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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice center fielder Tyler Henley, a freshman from Colleyville, Texas (Heritage HS), hit .643 (9-14) as Rice went 4-0 last week. Henley scored eight runs, drove in six, was walked four times, stole a base and hit three doubles and a home run in the four games. In the series sweep at Nevada, Henley had at least two hits in each game and led off the opener with a home run. It is Henleys first career WAC Player of the Week award and fifth for an Owl hitter this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Hawaii right-handed pitcher Stephen Bryant, a senior from Chico, Calif. (Feather River CC), threw his first career complete-game in the Rainbows 4-1 win over Fresno State last Thursday. Bryant allowed just one walk and seven hits while tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts. He improved to 7-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.84. It is Bryants fourth career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and fourth for a Rainbow hurler this year.
OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Kent Sakamoto, Jr., 1B, Fresno State - was 5-for-12 (.417) with three RBI in three games against Hawaii. On Saturday, he was 3-for-5 with two singles and a double to go along with a stolen base.
Nate Thurber, Sr., DH, Hawaii - hit .417 (5-12) with two runs and one RBI in the series versus Fresno State.
Nick Epidendio, Jr., 3B, San Jose State - was 5-for-14 (.357) with seven RBI in four games last week. He drove in all three Spartan runs in a 5-3 loss against California last Tuesday. Epidendio also drove in both runs of a 2-0 win versus Sacramento State on Saturday. On Sunday, he extended his season-long hitting streak to 10 games.
Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Eddie Romero, So., Fresno State - picked up a win on Saturday against Hawaii. He pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four hits, three walks and one run.
Eddie Degerman, Jr., Rice - threw one scoreless inning of relief against Baylor and then pitched eight innings and picked up a win against Nevada on Saturday. Against the Wolf Pack, he allowed just five hits, one walk and struck out eight.
Branden Dewing, Jr., San Jose State - pitched seven shutout innings of a 2-0 win over Sacramento State on Saturday. Dewing allowed six hits and two walks while striking out four.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC All six teams are back in conference action this Friday as the WAC season nears its conclusion. Rice hosts Hawaii, Louisiana Tech is at Fresno State and Nevada travels to San Jose State. All three series are rematches from the weekend of April 15-17 when Rice won two of three against the Rainbows in Honolulu, Louisiana Tech swept Fresno State in Ruston, and Nevada took two from San Jose State in Reno. Rice leads the WAC with a 16-8 record and has a three-game lead over second-place Fresno State. The Owls, with a magic number of four, could wrap up the WAC title this weekend as they hold the tiebreaker over Fresno State.
SAVERY INVITED TO NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS Rices Joe Savery was one of just three freshmen to be invited in early May to participate in the 2005 USA Baseball national team trials. The U.S. team will represent the country in international baseball competitions this summer. The 20-man team will be selected from a pool of 36 collegiate players participating in a tryout camp, June 27-30. Savery is on the initial list of 13 collegiate players who have been invited to the trials.
FRESHMEN LEADERS The WAC has had three freshmen emerge as some of the top players in the league this season. Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills, Hawaii shortstop Joe Spiers and Rice utility player Joe Savery have all put up great numbers in their first years. Mills is hitting .313 and is leading the WAC in home runs (18), RBI (52) and slugging percentage (.667). Spiers has a .318 batting average and a WAC-high 29 stolen bases. Savery is first in the WAC in hitting (.392) and second in ERA (1.97). As a pitcher, he is 7-4 with a WAC-high 107 strikeouts. Savery has an active 21-game hitting streak, currently the second longest in the WAC.
STREAKING San Jose State senior shortstop Anthony Conteras has the WACs longest current hitting streak at 26 games. Contreras has hit .432 (48-for-111) with 17 RBI and 21 runs scored during his streak. The streak is the longest by a WAC player this year and longest since Fresno States Richie Robnett hit safely in 26 games from March 20-May 14, 2004. Prior to that, the longest streak in the WAC was 31 games by Fresno States Casey McGehee in 2002 (March 15-May 18).
IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is 11th in Sports Weekly/ESPN, 12th in Baseball America and 15th in Collegiate Baseball.
WALLACE WATCH LIST The WAC has eight 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), Lance Pendleton (OF) and Joe Savery (P/1B) 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 81-78-1 (.509). Fresno State is 14-15 (.483), Hawaii is 13-13 (.500), Louisiana Tech is 8-19 (.296), Nevada is 11-12 (.478), Rice is 20-8 (.714) and San Jose State is 15-11-1 (.574). Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents, the WAC is 10-23 (.303) as Fresno State is 0-5, Hawaii is 4-1, Louisiana Tech is 1-7, Nevada is 0-3, Rice is 5-6 and San Jose State is 0-1.
TOP-10 NCAA RANKINGS In the most recent NCAA stat rankings, San Jose States David Pierson (0.29) is tied for sixth in sacrifice hits per game and his teammate, Brad Kilby, is eighth in ERA (1.57). In team categories, San Jose State is third in fielding percentage (.978) and Rice is ninth in ERA (2.93).
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. Rice has been the WACs regular season champion the past five seasons. The Owls also won the WAC tournament three consecutive seasons from 1997-99. San Jose State tied Rice for the regular season championship during the 2000 season. The WAC will have a conference tournament following the 2006 season.
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 (27-26, 13-11 WAC)
Has won five of its last six games ... won its first road series of the year last weekend at Hawaii ... doubled its number of road wins last week and is now 4-13 away from home this season ... junior first baseman Kent Sakamoto has batted over .400 in three straight WAC series ... sophomore outfielder Nick Moresi is 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts but has just one in his last 21 games ... freshman third baseman Beau Mills leads the WAC in RBI (52), home runs (18), slugging percentage (.667) and multiple RBI games (15) ... junior pitcher Matt Garza leads the WAC with 108 strikeouts ... junior Rudy Quinonez is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five.
Hawaii Rainbows (25-25, 12-12 WAC)
Has won seven of its last nine games ... had its season-long seven-game winning streak snapped against Fresno State on Saturday ... finishes its season with six straight road games ... Hawaii is 4-8 on the road this year, but won its last three games at San Jose, April 22-24 ... UH is 11-5 in one-run games ... junior 2B Isaac Omura is tied for the WAC lead in multiple hit games (24) ... Omura is hitting .382 and is attempting to become the first Rainbow to hit .400 since Greg Oniate in 1981 (.417) ... freshman SS Joe Spiers leads the WAC in stolen bases with 29, more than twice the number of the WACs runner-up ... Spiers leads the WAC with three triples.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (17-34, 9-15 WAC)
Has lost 12 of its last 14 games ... is in the midst of an eight-game road trip (1-4) ... has lost three consecutive WAC series (2-7) but faces Fresno State this weekend, the last team that Tech beat in a conference series (3-0) ... junior third baseman Ryan Hamilton has hit safely in 32 of his last 34 games ... senior Brandon Haygood has started 90 consecutive games at second base for the Bulldogs ... he is one double shy of tying the schools single-season record of 20 ... Haygood has a season-high 12-game hitting streak while Hamilton has hit safely in nine consecutive games ... earlier this year, Hamilton had a 22-game hitting streak.
Nevada Wolf Pack (22-25, 11-13 WAC)
Has lost eight of its last 10 games ... completed a seven-game homestand with a 2-5 record ... travels to San Jose State this weekend and is 12-12 on the road this year ... three of the top four home run hitters in the WAC are from Nevada: junior outfielder Shawn Scobee (2nd-15), junior first baseman Ben Mummy (3rd-13) and senior outfielder Jacob Butler (4th-10) ... sophomore Ryan Rodriguez has nine wins, tied for the most in the WAC ... junior Wesley Dorsett is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five ... Butler is the WACs active leader in home runs with 38 ... head coach Gary Powers is four wins shy of 700 for his career.
Rice Owls (36-16, 16-8 WAC)
Has won 10 of its last 12 games ... lost to Houston on Tuesday but completed its five-game season-long series with the Cougars with a 4-1 record ... leads the WAC in ERA (2.92) and hitting (.293) ... freshman pitcher/DH Joe Savery is first in the WAC in batting average (.392) and second in ERA (1.97) ... senior catcher Adam Rodgers leads the WAC in doubles (20) ... freshman outfielder Tyler Henley leads the WAC in runs scored (56) and hit by pitches (20) ... junior Josh Geer has nine wins, tied for the most in the WAC ... the Owls have earned the WACs automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in all eight previous seasons as a member of the league.
San Jose State Spartans (26-24-1, 11-13 WAC)
Won its last two games, snapping a season-long five-game losing streak ... senior shortstop Anthony Contreras has been the hardest WAC player to strike out with 0.25 per game ... he leads the WAC in hits (80) and is tied for the WAC lead in multiple hit games (24) ... Contreras current 26-game hitting streak is a school record ... junior second baseman David Pierson leads the WAC with 15 sacrifice hits this year ... SJSU has played seven extra inning games (4-3), the most in the WAC ... leads the WAC in fielding percentage (.978) and has committed just 44 errors, 22 less than the next best team in the WAC ... senior Brad Kilby leads the WAC in ERA (1.57) ... he is 6-1 with a save.