Hawai'i will have to wait an extra week before attempting to get its first conference win as the other six teams in the WAC play each other in conference action. Louisiana Tech travels to San Jose State for their three-game series, Thursday-Saturday. On Friday, Nevada hosts New Mexico State and Sacramento State heads south to Fresno. The Rainbows will take a few days off before hosting a three-game series with UC Santa Barbara beginning on Sunday.
Click here for the complete release as a PDF
XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER ?“ Nevada outfielder Shawn Scobee, a senior from Rio Linda, Calif. (Cal State Fullerton), hit .467 (7-15), scored 10 runs, drove in six and hit four home runs in a five-game sweep of Northern Illinois. Scobee was 3-for-3 in the first game last Wednesday, hit two home runs in Friday?™s contest and added a home run in each of the two weekend games. He was also walked four times and hit by a pitch five times during the series. It is Scobee?™s second career WAC Hitter of the Week award and first for a Wolf Pack player this year.
PITCHER ?“ Louisiana Tech right-handed pitcher Andrew Alsup, a junior from Ruston, La. (Ruston HS), picked up two saves in two appearances for the Bulldogs. In the first game against Lamar last Tuesday, he pitched two innings, allowed no runs, no hits and no walks while striking out three for his first save. In Friday?™s WAC opener at Hawai'i, he threw 3.2 innings and again allowed no runs or hits for his second save. For the week, he gave up no runs, no hits and one walk in 5.2 innings while striking out a total of six batters. It is Alsup?™s first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and first for a Bulldog this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Frank LoNigro, Jr., C, Fresno State - in five games, he hit .389 (7-18) with five RBI, two doubles and two home runs as the Bulldogs won every game they played last week to extend their winning streak to 12 in a row.
Ryan Hamilton, Sr., 3B, Louisiana Tech - hit .438 (7-16) in four games last week. He had four runs, four RBI and hit two doubles and a home run. He hit a game-winning RBI single to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 win over Hawai'i on Saturday.
John Shaffer, Fr., SS, San Jose State - hit safely in all five games last week and was 8-for-16. Shaffer had five RBI and scored twice. He also was involved in turning all five double plays during the week.
Other pitchers nominated:
Eddie Romero, Jr., Fresno State - threw seven innings and picked up a win over Bucknell on Friday. He allowed one run, nine hits and two walks while striking out six.
Travis Sutton, Sr., Nevada - pitched seven innings in a 6-2 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday for his second victory of the season. He allowed two runs (1 earned), two walks and six hits while striking out three.
Mick Joyce, Jr., Sacramento State - improved to 5-0 after pitching a complete game in a 7-1 victory over Utah Valley State on Sunday. Joyce allowed just four hits, one run and two walks while striking out eight.
Loren Moneypenny, Jr., San Jose State - pitched a complete-game shutout in a 5-0 blanking of Fresno Pacific on Sunday. He allowed just three hits, walked none and struck out seven in picking up his first win of the season in seven starts.
TECH OPENS WAC SEASON WITH TWO WINS ?“ For the second year in a row, Louisiana Tech opened its WAC season at Hawai'i and for the second year in a row, the Bulldogs left with a series win. Louisiana Tech won 6-1 on Friday and 5-4 on Saturday. Sunday?™s contest was rained out and will be made up when Hawai'i travels to Ruston, May 4-6.
STREAKING ?“ Louisiana Tech senior second baseman Amos Ramon has the WAC?™s longest current hitting streak at 12 games. Ramon has hit .447 (21-for-47) with 11 RBI and 13 runs scored during his streak. The longest streak this season was 17 games by New Mexico State teammates Luke Hopkins and Abe Aguirre. The WAC record is 45 games set by Arizona State?™s Roger Schmuck in 1972.
IN THE POLLS ?“ No WAC teams are ranked in this week?™s polls as Hawai'i dropped out of the NCBWA poll. Both Hawai'i and Fresno State are currently receiving votes in the baseball writers?™ poll. The highest a WAC team has been ranked this season was when Fresno State earned the 21st spot in Baseball America?™s preseason poll.
WALLACE WATCH LIST ?“ The WAC has five players on the 2006 Wallace Watch as announced by the Collge Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented to the national college baseball player of the year. The WAC candidates are Fresno State?™s Beau Mills (3B), Hawai'i?™s Joseph Spiers (SS), Hawai'i?™s Steven Wright (SP), New Mexico State?™s Luke Hopkins (1B) and San Jose State?™s Branden Dewing (SP). The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by late May. Additional candidates will be added as the season progresses.
NON-CONFERENCE ?“ In non-conference games, the WAC is 96-78 (.552). Fresno State is 19-8 (.704), Hawai'i is 20-6 (.769), Louisiana Tech is 9-10 (.474), Nevada is 10-12 (.455), New Mexico State is 10-17 (.370), Sacramento State is 11-16 (.407) and San Jose State is 17-9 (.654). Last year, the WAC was 85-80-1 (.515) in non-conference matchups. Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents this season, the WAC is 9-16 (.360) as Fresno State is 3-3, Hawai'i is 2-2, Louisiana Tech is 1-4, Nevada is 1-5, New Mexico State is 2-1, Sacramento State is 0-1 and San Jose State is 0-0.
NCAA STATS ?“ The NCAA will not begin compiling national statistics until Tuesday, April 11.
2006 FORMAT ?“ The 2006 season features a few differences from the last few years. The WAC is comprised of the six baseball playing members of the conference along with an affiliate member ?“ Sacramento State. The seven teams play a 24-game league schedule. Each team will play a three-game series home and home versus two opponents and a three-game series either home or away against the other four opponents.
POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT ?“ For the first time since the 1999 season, the WAC will conduct a postseason tournament. The top six finishers in the WAC standings will play a double-elimination format at Pete Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif., May 25-28. The winner will receive the WAC?™s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. A credential request will be sent to the media about a month before the tournament. There will not be a media hotel for the tournament.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (19-8, 0-0 WAC)
Has won 12 games in a row, the longest streak by a WAC team this year and the most for the Bulldogs since winning 12 in a row during the 1996 season ... it?™s also the longest winning streak by a WAC school since Rice won 30 in a row in 2003 ... Fresno State?™s school record is 32 straight during the 1988 season ... won its own Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic last week with a 6-0 record ... it was the Bulldogs?™ 15th title in 28 years of the tournament ... is 17-4 in its current 24-game homestand ... junior Eddie Romero leads the WAC in wins and is 6-1 on the season ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills moved into ninth place on the school?™s all-time home run list with 26.
Hawai'i Rainbows (20-8, 0-2 WAC)
With a 13-5 win over Hawai'i-Hilo on Wednesday, Mike Trapasso evened up his head coaching record at 125-125 ... the win also made Hawai'i the first WAC team to reach 20 victories on the season ... freshman Matt Daly leads the WAC in ERA (1.29) ... junior Steven Wright leads the WAC in strikeouts (54) ... he has pitched a WAC-high 7.38 innings per game ... senior OF Matt Inouye is hitting .450 on the season but doesn?™t qualify for the WAC leaders list as he missed a couple of weeks due to a back injury earlier this year and does not have enough at-bats ... Inouye has a nine-game hitting streak, tied for the second longest in the WAC.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (11-10, 2-0 WAC)
Has won four of its last five games to go over the .500 mark on the season ... it is the first time that Tech has been over .500 after 20 games since the 2002 season ... struck out 14 batters in a game against Lamar last week, tied for the most by a WAC team this year ... allowed just one earned run in the two wins at Hawai'i last week ... leads the WAC in hitting with a .320 team average ... senior 2B Amos Ramon is the Bulldogs?™ leading hitter with a .418 average ... Ramon has a 12-game hitting streak, the longest current streak in the WAC ... senior 3B Ryan Hamilton has a 13-game hitting streak in WAC games dating back to last season, the longest current streak in the WAC.
Nevada Wolf Pack (10-12, 0-0 WAC)
Won all five games against Northern Illinois last week after losing five of its previous six games ... hit 14 home runs in the NIU series after coming into the games with 11 home runs on the season ... also stole 15 bases in 16 attempts against the Huskies ... faces New Mexico State in Reno this weekend ... the last time the two teams met in Reno in 2000, Nevada outscored the Aggies, 54-10, in a three-game sweep that included an opening 28-1 victory ... on Friday at 6:00 p.m., Nevada will play the first night-game in the history of Peccole Park ... the Pack conclude its season-long 10-game homestand against New Mexico State.
NMSU Aggies (10-17, 0-0 WAC)
Has lost nine games in a row, the longest streak by a WAC team this year ... has scored 223 runs, 46 more than the second best team in the WAC, but has the lowest winning percentage of the seven WAC teams ... head coach Rocky Ward needs five more wins to reach 200 for his career ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins leads the WAC in hitting with a .458 average ... he also leads the WAC in hits (44), runs (32), RBI (53), home runs (12), total bases (88) and slugging percentage (.917) ... Hopkins has nearly twice as many RBI as the player with the second most in the WAC (Hawai'i?™s Luis Avila-27) ... senior OF Vince Rodden leads the WAC in stolen bases with 22 in 26 attempts.
Sacramento State Hornets (11-16, 0-0 WAC)
Junior Mike Joyce is 5-0 on the season with a 1.62 ERA in seven appearances ... he has pitched three straight complete games and allowed just 14 hits and three runs during those 27 innings ... Joyce has recorded nearly half of the Hornets?™ wins this season ... senior C Buddy Morales has an eight-game hitting streak ... senior DH Pat Keiper is fourth in the WAC with a .387 batting average ... junior 2B/OF Gary Johnson has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 10 times this season ... Sacramento State was an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96 ... the only current members of the WAC that played during those years are Fresno State and Hawai'i.
SJSU Spartans (17-9, 0-0 WAC)
Is in the midst of a 13-game homestand and is 8-1 ... leads the WAC in team ERA (3.57) ... has played the most 1-run games of any team in the WAC (10) and is 7-3 in those contests ... set a school record last year in fielding percentage (.978) and leads the WAC this season (.981) ... senior Matt Winck broke the Spartan career record in appearances with his 77th on March 14 against Portland ... is 14-0 when scoring first ... senior Steve Jones has nine saves in his career, one shy of tying the school record ... does not have any hitters in the top 15 in the WAC?™s batting average list ... head coach Sam Piraro picked up his 600th win on March 12 against Miami (Ohio).