee who hit safely in 31 games.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is third for the third 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 79-69-1 (.534). Fresno State is 12-17 (.414), Hawaii is 16-8 (.667), Louisiana Tech is 9-17 (.346), Nevada is 15-12 (.556), Rice is 17-6 (.739) and San Jose State is 10-9-1 (.526).

BASEHITS Team and individual notes:

Fresno State: has won three of its last four games ... hit .351 as a team in its three games last week ... won its 200th WAC contest when it beat Hawaii on Saturday, 2-0 ... senior second baseman Ryan Haag and sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett are tied for the WAC lead in hits with 61 ... Robnett is also tied for the WAC lead in total bases with 107 ... Robnett has a current 18-game hitting streak, currently the second longest in the WAC ... Matt Garza is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five.

Hawaii: junior outfielder Greg Kish, a transfer from Oklahoma, is first in the WAC in hitting with a .383 average ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye leads the WAC in doubles per game with 0.45 and is 18th in the nation ... Inouye has 17 doubles on the season and is attempting to break the school record of 25 set by Charles Jackson (1984) and Gregg Omori (2001) ... senior Clary Carlsen pitched three straight complete games before going only 1.1 innings against Fresno State on Sunday.

Louisiana Tech: has lost 11 of its last 12 games ... Louisiana Tech is now 0-14 versus Rice in WAC play ... Fridays attendance of 1,659 was the fifth largest ever at Love Field ... Sundays game against the Owls was rained out and will be made up when the teams meet in Houston in late May ... has lost eight in a row at home ... Tech leads the WAC in stolen bases with 59 on the season ... junior second baseman Brandon Haygood leads the league with 18 stolen bases in 25 attempts ... the Bulldogs have committed 100 errors, 45 more than the next worst team in the WAC.

Nevada: has won nine of its last 11 games ... after losing its first nine Saturday games, Nevada has won three in a row after beating San Jose State last week ... Travis Sutton has won three games in a row after beating Nevada on Friday ... first baseman Ben Mummy broke his left wrist in a non-baseball related accident last week and will miss the remainder of the season ... Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 13 and has hit eight in his last 11 games ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 60 ... 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: is taking a nine-day break due to exams ... Saturdays game against Louisiana Tech was head coach Wayne Grahams 800th with the Owls ... Rice has won 17 of its last 18 games and 11 straight WAC games ... the Owls streak of not allowing an earned run came to an end at 29 innings when Lamar scored two in the third inning last Tuesday ... its team ERA of 2.39 is ranked third in the nation while its winning percentage of .825 is fourth ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is fourth nationally with a 1.17 ERA ... Philip Humber leads the WAC and is 12th nationally with 11.9 strikeouts/game ... senior outfielder Chris Kolkhorst has been on base in 41 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 27 consecutive WAC series (18 of which have been three-game 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 12th in WAC history in career hits (281) and 11th in doubles (58) ... junior Wade Townsends career ERA of 1.87 is currently the fifth best in WAC history (min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves are tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has 369 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: beat Nevada on Sunday to snap a season-long seven-game losing streak ... is 1-2 in its current seven-game homestand ... has been shut out a WAC-high five times this year ... junior Matt Durkin has pitched a WAC-high 85.1 innings ... Kevin Frandsen has been the toughest WAC player to strike out this season with 0.26 per game (10 strikeouts in 38 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 27-15-1. 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.