United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK Hawaii right-handed pitcher Ricky Bauer, a junior from Kaneohe, Oauh (Mid-Pacific Institute), started and pitched nine innings in the Rainbows 1-0 10-inning victory over Nevada on Thursday as Hawaii ended an 11-game losing streak versus the Pack. Bauer allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out eight, but didnt get the decision as the Bows scored in the bottom of the 10th. It is Bauers second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and third for a Rainbow pitcher this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Andrew Sansaver, Sr., 1B, Hawaii - hit .455 (5-11) in the three-game series versus Nevada. He scored twice, drove in two runs and was walked four times.
Joe Mercer, Sr., 3B, Nevada - was 6-for-13 (.462) in four games last week. He scored three runs, drove in three and was walked three times.
Kevin Frandsen, Sr., 3B, San Jose State - hit .400 (6-15) with three doubles and scored three runs in four games for the Spartans last week.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Ryan Rodriguez, Fr., Nevada - started and pitched seven innings in Nevadas 8-3 win at Hawaii on Saturday. He allowed three runs, eight hits and a walk while striking out six.
Brad Kilby, Jr., San Jose State - appeared in three games and pitched eight innings last week. He allowed just one run, eight hits and one walk while striking out six and earning a save against Sacramento State on Friday.

UPCOMING WEEKEND ACTION All six teams are in conference play this weekend with all three series beginning on Friday. Louisiana Tech is at Nevada, Fresno State hosts San Jose State and Rice travels to Hawaii. Earlier this season, Nevada swept Louisiana Tech in Ruston, April 8-10 (scoring 55 runs in the three games); Fresno State won two of three games against the Spartans in San Jose, April 9-11; and Rice won two of three against Hawaii in Houston, March 19-21. Hawaiis win against the Owls on March 21 is Rices only conference blemish this season. Since then, the Owls have won 11 straight WAC games.

STREAKING Fresno State outfielder Richie Robnett currently has the WACs longest hitting streak at 21 games, which is also the longest streak by any WAC player this year. Robnett has hit .429 (36-for-84) with 21 RBIs and 18 runs scored. 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 third for the fourth 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 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: plays nine of its final 12 games at home ... was 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts last week in the three-game series versus Louisiana Tech, including a team season-high six in the second game of Sundays doubleheader ... Fresno State leads the WAC in stolen bases with 69 on the season ... its the most stolen bases for the Bulldogs since swiping 91 in 1991 ... senior second baseman Ryan Haag leads the WAC in hits with 69 ... Richie Robnett leads the WAC in total bases with 120 and stolen bases with 19 in 20 attempts ... Matt Garza is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five.

Hawaii: snapped an 11-game losing streak against Nevada with its 1-0 win on Thursday ... UH notched its first series win against the Wolf Pack since February of 2001 ... junior outfielder Greg Kish has missed the last six games after spraining his left ankle against Fresno State on April 23 ... Kish, who is batting .383, is listed as questionable this weekend ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye leads the WAC in doubles per game with 0.43 ... 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 week 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: won its last two games after losing 12 of its previous 13 contests ... the Bulldogs hit .435 as a team in their three-game series against Fresno State last weekend ... Tech won two of three games for its first WAC series win of the year ... the Bulldogs had 14 or more hits in each game against Fresno State, including a season-high 21 in the second game of Sundays doubleheader ... junior second baseman Brandon Haygood is tied for the WAC lead in stolen bases with 19 ... the Bulldogs have committed 109 errors, 48 more than the next worst team in the WAC.

Nevada: snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Hawaii on Saturday, 8-3 ... after losing its first nine Saturday games, Nevada has won four in a row ... first baseman Ben Mummy broke his left wrist in a non-baseball related accident in late April and will miss the remainder of the season ... Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 13 ... Butler had his 20-game hitting streak snapped at Hawaii on Thursday ... Travis Sutton pitched nine scoreless innings in Thursdays 1-0, 10-inning loss against the Rainbows ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 61 ... 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: beat McNeese State on Wednesday, 4-0, after taking a nine-day break due to exams ... Rice has won 18 of its last 19 games and 11 straight WAC contests ... its team ERA of 2.33 is ranked first in the nation ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is second 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 42 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 No. 2 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 11th in WAC history in career hits (282) 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 ... 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: has won three of its last six games after losing seven in a row ... has been shut out a WAC-high five times this year ... junior Matt Durkin has pitched a WAC-high 89.1 innings ... Kevin Frandsen has been the toughest WAC player to strike out this season with 0.26 per game (11 strikeouts in 43 games) ... last week, Frandsen broke the school record for career at-bats and now has 725 ... Frandsen has 234 hits in his career, three shy of 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 and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In baseball, New Mexico State is 30-17-1. 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.