United Athletic Conference

PITCHER OF THE WEEK San Jose State right-handed pitcher Matt Durkin, a junior from San Jose, Calif. (Willow Glen HS), threw a complete-game shutout in an 8-0 victory over Hawaii on Friday. Durkin allowed just three hits and five walks while striking out eight in the win. It was his 11th career complete game and sixth career shutout, both the most of any active players in the WAC. It is Durkins sixth career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and first for a Spartan pitcher this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Austin Davis, Sr., OF, Rice - hit .438 (7-for-16) in four games last week. He drove in four, scored five runs, hit two doubles and was walked three times.
Kevin Frandsen, Sr., 3B, San Jose State - was 6-for-14 (.429) in a three-game sweep of Hawaii. He scored three runs, had two RBIs and hit a double and triple during the series.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Matt Scott, Jr., Fresno State - made two appearances and recorded his first two career saves over the weekend. He pitched a total of 7.1 innings and allowed just three hits with no walks while striking out six.
Wade Townsend, Jr., Rice - threw a seven-inning shutout against Louisiana Tech on Saturday. He allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out 11.

RICE HOSTS REGIONAL For the 10th straight year, Rice is competing in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls are hosting a regional beginning Friday, their fourth straight season as one of 16 hosts. Rice, the number six national seed, will play Texas Southern (18-33) in the first game on Friday. Lamar (41-14) and Texas A&M (39-19) will play in the second game that day. The Owls did not meet Texas Southern this season, but did beat Texas A&M, 15-10, and Lamar, 3-2, earlier this year. The winner of the regional will advance to the Super Regionals and will face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional that includes LSU, Southern Mississippi, College of Charleston and Army. The Owls are looking for their fifth trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., June 18-28, after making appearances in 1997, 1998, 2002 and winning last years national championship.

TOWNSEND, HUMBER EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION 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. The two pitchers were also named first team All-Americans byUSA Today/Sports Weekly. Townsend is one of five finalists for the 2004 Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT The WAC had three players last 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 later this month.

STREAKING Rice outfielder Austin Davis and Fresno State second baseman Ryan Haag currently have the WACs longest hitting streaks at 16 games. Davis has hit .358 (24-for-67) with 11 RBIs and 18 runs scored during his streak, while Haag hit .427 (32-for-75) with 12 RBIs and 23 runs during his streak. 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 all four; Sports Weekly/ESPN, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA. 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).

PRESEASON POLL The final WAC standings finished exactly as the WAC coaches predicted prior to the season: Rice (1), Fresno State (2), Nevada (3), Hawaii (4), San Jose State (5) and Louisiana Tech (6).

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

BASEHITS Team and individual notes:

Fresno State: finished the season with a five-game winning streak, its longest of the season ... won nine of its last 11 games ... Fresno State leads the WAC in stolen bases (77) and batting average (.321) ... it was the most stolen bases for the Bulldogs since swiping 91 in 1991 ... sophomore outfielder Richie Robnett leads the WAC in batting average (.384), slugging percentage (.699), doubles (27), total bases (160) 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 ... in the final series against Nevada, Robnett hit four doubles and is now ranked fourth in the nation in doubles per game (0.47) ... Robnett was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball on May 10.

Hawaii: its 31 wins are the most since winning 37 during the 1999 season ... lost eight of its last 10 games ... sophomore outfielder Matthew Inouye had 20 doubles on the season, second most in the WAC ... Andrew Sansaver leads the WAC in sac bunts with 15 ... pitcher Ricky Bauer allowed a WAC-low 0.94 walks per game ... 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: Matt Lacy pitched all 10 innings of the Bulldogs 6-5 win over Rice on Sunday ... the 10 innings pitched are the most by a WAC pitcher this year ... Tech finished its home season winning five in a row ... Tech was a WAC-best 8-1 in one-run games ... was shut out seven times this year, the most in the WAC ... the Bulldogs committed 132 errors, 55 more than the next worst team in the WAC (Nevada with 77).

Nevada: Jacob Butler leads the WAC in home runs with 16, the sixth most in a season in school history ... junior outfielder Chris Gimenez has 30 career home runs, tied for the sixth most in school history ... the Pack leads the WAC in home runs with 80 ... Gimenez was hit by a pitch a WAC-high 26 times this year, three shy of tying the school record, and has been hit by a pitch 61 times in his career, the most of any player currently in the WAC.

Rice: did not commit an error in the four-game series against Louisiana Tech, the only time all year that Rice did not have any errors in a series ... has at least 40 wins for the 10th year in a row ... is now 0-2 in extra inning games after playing one each of the last two weekends ... Rices team ERA of 2.60 is ranked first in the nation ... Wade Townsend leads the WAC and is second nationally with a 1.60 ERA ... Philip Humber leads the WAC and is seventh nationally with 12.1 strikeouts/game ... Humber and Townsend are tied for the most strikeouts in the WAC this season with 141 ... senior outfielder Chris Kolkhorst has been on base in 56 consecutive games dating back to the national title game last year ... four of its losses have come against Texas ... senior outfielder Austin Davis has 303 hits, the most in school history and sixth most in WAC history ... his 903 at-bats are the third most in WAC history ... junior Wade Townsends career ERA of 1.97 is currently the sixth best in WAC history (min. 200 IP) while his 13 saves are tied for 13th ... junior Philip Humber has 409 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC pitcher ... Humber was named the National Pitcher of the Week byCollegiate Baseball on March 22.

San Jose State: swept Hawaii to finish the season, its only three-game sweep of an opponent all season ... Travis Becktel leads the WAC in triples per game (0.09) ... Matt Durkin is the WACs active career leader in both complete games (11) and shutouts (6) ... Durkin leads the WAC in innings pitched per game (6.90) ... senior Kevin Frandsen finished his career with a school record 246 hits.

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 finished the season with a 33-25-1 record. Utah State does not sponsor baseball.