United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada outfielder Jacob Butler, a senior from Yelm, Wash. (Yelm HS), hit .733 (11-for-15) and had at least two hits in all four games last week. He had three hits and four RBI last Tuesday against California. On Friday, he had four hits including an inside-the-park home run. For the week, he scored four runs, drove in six and hit three doubles and two home runs. It is Butlers fifth career WAC Player of the Week award and third for a Wolf Pack player this year.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK San Jose State left-handed pitcher Branden Dewing, a junior from Modesto, Calif. (Grace Davis HS), threw a complete-game in San Jose States 3-1 win over Fresno State on Saturday evening. He allowed just six hits, no walks and struck out seven in recording his third complete game in his last four outings. The victory helped give the Spartans a series win against the Bulldogs which keeps San Jose State at the top of the WAC standings. It is Dewings second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and third for a Spartan hurler this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Isaac Omura, Jr., 2B, Hawaii - was 9-for-18 with seven RBI and three runs in four games for the Rainbows. He had the game-winning RBI in the 8-7 win over Nevada on Sunday.
Joe Savery, Fr., 1B, Rice - hit .385 (5-13), had six RBI, scored twice and stole two bases in three games.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Rich Olsen, So., Hawaii - pitched four scoreless innings of relief against San Francisco last Wednesday and allowed just two hits while striking out five.
Ryan Rupert, Jr., Louisiana Tech - threw 7.1 innings in Techs 3-2 win over Rice on Friday. He allowed just five hits, two runs (one earned) and struck out seven in the Bulldogs first-ever win over the Owls in Ruston.
Tim Schoeninger, Jr., Nevada - recorded his second consecutive complete-game in a 7-5 win over Hawaii on Friday. He allowed 10 hits, four earned runs and one walk.
Eddie Degerman, Jr., Rice - pitched 7.1 innings and struck out 16 batters in a 9-6 victory over Louisiana Tech. Degerman allowed six hits, one walk and four runs to help snap Rices three-game losing streak. The 16 strikeouts were one shy of the school record set last year by Philip Humber.

SPARTANS HANG ON TO LEAD San Jose State won two out of three games against Fresno State to remain a half game ahead of Nevada for first place in the WAC standings. All three games were decided by two runs or less. Nevada won its first two games against Hawaii before dropping an 8-7 decision to the Rainbows on Sunday. Louisiana Tech opened its series against Rice with a 3-2 win on Friday, but the Owls came back to win the final two games to improve to 6-6 in the WAC.

THIS WEEK IN THE WAC All six teams are in action beginning Friday with San Jose State at Nevada, Fresno State at Louisiana Tech and Rice at Hawaii. This is the final series of the first half of the WAC season for all but Fresno State and Nevada. The San Jose State-Nevada series features the top two teams in the WAC standings. The teams are tied with a .667 winning percentage while the Spartans have played one more series than the Wolf Pack.

BASEBALL AMERICAS MIDSEASON REPORT Baseball America published its midseason report on Tuesday and two WAC players were mentioned. Rice first baseman/pitcher Joe Savery was named the top freshman in the nation and was on the all-freshman team as a utility player. Joining Savery on the all-freshman team was Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills. Savery is second in the WAC in batting average (.400) and third in ERA (2.32). Mills leads the WAC in home runs (10) and RBI (38) while hitting .324 on the season.

TECH SUSPENDS THREE On Tuesday, Louisiana Tech head baseball coach Wade Simoneaux suspended three players for the remainder of the 2005 season. Freshman catcher Jonathan Yerby, freshman outfielder Adam Cobb and junior outfielder Jason Santiago have been suspended for the rest of the season for violating team rules. Cobb started 29 games in centerfield for Tech and posted a batting average of .218 with 11 RBI. Yerby and Santiago saw limited duty with Yerby starting nine games and Santiago having started 10 games for the Bulldogs.

STREAKING Louisiana Tech third baseman Ryan Hamilton has the WACs longest current hitting streak at 17 games. Hamilton has hit .390 (27-for-72) with 16 RBI and six runs scored during his streak. It is the longest streak by a WAC player this year.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is 15th in Baseball America and 18th in Sports Weekly/ESPN. San Jose State and Nevada received votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN coaches poll.

WALLACE WATCH LIST The WAC has seven players on the 2005 Wallace Watch as announced by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented to the national college baseball payer of the year. The WAC candidates are Fresno States Christian Vitters (2B), Hawaiis Matthew Inouye (OF), Nevadas Jacob Butler (OF), Rices Josh Geer (P), Paul Janish (SS) and Lance Pendleton (OF) and San Jose States Travis Becktel (OF). The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by May 24. Additional candidates will be added as the season progresses.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 72-64-1 (.529). Fresno State is 14-15 (.483), Hawaii is 12-12 (.500), Louisiana Tech is 8-14 (.364), Nevada is 11-9 (.550), Rice is 17-6 (.739) and San Jose State is 10-8-1 (.553). Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents, the WAC is 9-19 (.321) as Fresno State is 0-5, Hawaii is 4-1, Louisiana Tech is 1-6, Nevada is 0-2, Rice is 4-5 and San Jose State is 0-0.

NCAA STATS The NCAA will not begin compiling national statistics until Tuesday, April 12.

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 3.

WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE AND SACRAMENTO STATE Last year, the WAC issued invitations to Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. Of the three incoming schools, only New Mexico State has baseball. Sacramento State will also join the WAC as an affiliate member in baseball beginning in the 2006 season. The Hornets previously were an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96.

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (19-19, 5-4 WAC)
Has lost four of its last six games ... won its first road game of the year on Saturday afternoon at San Jose (1-7) ... played its first extra inning game of the year on Sunday and lost to San Jose State, 6-5 ... starter Doug Fister hit four batters in the game ... the Bulldogs lead the WAC with eight triples ... Nick Moresi has not been caught stealing in all 11 attempts this season but hasnt stole a base since March 27 ... freshman Beau Mills leads the WAC in RBI with 38 and home runs with 10 ... DeAndre Miller leads the WAC in runs scored with 38 ... Matt Garza has struck out a WAC-high 72 batters and has three games with 10 or more strikeouts on the year.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (16-20, 4-8 WAC)
Is 3-3 in its last six games after a seven-game losing streak ... won on Sunday at Nevada to post its first road win of the year (1-7) and just its second ever at Reno ... Adam Roberts hit four doubles in four games last week after recording one in his previous 17 contests ... UH has played five extra inning games (2-3), tied for the most in the WAC ... junior Isaac Omura leads the WAC in batting average (.410), slugging percentage (.664), hits (55), doubles (17), multiple hit games (20) and multiple RBI games (11) ... freshman Joe Spiers leads the WAC in stolen bases with 23 (in 28 attempts), more than twice the number of the WACs runner-up.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (12-22, 4-8 WAC)
Has lost seven of its last nine games ... Steve Alverson picked up his WAC-leading third save in conference games (fourth overall) in Techs 3-2 win over Rice on Friday ... is 3-14 at home but nine of those games have been against ranked opponents (2-7) ... is 10-1 when leading after eight innings ... is 2-12 versus left-handed starting pitchers ... junior third baseman Ryan Hamilton has a 17-game hitting streak, the longest by a WAC player this year ... he has hit safely in all 12 WAC games this season ... Tech leads the WAC in stolen bases with 44 in 60 attempts, but has allowed a WAC-high 50 stolen bases from its opponents.

Nevada Wolf Pack (17-12, 6-3 WAC)
Has won six of its last eight games ... is 2-2 in its current nine-game homestand ... led the WAC last week in batting average (.333) and home runs (5) ... the Pack owns the WACs best road record (11-7) ... Ryan Rodriguez has seven wins, tied for the most in the WAC ... junior Wesley Dorsett leads the WAC in saves with five ... junior Brett Hayes leads the WAC in RBI per game with 1.14 ... in conference games only, Jacob Butler leads the WAC in hitting with a .448 average ... is 13-0 when leading after eight innings ... is 6-0 in two-run games after beating Hawaii, 7-5, on Friday ... head coach Gary Powers is nine wins shy of 700 for his career.

Rice Owls (23-12, 6-6 WAC)
Has won two in a row to snap a three-game losing streak, its second of the year ... completed an eight-game road trip with a 5-3 record ... allowed a season-high 12 hits in the loss to Louisiana State and in Sundays win over Louisiana Tech ... leads the WAC in ERA (2.88), hitting (.288) and home runs (33) ... junior Josh Geer has seven wins, tied for the most in the WAC ... freshman pitcher/DH Joe Savery is second in the WAC in batting average (.400) and third in ERA (2.32) ... Eddie Degerman is 4-0 on the season, the best record by winning percentage in the WAC ... junior OF Lance Pendleton has been hit by a pitch 10 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC.

San Jose State Spartans (18-12-1, 8-4 WAC)
Lost the series opener to Fresno State to record its first three-game losing streak of the year ... continues to sit atop the WAC standings after being picked last in the WAC preseason poll ... led the WAC in ERA (3.21) and fielding percentage (.992) last week ... has played five extra inning games (3-2), tied for the most in the WAC ... senior Brad Kilby leads the WAC in ERA (1.62) ... he is 5-1 with a save ... Branden Dewing has walked just six batters in his last five starts (40.1 innings) ... Anthony Contreras has been the hardest WAC player to strike out with 0.35 per game ... Travis Becktel has been hit by a pitch 10 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC.