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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada outfielder Shawn Scobee, a junior from Rio Linda, Calif. (Cal State Fullerton), hit .417 (5-for-12) in a three-game sweep at Louisiana Tech. All five of his hits went for extra bases as he hit four home runs and a double. He had a home run in each game and on Friday, he was 2-for-3 with two solo shots. Scobee also scored four runs and drove in six during the series. It is Scobees first career WAC Player of the Week award and second for a Wolf Pack player this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State right-handed pitcher Doug Fister, a junior from Merced, Calif. (Merced College), recorded his second straight complete-game victory in Fresno States 2-1 win over No. 13 Rice on Sunday. He allowed six hits, one run, no walks and struck out six to improve to 5-2 on the season. It is Fisters first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and second for a Bulldog hurler this year.
OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Joe Spiers, Fr., SS, Hawaii - hit .615 (8-13) in three games against San Jose State and had at least two hits in each game. Spiers entered the series going hitless in his previous 13 at bats.
Ryan Hamilton, Jr., 3B, Louisiana Tech - was 9-for-20 (.450) in four games for the Bulldogs. He hit two home runs and drove in nine while improving his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest current streak in the WAC.
Greg Buchanan, Jr., 3B, Rice - hit .350 (7-20) and had two doubles and a home run in four games. He also scored three runs and drove in three.
Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Ricky Bauer, Sr., Hawaii - pitched 4.2 innings of relief to pick up a win over San Jose State on Saturday. He gave up four hits, no walks and no runs in the victory that snapped Hawaiis seven game losing streak.
Mitch Tucker, Sr., Louisiana Tech - recorded the win in an 18-5 victory over Grambling State on Tuesday and also pitched five scoreless innings of relief against Nevada on Sunday. For the week, he allowed five runs, five hits and five walks and struck out nine in 11 innings.
Tim Schoeninger, Jr., Nevada - threw a complete-game seven-hitter in an 11-5 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday. He allowed just one walk and struck out five in the game.
Eddie Degerman, Jr., Rice - pitched 8.1 innings of an 8-0 win over Fresno State on Saturday. He allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out a career-high 10 batters.
WOLF PACK SWEEPS BULLDOGS For the third consecutive week, a WAC team has recorded a conference sweep. Last weekend, Nevada traveled to Louisiana Tech and took all three games from the Bulldogs. The Wolf Pack won the opener 11-5 before winning two close games in the final two contests. Nevada hit just .232 in the series but hit seven homers and scored 22 runs, both the most by any WAC team in a league series last week. The victories moved Nevada from fourth place into a three-way tie for first with San Jose State and Fresno State.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC All six teams are in action beginning Friday with Hawaii at Nevada, Rice at Louisiana Tech and Fresno State at San Jose State. Both Fresno State (0-5) and Hawaii (0-4) are winless on the road this season. Nevada is hosting just its second series of the year and is 1-2 at home.
STREAKING Louisiana Tech third baseman Ryan Hamilton has the WACs longest current hitting streak at 14 games. Hamilton has hit .390 (23-for-59) with 14 RBI and five runs scored during his streak. The longest streak this season was 16 games by Fresno States Nick Moresi and Rices Greg Buchanan.
IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is 11th in Baseball America, 15th in Sports Weekly/ESPN and 27th in Collegiate Baseball. Nevada and San Jose State received votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN 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 72-61-1 (.541). Fresno State is 14-15 (.483), Hawaii is 12-11 (.522), Louisiana Tech is 8-14 (.364), Nevada is 11-8 (.579), Rice is 17-5 (.773) and San Jose State is 10-8-1 (.553). Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents, the WAC is 9-18 (.333) as Fresno State is 0-5, Hawaii is 4-1, Louisiana Tech is 1-6, Nevada is 0-2, Rice is 4-4 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 (18-17, 4-2 WAC)
Has won seven of its last nine games ... is 126-64 against San Jose State (this weeks opponent), the most games played against any opponent in school history ... completed its 27-game homestand with a 17-10 record ... the Bulldogs lead the WAC with seven triples ... Nick Moresi is tied for the WAC lead in hits with 46 ... he has stolen 11 bases in 11 attempts this season ... freshman Beau Mills leads the WAC in RBI with 36 and home runs with 10 ... DeAndre Miller leads the WAC in runs scored with 35 ... Matt Garza has struck out a WAC-high 69 batters and has three games with 10 or more strikeouts on the year.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (15-17, 3-6 WAC)
Has won its last two games, snapping a seven-game losing streak, the longest by a WAC team this year ... hit seven doubles against SJSU on Saturday (second game) ... has played five extra inning games (2-3), the most in the WAC ... junior Isaac Omura leads the WAC in slugging percentage (.655), doubles (16) and multiple hit games (17) ... in conference games only, Omura leads the WAC in hitting with a .406 average ... freshman Joe Spiers leads the WAC in stolen bases with 23, more than twice the number of the WACs runner-up ... Omura and Spiers are tied for the WAC lead in hits with 46 ... Greg Kish has been the hardest WAC player to strike out with 0.33 per game.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (11-20, 3-6 WAC)
Has lost five of its last six games ... scored three runs in the first inning last week against Grambling State to snap a 22-inning scoreless streak ... junior third baseman Ryan Hamilton has a 14-game hitting streak, the longest by a Bulldog this season and currently the longest in the WAC ... he has hit safely in all nine WAC games this season ... Branond Haygood tied a school record by scoring six runs against Grambling State last week ... is one of two teams in the WAC with a winning road record (9-8) ... leads the WAC in stolen bases with 42 in 57 attempts, but has allowed a WAC-high 46 stolen bases from its opponents ... improved its team batting average from .242 to .252 last week.
Nevada Wolf Pack (15-10, 4-2 WAC)
Has won six of its last eight games ... swept Louisiana Tech last week and has now won its last 11 games against the Bulldogs ... begins its longest homestand of the year (9 games) against California on Tuesday ... Ryan Rodriguez struck out 10 Louisiana Tech batters in 6.2 innings on Friday ... the Pack is one of two teams in the WAC with a winning road record (11-7) ... junior Wesley Dorsett leads the WAC in saves with five ... junior Brett Hayes leads the WAC in RBI per game with 1.04 ... is second to last in the WAC in batting, pitching and fielding yet has the WACs second best overall record and is just a half game back in the WAC standings.
Rice Owls (21-10, 4-5 WAC)
Has won six of its last eight games ... beat Houston last week to win the 2005 Sterling Bank Silver Glove Trophy ... all three starters had at least 10 strikeouts in the series against Fresno State ... leads the WAC in ERA (2.58), more than a full run better than the next best team in the league ... also leads the WAC in hitting (.294) and home runs (29) ... junior Josh Geer has won a WAC-high seven games ... 3B Greg Buchanan had his 16-game hitting streak snapped against Fresno State on Sunday ... freshman pitcher/DH Joe Savery leads the WAC with a .402 batting average and is fourth in ERA (2.33) ... junior OF Lance Pendleton has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 10 times this season.
San Jose State Spartans (16-11-1, 6-3 WAC)
Is 3-3 in its last six games after winning nine of its previous 10 ... has a two-game losing streak, tied for its longest of the season (three times) ... went 24 consecutive innings without giving up a run before allowing two in the third inning of the first game against Hawaii on Saturday ... Chris Williammee hit .625 (5-for-8) last week to lead the WAC and also had three doubles in the series against Hawaii ... senior Brad Kilby leads the WAC in ERA (1.37) ... he is 5-1 with a save ... junior David Pierson has hit safely in all nine WAC games this season, and his nine-game hitting streak overall is currently the second longest in the WAC.