United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Nevada right-handed pitcher Ryan Rodriguez, a freshman from Reno, Nev. (McQueen HS), threw a complete-game shutout in Nevadas 4-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Sunday. Rodriguez allowed just four hits, one walk and struck out 10 batters. He retired the final 12 hitters of the game and 16 of the final 17. It is Rodriguezs second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and second for a Wolf Pack pitcher this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Andrew Sansaver, Sr., 1B, Hawaii - batted .364 (4-11) in four games for the Rainbows. He scored three runs and drove in two.
Erick Streelman, Sr., 1B, Nevada - was 6-for-10 with one run, two doubles, a home run and six RBIs in a three-game sweep of Louisiana Tech. He had a career-high five RBIs on Friday, all coming in the first three innings of the game.
Adam Rodgers, Jr., C/1B, Rice - hit .478 (7-16) with a double and a home run in four games and scored three runs and drove in four. He also had two sacrifice bunts during the week.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Guy McDowell, So., Hawaii - pitched three times last week and earned a save and a win in two appearances against Rice. He threw a total of 4.2 innings and allowed just one hit, one walk and no runs while striking out two batters.
Josh Baker, Jr., Rice - made two appearances and pitched 10.2 innings last week. He threw four scoreless innings against McNeese State on Wednesday and then picked up a win against Hawaii, allowing just three hits and two walks on Sunday.

ROBNETT NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK Fresno States Richie Robnett was also named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.

UPCOMING WEEKEND ACTION All six teams are again in conference play this weekend. Hawaii hosts Fresno State beginning Thursday while Nevada travels to Rice and Louisiana Tech hosts San Jose State on Friday. Earlier this season, Fresno State won two of three games against Hawaii in Fresno, April 23-25; Rice swept Nevada in Reno, April 2-4; and San Jose State won two of three versus Louisiana Tech in San Jose, March 19-21.

STREAKING Fresno State outfielder Richie Robnett currently has the WACs longest hitting streak at 24 games, which is also the longest streak by any WAC player this year. Robnett has hit .473 (44-for-93) with 28 RBIs and 24 runs scored during his streak. It is the longest streak in the WAC since Fresno States Casey McGehee hit safely in 31 straight games during the 2002 season.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is dropped to fourth in all four: Sports Weekly/ESPN, Baseball America, NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. For the first time this year, Hawaii earned votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 83-73-1 (.532). Fresno State is 12-17 (.414), Hawaii is 17-8 (.680), Louisiana Tech is 9-17 (.346), Nevada is 15-13 (.536), Rice is 18-6 (.750) and San Jose State is 12-12-1 (.500).

BASEHITS Team and individual notes:

Fresno State: is on the road this week before playing its final six games at home ... Fresno State leads the WAC in stolen bases with 71 on the season ... its the most stolen bases for the Bulldogs since swiping 91 in 1991 ... sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett leads the WAC in batting average (.383), slugging percentage (.714), hits (75), doubles (20), total bases (140) and stolen bases (21) ... with 13 home runs and 21 stolen bases, Robnett is the first Bulldog since Steve Hosey in 1988 to have at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases ... Robnett was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball on May 10.

Hawaii: won its first series against Rice since 2001 ... Sundays loss against the Owls snapped a three-game winning streak against Rice, its longest ever ... junior outfielder Greg Kish missed six games due to a sprained ankle but returned for the Rice series last weekend and was 2-for-7 ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye is tied for the WAC lead in doubles per game with 0.40 ... Inouye has 18 doubles on the season and is attempting to break the school record of 25 set by Charles Jackson (1984) and Gregg Omori (2001) ... USA Baseball announced last month that head coach Mike Trapasso will serve as an assistant coach on the 2004 USA Baseball National Team that will represent the United States at the II FISU World University Baseball Championships in Chinese Taipei, July 22-Aug. 1.

Louisiana Tech: plays five games this week with two mid-week games (Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State) ... outfielder Jeff Walker is hitting .398 in WAC games only, fourth best in the conference ... is a WAC-best 6-1 in one-run games this season ... has been shut out five times this year, tied for the most in the WAC ... the Bulldogs have committed 113 errors, 48 more than the next worst team in the WAC (Fresno State with 65).

Nevada: pitchers Adam Colton and Ryan Rodriguez pitched complete games on Saturday and Sunday, respectively ... along with Travis Sutton, Nevadas three starters earned wins on the same weekend for the first time this season ... Nevada won all six games against Louisiana Tech this season and outscored the Bulldogs, 89-25 ... after losing its first nine Saturday games, Nevada has won five in a row ... first baseman Ben Mummy broke his left wrist in a non-baseball related accident last month and is out for the year ... Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 15 ... Butler has a hit in 25 of his last 26 games ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 65 ... junior outfielder Chris Gimenez has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 24 times this year ... Gimenez has been hit by a pitch 59 times in his career, the most of any player currently in the WAC.

Rice: had its 11-game conference winning streak snapped in Fridays 7-5 loss at Hawaii ... the Owls lost consecutive games (Friday and Saturday) for the first time all year ... the Owls had their streak of consecutive WAC series won snapped at 27 after losing two of three games at Hawaii ... it was Rices first conference series loss since Fresno State won two of three in May of 2001 ... its team ERA of 2.46 is ranked first in the nation ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is fifth nationally with a 1.56 ERA ... Philip Humber leads the WAC and is 14th nationally with 11.7 strikeouts/game ... senior outfielder Chris Kolkhorst has been on base in 45 consecutive games dating back to the national title game last year ... is the only team in the WAC to not play an extra inning game this season ... seven of its nine losses have come against Texas (four) and Hawaii (three) ... senior outfielder Austin Davis is 10th in WAC history in career hits (285) and 11th in doubles (58) ... junior Wade Townsends career ERA of 1.99 is currently the sixth best in WAC history (min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves are tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has 376 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC pitcher ... Humber was named the National Pitcher of the Week by Collegiate Baseball on March 22 ... junior Jeff Niemann has not pitched since April 13 due to a slight groin strain and is listed as day-to-day.

San Jose State: for the first time in eight contests, the Spartans scored first in Sundays win over Fresno State ... has been shut out five times this year, tied for the most in the WAC ... junior Matt Durkin has pitched a WAC-high 97.1 innings ... Durkin is the WACs active career leader in both complete games (10) and shutouts (5) ... Kevin Frandsen has been the toughest WAC player to strike out this season with 0.30 per game (14 strikeouts in 46 games) ... Frandsen has 237 hits in his career, tying the school record set by Junior Ruiz (1999-2001).

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, UTEP and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In baseball, New Mexico State is currently 32-18-1. 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.