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Related Material
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Weekly Notes.pdf
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice shortstop
Paul Janish, a junior from Cypress, Texas (Cypress Creek HS), was 10-for-12
(.833) in a win over Houston and the first two games against Nevada last
weekend. On Saturday, Janish went 6-for-6 with five RBIs and two home runs in a
15-3 win. The six hits tied a school record and are the most by a WAC player in
a game this year. For the week, Janish had seven RBIs, scored six runs, hit two
home runs and was walked three times. It is Janishs first career WAC Player of
the Week award and third for an Owl this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Rice
right-handed pitcher Jeff Niemann, a junior from Houston (Lamar HS), pitched
seven innings of a 16-1 win at Nevada on Friday. Niemann allowed just two hits,
one walk and an unearned run while striking out nine batters. He is now 5-2 with
2.63 ERA on the year. It is Niemanns fourth career WAC Pitcher of the Week
award and fourth for a Rice player this season.
OTHERS NOMINATED
Other player of the
week nominations included:
Nick Moresi, Fr., OF, Fresno State - was 7-for-14 in three games for the
Bulldogs. In Sundays win over Louisiana Tech, he was 3-for-4 with five RBI and
two home runs.
Brian Finegan, Sr., SS, Hawaii - hit .636 (7-11) in three games against
San Jose State. He was 3-for-4 on both Friday and Saturday. Finegan added three
RBIs and three runs for the week.
Kyle Spangler, Sr., 1B, Louisiana Tech - was 9-for-16 (.563) in four
games for Louisiana Tech. He had five RBIs, four runs and hit two home runs
during the week.
Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
David Griffin, Sr., Fresno State - struck out a career-high 13 batters in
Fresno State 11-3 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. He pitched the teams
first complete game of the season, allowing nine hits and no walks.
Clary Carlsen, Sr., Hawaii - threw his second straight complete-game in
Sundays 6-1 win over San Jose State. He allowed just four hits and two walks
while striking out four.
UPCOMING WEEKEND ACTION
The WAC will
feature just two conference series this week as Nevada is at Louisiana Tech
beginning Thursday and San Jose State hosts Fresno State beginning Friday. Rice
hosts non-conference foe Miami (Ohio) in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Hawaii plays a two-game series versus Sacramento State on Tuesday and Wednesday
before taking the weekend off.
STREAKING
Louisiana Tech outfielder
Jeff Walker currently has the WACs longest hitting streak at 11 games. Walker
has hit .400 (18-for-45) with 10 RBI and nine runs scored during his streak. The
longest streak that has ended this year is 12 games by Nevada sophomore
infielder Ben Mummy (May 24-Feb. 27) and Hawaii junior outfielder Greg Kish
(Feb. 29-Mar. 27)
IN THE POLLS
In this weeks polls,
Rice is fourth in Sports Weekly/ESPN, fourth in Baseball America,
and sixth in Collegiate Baseball. No other WAC teams are ranked.
NON-CONFERENCE
In non-conference
games, the WAC is 71-63-1 (.530). Fresno State is 12-16 (.429), Hawaii is 14-7
(.667), Louisiana Tech is 9-15 (.375), Nevada is 13-12 (.520), Rice is 13-5
(.722) and San Jose State is 10-8-1 (.553).
BASEHITS
Team and individual notes:
Fresno State:
snapped a six-game
losing streak in Saturdays 11-3 win over Louisiana Tech ... the six-game losing
streak is the longest by a WAC team this year ... the series win over Louisiana
Tech was its first of the season in eight tries ... head coach Mike Batesole
picked up his 300th career victory in Sundays 12-4 win over Louisiana Tech ...
senior second baseman Ryan Haag leads the WAC in hits with 50 ... Haag has been
the toughest WAC player to strike out this season with 0.24 per game ...
sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett leads the WAC in total bases with 78 ...
Robnett has a current eight-game hitting streak.
Hawaii: has won five of its last seven games ... in
Fridays game, Brian Finegan had 10 assists, the most by a WAC player this year
... UH beat San Jose State, 3-0, on Saturday, its fourth shutout of the year ...
Clary Carlsen has won four games in a row ... the Rainbow pitching staff had a
1.29 ERA last week, the best in the WAC ... earlier in the season, the Bows had
an eight-game winning streak, tied for the longest by a WAC team this season ...
junior outfielder Greg Kish, a transfer from Oklahoma, is second in the WAC in
hitting with a .373 average ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye leads the
WAC in doubles per game with 0.52 ... senior Clary Carlsen is tied for the WAC
lead in wins with six ... UH has turned a WAC-best 35 double plays.
Louisiana Tech:
has lost five of its
last six games ... the win over Fresno State on Friday was its first ever in
Fresno ... plays at Alabama on Tuesday night, finishing a stretch of playing 12
of 15 games away from Ruston ... leads the WAC in stolen bases with 51 on the
season, but had only one last week ... junior second baseman Brandon Haygood
leads the league with 15 stolen bases in 19 attempts ... the Bulldogs have
committed 82 errors, 36 more than the next worst team in the WAC.
Nevada:
is 0-9 in Saturday games this
season ... leads the WAC in home runs with 33 ... junior outfielder Chris
Gimenez has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 17 times this year ... Gimenez has
been hit by a pitch 52 times in his career, the most of any player currently in
the WAC ... sophomore catcher Brett Hayes was named to the 2004 Johnny Bench
Award watch list ... Hayes was the WACs Freshman of the Year last season.
Rice:
the Rice pitching staff had its
streak of consecutive games with at least 10 strikeouts snapped at nine games on
Saturday when they recorded six ... Paul Janish had 12 total bases in Saturdays
game against Nevada, the most by a WAC player this year ... Austin Davis tied a
WAC season-high with three doubles in that game as well ... has an eight-game
winning streak, tied for the longest by a WAC team this year ... has won 10 of
its last 11 games ... 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 ... three of its six losses have come against top-ranked Texas ...
the Owls have won 25 consecutive WAC series (17 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 2-of-3, May 11-13 ... senior outfielder Austin Davis is 15th in
WAC history in career hits (275) and tied for 12th in doubles (57) ... junior
Wade Townsends career ERA of 1.99 is currently the sixth best in WAC history
(min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves is tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has
340 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC pitcher.
San Jose State: has lost three of its last four games after
winning four of its previous five ... was shut out twice last week, its third
and fourth time this year, a WAC-high ... sophomore outfielder Travis Becktel is
tied for the WAC lead with three triples ... freshman outfielder Mitch Ponza has
been caught stealing his last two attempts after being successful in his first
nine ... junior Matt Durkin has pitched a WAC-high 64.1 innings.
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 24-9-1. 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.
NCAA STATS
The NCAA will not begin
compiling national statistics until Monday, April 12.