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RICE ADVANCES TO SUPER REGIONAL Rice travels to New Orleans for one of eight NCAA Baseball Super Regionals this weekend as 16 teams continue to compete for the eight spots in the College World Series to be played in Omaha, Neb., June 17-27. The Owls take on top-ranked Tulane in a best-of-three series. Game times will be 12:00 p.m. (CT) on both Saturday and Sunday. If necessary, a third game will be played on Monday at a time to be announced later. Rice was a perfect 3-0 in last weeks regional in Baton Rouge, La., beating LSU, 5-4, in the finals on Monday. The Owls are playing in their fifth Super Regional in the last seven years. Rice won its Super Regional in 1999, two games to one, versus Southwestern Louisiana, lost 2-0 to Nebraska in 2001, beat LSU 2-0 in 2002 and won 2-1versus Houston in 2003. Tulane hosted a regional last weekend and won all three of its games to improve to 53-9 on the year. The Green Wave are led by first baseman Mark Hamilton who was named the regions Most Outstanding Player after hitting .667 with 11 RBI, three doubles and three home runs last week. The winner of the Rice-Tulane series will play either Oregon State or Southern California in the opening round of the College World Series on Saturday, June 18. If Rice advances to the CWS, it would be the fifth time in nine years (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003) for the Owls. Rice won the 2003 National Championship. It would also be the sixth appearance in those nine years by a WAC team as San Jose State made the trip in 2000.
FIVE OWLS NAMED ALL-REGIONAL A total of five Owls earned all-regional honors last week: P Joe Savery (1-0, 2.45 ERA, 10 strikeouts), P Josh Geer (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 6 strikeouts), 1B Jordan Dodson (.333, 2 RBI, 3 runs, 1 HR), SS Josh Rodriguez (.286, 4 RBI, 2 runs, 1 HR) and OF Lance Pendleton (.667, 5 RBI, 4 runs).
SIX WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM Rice pitcher/first baseman Joe Savery was named the Freshman Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and is one of six WAC players selected to the 2005 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American Team. Joining Savery on the team are teammates Bobby Bell (relief pitcher), Cole St. Clair (relief pitcher), Tyler Henley (outfielder), Hawaii Joe Spiers (shortstop) and Fresno States Beau Mills (third base). Savery made the team as a multi-position athlete.
ALL-WAC TEAMS The all-WAC teams as selected by the leagues head coaches were announced on May 31. The first team featured two Nevada teammates that were repeat selections from 2004, outfielder Jacob Butler and catcher Brett Hayes. Hayes, a junior, has been a first-teamer all three years and was the WACs Freshman of the Year in 2003. Rice freshman Joe Savery earned first team honors as both a pitcher and first baseman, becoming the first WAC player to receive first team honors at two positions since Fresno States Ben Fritz did so as a pitcher and utility player in 2002. The complete teams can be found on page 5 of this release.
TOP INDIVIDUAL HONORS Besides selecting all-WAC teams, the coaches also voted for the leagues top individual awards. Rice freshman first baseman/pitcher Joe Savery was named the Player of the Year, Fresno State junior Matt Garza earned Pitcher of the Year honors, and the Freshman of the Year award went to Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills. Rice head coach Wayne Graham was selected as Coach of the Year. Savery hit .390 with 21 RBI, seven doubles, three home runs, six stolen bases and scored 21 runs in 26 conference games. He also pitched in 10 WAC games and was 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA, one save and struck out 74 batters in 70.2 innings. Garza earned the WACs Pitcher of the Year award after putting together a record of 5-2 in 10 WAC appearances. He had an ERA of 2.62 and struck out 67 batters in 68.2 innings. Mills hit .303 in 30 conference games. He had 32 RBI, 14 home runs and scored 25 runs. Graham, in his 14th season with Rice, led the Owls to their ninth consecutive WAC title with a 21-9 mark. It was Grahams fifth WAC Coach of the Year award.
HAYES NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR BENCH AWARD Nevada junior catcher Brett Hayes was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2005 Johnny Bench Award. Hayes, a two-time all-WAC catcher, was the 2003 WAC Freshman of the Year. Last summer he was a member of the Team USAs gold medal winning FISU II World University Baseball Championship squad.
TWO INVITED TO NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS USA Baseball announced last month that Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills and Rice first baseman/pitcher Joe Savery accepted invitations to try out for the National Team at North Carolina State, June 27-30. Mills and Savery (both freshmen) are two of 36 players from across the nation invited to the tryouts. Savery was named the WACs Player of the Year while Mills was voted the conferences Freshman of the Year.
STREAKING San Jose State senior shortstop Anthony Conteras finished his season with a 32-game hitting streak, the longest in the WAC this season. Contreras hit .433 (58-for-134) with 19 RBI and 23 runs scored during his streak. The streak is the longest by a WAC player in at least six years. The WAC record is 45 games set by Arizona States Roger Schmuck in 1972.
IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is seventh in Sports Weekly/ESPN, 12th in Baseball America and 15th in Collegiate Baseball.
NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 84-78-1 (.518). Fresno State is 14-15 (.483), Hawaii is 13-13 (.500), Louisiana Tech is 8-19 (.296), Nevada is 11-12 (.478), Rice is 23-8 (.742) and San Jose State is 15-11-1 (.574). Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents, the WAC is 12-23 (.343) as Fresno State is 0-5, Hawaii is 4-1, Louisiana Tech is 1-7, Nevada is 0-3, Rice is 7-6 and San Jose State is 0-1.
TOP-10 NCAA RANKINGS In the most recent NCAA stat rankings, Fresno States Beau Mills is tied for eighth in home runs per game (0.37) and San Jose States David Pierson is eighth in sacrifice hits per game (0.28). In team categories, San Jose State is second in the nation in fielding percentage (.978) and Rice is ninth in ERA (3.14).
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. The 2006 season will also see the return of a postseason tournament. Next years host and site will be announced in the fall.TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (30-29, 16-14 WAC)
Lost its last three games of the season after winning eight of its previous nine games ... finished at least .500 for the 29th consecutive year ... sophomore shortstop Christian Vitters finished his season with a 12-game hitting streak, the second longest by a Bulldog this season ... sophomore outfielder Nick Moresi was 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts this season ... third baseman Beau Mills, the WACs Freshman of the Year, leads the WAC in RBI (63), home runs (22), slugging percentage (.699) and multiple RBI games (18) ... junior pitcher Matt Garza is second in the WAC with 120 strikeouts ... junior Rudy Quinonez is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five.
Hawaii Rainbows (28-27, 15-14 WAC)
Finished above .500 for the third consecutive year and had a winning conference record for the first time since 1999 ... won 7 of its last 10 road games after losing its first seven ... UH was 12-6 in one-run games ... junior second baseman Isaac Omura had a 12-game hitting streak snapped in the final series of the year ... it was the longest streak by a Rainbow this season ... freshman shortstop Joe Spiers leads the WAC in stolen bases with 31 (38 attempts) ... its the most stolen bases in the WAC since UHs Sean Takamori had 34 in 1999 ... UH played seven extra inning games (3-4), tied for the most in the WAC ... Ricky Bauer pitched 346.0 innings in his career, the 12th most in WAC history.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (17-39, 9-20 WAC)
Lost 17 of its last 19 games including five consecutive WAC series (2-12) ... junior pitcher Matt Lacy tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts (in 6 innings) against Hawaii in the final game of the year ... junior third baseman Ryan Hamilton finished the season with a 14-game hitting streak ... he hit safely in 37 of his last 39 games which included a 22-game hitting streak earlier this year ... Hamilton had 23 multiple-hit games, the third most in the WAC ... senior Brandon Haygood finished his career with a 95-game starting streak at second base ... he tied the school record for doubles in a season with 20 ... Haygood had a season-high 16-game hitting streak snapped in the final game against Hawaii.
Nevada Wolf Pack (26-27, 15-15 WAC)
Won its last three games of the season to give head coach Gary Powers his 700th career victory ... in the final game of the year against Fresno State, four Wolf Pack players tied WAC single-game highs: sophomore catcher Baker Krukow (5 hits), senior second baseman Carlos Madrid (3 doubles), junior first baseman Ben Mummy (2 home runs) and junior outfielder Shawn Scobee (2 home runs) ... won 13 road games, the second most in the WAC this season ... sophomore Ryan Rodriguez had 11 wins, tied for the most in the WAC ... junior Wesley Dorsett is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five ... Butler finished his career with 39 home runs, tied for the 14th most in WAC history.
Rice Owls (44-17, 21-9 WAC)
Has won 13 of its last 15 games ... is 7-6 versus Collegiate Baseball Top-25 teams ... has won at least 40 games in 11 straight seasons ... has scored almost as many runs (417) as opposing teams have hits (429) ... leads the WAC in ERA (3.14), hitting (.294), doubles (125) and triples (15) ... freshman pitcher/DH Joe Savery is first in the WAC in batting average (.376) and second in ERA (2.49) ... senior catcher Adam Rodgers leads the WAC in doubles (21) ... freshman outfielder Tyler Henley leads the WAC in runs scored (66) and hit by pitches (21) ... the Owls have earned the WACs automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in all nine seasons as a member of the league.
San Jose State Spartans (28-28-1, 13-17 WAC)
Senior shortstop Anthony Contreras was the hardest WAC player to strike out with 0.23 Ks per game ... he leads the WAC in hits (90) and multiple hit games (28) ... Contreras finished his career with a school-record 32-game hitting streak ... junior second baseman David Pierson leads the WAC with 16 sacrifice hits ... SJSU played seven extra inning games (4-3), tied for the most in the WAC ... leads the WAC in fielding percentage (.978) and has committed just 49 errors, 27 less than the next best team in the WAC ... senior Brad Kilby leads the WAC in ERA (1.85) ... he is 7-2 with a save ... junior Steve Jones is tied for the WAC lead in saves with five.