United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech right-handed pitcher Mitch Tucker, a junior from West Monroe, La. (West Monroe HS), threw his second complete game of the season in a 7-1 win over arch-rival Louisiana-Monroe on May 18 in Monroe. Tucker struck out a career-high nine batters en route to the win. He retired 14 of 15 at one point from the fourth inning to the ninth inning, taking a shutout into the ninth inning. The junior allowed just six hits in the 133-pitch effort. It is Tuckers first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and third for a Bulldog pitcher this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:Rocky Russo, So., 3B/DH, Hawaii - was 6-for-13 (.462) with six RBIs and two runs in three games against Nevada. In Saturdays win, he went 4-for-5 with five RBI and two doubles.Chris Gimenez, Jr., OF, Nevada - hit .417 (5-for-12) with six runs scored and five RBI in three games against Hawaii. Three of his hits were home runs and two came in back-to-back at-bats in Saturdays game.Paul Janish, Jr., SS, Rice - was 9-for-18 in four road games for the Owls. He drove in four runs, scored four runs and hit three doubles. He was also walked twice during the week.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:Ryan Rodriguez, Fr., Nevada - pitched 6.2 innings to earn his second win over Hawaii this season. He allowed nine hits, three runs and two walks while striking out four in the victory.Philip Humber, Jr., Rice - pitcked up Rices two wins last week. Against Baylor, he earned a win in relief and then beat Fresno State as a starter three days later. He threw a total of 7.2 innings, struck out 13 and allowed nine hits, four runs and three walks in the two games combined.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON GAMES The WACs regular season comes to a close this weekend with all six teams in action. Hawaii is at San Jose State, Fresno State hosts Nevada and Louisiana Tech is playing a four-game series at Rice, making up an earlier game that was rained out in Ruston. Earlier this year, Nevada won two of three against Fresno State in Reno, April 16-18; Hawaii won two of three in Honolulu against San Jose State, April 2-4; and Rice won two games in Ruston versus the Bulldogs, April 23-24. Rice has already clinched the WACs conference title, the Owls eighth straight as members of the WAC, and earned the conferences automatic bid into this years NCAA tournament. The 64-team bracket will be announced live on ESPN2, Monday, May 31 at 10:00 a.m. (MT). The 16 four-team regionals begin Friday, June 4. The winners will advance to one of eight Super Regionals, June 11-14. The eight Super Regional champions will then move on to play in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., June 18-28.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT The WAC had three players earlier this month named to the Academic All-District teams as selected by CoSIDA. Rice had two players named to the District VI team in pitcher Wade Townsend and outfielder Chris Kolkhorst. Fresno State shortstop Chris Patrick was named to the District VIII team. All three are now eligible for the Academic All-America team to be selected next month.

DICK HOWSER TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS Two WAC pitchers, Rices Philip Humber and Wade Townsend, are on the list of 30 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy awarded to the top player in collegiate baseball. The winner will be announced at the College World Series on June 18.

STREAKING Rice outfielder Chris Kolkhorst currently has the WACs longest hitting streak at 15 games. Kolkhorst has hit .345 (20-for-58) with nine RBIs and 15 runs scored during his streak. Fresno States Ryan Haag currently has the second longest streak in the WAC at 13 games. The longest streak in the WAC this season was 26 games by Fresno States Richie Robnett.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is fourth in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll, fifth in Baseball America and sixth in Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA poll. No other WAC teams received votes.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 87-74-1 (.540). Fresno State is 12-17 (.414), Hawaii is 18-8 (.692), Louisiana Tech is 10-18 (.357), Nevada is 16-13 (.552), Rice is 19-6 (.760) and San Jose State is 12-12-1 (.500).

ALL-WAC TEAMS The 2004 All-WAC baseball teams will be announced on Tuesday, June 1.

BASEHITS Team and individual notes:

Fresno State: has won six of its last eight games ... won two of three against Rice, its first series win versus the Owls since 2001 ... Fresno State leads the WAC in stolen bases (75) and batting average (.316) ... its the most stolen bases for the Bulldogs since swiping 91 in 1991 ... sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett leads the WAC in batting average (.370), slugging percentage (.685), doubles (23), total bases (148) 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: has 31 wins for the first time since winning 37 during the 1999 season ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye has 19 doubles on the season, second most in the WAC ... 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: has won four in a row, its longest winning streak of the season ... Tech has not played since beating Louisiana-Monroe on May 18 ... Bulldog pitchers have thrown complete games in three of the last four contests ... has issued just two walks in the last 37 innings ... Tech finished its home season winning five in a row ... Tech is a WAC-best 7-1 in one-run games this season ... outfielder Jeff Walker is hitting .390 in WAC games only, third best in the conference ... has been shut out five times this year, tied for the most in the WAC ... the Bulldogs have committed 122 errors, 49 more than the next worst team in the WAC (Nevada with 73).

Nevada: Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 16, the sixth most in a season in school history ... Butler and Chris Gimenez both have 28 career home runs, tied for the seventh most in school history ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 77 ... junior outfielder Chris Gimenez has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 26 times this year, three shy of tying the school record ... Gimenez has been hit by a pitch 61 times in his career, the most of any player currently in the WAC.

Rice: has reached 40 wins for the 10th year in a row ... played its first extra inning game of the year last Saturday and lost to Fresno State, 9-7, in 10 innings ... Rices team ERA of 2.66 is ranked second in the nation ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is fourth nationally with a 1.71 ERA ... Philip Humber leads the WAC and is seventh nationally with 12.1 strikeouts/game ... senior outfielder Chris Kolkhorst has been on base in 52 consecutive games dating back to the national title game last year ... four of its losses have come against Texas ... senior outfielder Austin Davis has 296 hits, the most in school history and seventh most in WAC history ... junior Wade Townsends career ERA of 2.02 is currently the sixth best in WAC history (min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves are tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has 400 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 six of its last seven games ... has not played a game since May 16 due to final exams ... has been shut out five times this year, tied for the most in the WAC ... Matt Durkin is the WACs active career leader in both complete games (10) and shutouts (5) ... Kevin Frandsen has 240 hits in his career, breaking the school record of 237 set by Junior Ruiz (1999-2001).

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 32-24-1. Utah State does not sponsor baseball.