The WAC features three conference series again this week. Two of the series begin on Thursday when San Jose State travels to Sacramento State and Louisiana Tech hosts Fresno State. The latter matchup features the top two teams in the WAC standings. On Friday, Nevada hosts Hawai'i. New Mexico State takes a break from WAC play and hosts North Florida in a three-game series that begins on Friday evening.
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XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER ?“ Sacramento State third baseman David Flores, a sophomore from Union City, Calif. (James Logan HS), hit .857 (12-for-14) with eight runs, seven RBI and five doubles in a three-game sweep of New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M. On Friday, he was 5-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. The five hits matched the most for any player in the WAC this year. Flores then went 3-for-4 on Saturday and 4-for-5 on Sunday with four runs, two RBI and a home run. For the week, he had a slugging percentage of 1.429 and an .824 on-base percentage. It is Flores?™ first career WAC Hitter of the Week award and first for a Hornet player this year.
PITCHER ?“ Louisiana Tech right-handed pitcher Matt Lacy, a senior from Longview, Texas (Pinetree HS), picked up his fourth win of the season in an 11-0 victory over Nevada on Saturday. Lacy started and threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out nine. It is Lacy?™s third career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and second for a Bulldog this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Beau Mills, So., 3B, Fresno State - hit .400 (4-10) in three games against Hawai'i. He scored five runs, hit a home run and drove in three batters during the series.
Joe Spiers, So., INF, Hawai'i - was 4-for-11 (.364) with four runs, two doubles and three stolen bases in three games at Fresno State.
Jericho Jones, Fr., OF, Louisiana Tech - hit .400 (8-20) with 11 RBI in five games for the Bulldogs last week. He had two hits, including a home run, in the win over Mississippi State. In Tech?™s come-from-behind win over Nevada on Friday, he had a two-RBI single in the sixth inning and then hit a grand slam in the seventh.
Matt Bowman, So., INF, Nevada - was 4-for-10 with four RBI and was walked three times in a three-game series at Louisiana Tech.
Derek Maytubby, Sr., DH, New Mexico State - hit .412 (7-17) with five RBI and two home runs in four games last week. He was also walked four times.
Ryan Angel, Jr., OF, San Jose State - was 9-for-18 with seven runs and four RBI in four games.
Other pitchers nominated:
Andy Underwood, Jr., Fresno State - threw seven innings and allowed just six hits, one walk, one unearned run and struck out five in a 13-2 win over Hawai'i on Sunday.
Steven Wright, Jr., Hawai'i - pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits, two walks and two runs (one earned) while striking out 10 in a 5-3 win at Fresno State.
Ryan Rodriguez, Jr., Nevada - helped salvage a game in the Louisiana Tech series by throwing seven innings in the Pack?™s 11-5 win on Sunday. He gave up six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out seven.
Matt Campbell, Sr., Sacramento State - allowed just one unearned run on two hits in six innings in a 19-7 win at New Mexico State on Saturday. He struck out eight batters, one shy of his career-high.
FRESNO STATE TAKES KEY SERIES ?“ Last week, Fresno State hosted Hawai'i in a three-game series involving the top two teams in the WAC based on overall winning percentage. Both teams were 24-9 coming into the weekend. Hawai'i won the first game on Friday night, 5-3, extending its nation?™s best road winning streak to eight in a row. But the Bulldogs came back and won a nationally televised game on Saturday (CSTV), 6-1, before taking the series with a 13-2 win on Sunday afternoon. Fresno State remains in first place, a game and a half ahead of Louisiana Tech which won two of three games against Nevada. In the other series, Sacramento State swept host New Mexico State to move into a tie for third with Nevada.
TECH POSTS TWO HUGE COMEBACK WINS ?“ Louisiana Tech opened last week with a home game against No. 3 Mississippi State on Tuesday. Mississippi State took a 12-6 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning and got the first two Tech batters to ground out. But with two outs, Louisiana Tech got eight hits and a walk to score seven runs and won the game, 13-12. On Friday night, Tech hosted Nevada in the first of a three-game series and fell behind 7-0 in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs again mounted a comeback by scoring 10 runs over the next four innings to win the game, 10-8. Freshman outfielder Jericho Jones hit a grand slam in the seventh to cap a five-run inning for the Bulldogs.
HOPKINS TOPS NATION IN RBI AND WALKS ?“ New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins leads the nation in both RBI and walks per game in the NCAA?™s first statistical release that came out on April 11. The sophomore is averging 1.69 RBI per game and 1.25 walks per contest. He is also ranked in slugging percentage (3rd-.844), home runs per game (9th-0.38) and batting average (16th-.431). Hopkins has missed the last five games due to a hamstring injury.
STREAKING ?“ Fresno State sophomore third baseman Beau Mills has the WAC?™s longest current hitting streak at 12 games. Mills has hit .438 (21-for-48) with 18 RBI and 18 runs scored. 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 ?“ Fresno State dropped two spots in the Collegiate Baseball poll to number 23 this week. The Bulldogs are also receiving votes in the USA Today coaches?™ poll. No other teams are receiving votes in any of the four polls.
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 103-80 (.563). Fresno State is 19-8 (.704), Hawai'i is 22-6 (.786), Louisiana Tech is 11-10 (.524), Nevada is 10-12 (.455), New Mexico State is 11-17 (.393), Sacramento State is 11-16 (.407) and San Jose State is 19-11 (.633). Last year, the WAC was 85-80-1 (.515) in non-conference matchups. Against Collegiate Baseball top 30 opponents this season, the WAC is 11-16 (.407) as Fresno State is 3-3, Hawai'i is 2-2, Louisiana Tech is 2-4, Nevada is 1-5, New Mexico State is 3-1, Sacramento State is 0-1 and San Jose State is 0-0.
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 (26-10, 7-2 WAC)
Its appearance on CSTV against Hawai'i on Saturday was its first national television appearance since 1991 ... sophomore OF Brian Lapin was 2-for-4 with five RBI in the 13-2 win over Hawai'i on Sunday ... leads the WAC in team ERA (3.77) ... ...junior SS Christian Vitters has a 21-game hitting streak in WAC games dating back to last season, the longest current streak in the WAC ... junior LHP Eddie Romero leads the WAC in wins and is 8-1 on the season ... was 16-0 in the month of March ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills hit a home run last week against Hawai'i to move into a tie for sixth place on the school?™s all-time career list with 29.
Hawai'i Rainbows (25-11, 3-5 WAC)
Had its eight-game road winning streak snapped on Saturday against Fresno State ... had its game at California that was scheduled for Tuesday rained out ... the game is not expected to be made up ... is in the midst of a 13-day road trip that ends this weekend at Nevada ... Darrell Fisherbaugh picked up his WAC-leading seventh save of the season against Fresno State on Friday ... freshman Matt Daly leads the WAC in ERA (1.75) and is 5-0 on the year ... junior RHP Steven Wright leads the WAC in strikeouts (71) ... is 6-2 on the road, the seventh best road record in the nation ... has not finished the season with a winning road record since 1999 (10-7).
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (19-13, 5-3 WAC)
Lost to Nevada on Sunday, snapping its eight-game winning streak ... it was the longest streak for the Bulldogs since 2001 ... senior RHP Matt Lacy delivered the game-winning hit in Tech?™s seven-run ninth inning to beat Mississippi State, 13-12, last Tuesday ... freshman OF/RHP Jericho Jones is currently hitting .422, the second best average in the WAC ... he leads the Bulldogs with 33 RBI ... he is also 5-1 on the mound ... after playing at Grambling on Tuesday, the Bulldogs play their next six games at home ... leads the WAC in hitting with a .315 team average ... senior RHP Matt Lacy leads the WAC in fewest walks allowed per game with 1.29.
Nevada Wolf Pack (15-16, 5-4 WAC)
Beat Louisiana Tech on Sunday, 11-5, to snap a four-game losing streak that followed a nine-game winning streak ... plays nine of its next 11 games at home ... senior OF Shawn Scobee was 5-for-11 (.455) with a home run in the three games at Louisiana Tech ... the home run moved him into a tie for first for the most home runs in the WAC with 12 ... sophomore 3B Matt Bowman leads the Pack in batting average (.370) ... he was 3-for-4 with four RBI in the win at Tech on Sunday ... the Pack is last in the WAC in both hitting (.253) and fielding (.956).
NMSU Aggies (12-25, 1-8 WAC)
Has lost 17 of its last 19 games ... has scored 279 runs, 31 more than the second best team in the WAC ... head coach Rocky Ward needs three more wins to reach 200 for his career ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins leads the WAC in hitting with a .431 average ... he has missed the last five games due to a hamstring injury ... Hopkins leads the WAC in RBI (54), home runs (12-tied for lead) and total bases (92) ... Hopkins has 16 more RBI than the player with the second most in the WAC (Fresno State?™s Christian Vitters-38) ... senior OF Vince Rodden leads the WAC in runs (40) and stolen bases (27 in 34 attempts) ... senior SS Abe Aguirre leads the WAC in hits (52).
Sacramento State Hornets (16-20, 5-4 WAC)
Has won five games in a row after a five-game losing streak ... the five-game winning streak is tied for the 14th longest in the nation ... scored six runs in the top of the 12th inning to beat NMSU, 12-8, on Sunday ... the Hornets hit .409 as a team and added 12 doubles in the three-game series at NMSU last week ... junior Mick Joyce leads the Hornets with a 5-1 record and a 3.26 ERA ... junior 2B/OF Gary Johnson is the only Hornet to start all 36 games this season ... he has been hit by a pitch a WAC-high 15 times this season ... senior DH Pat Keiper is the Hornets?™ top hitting with a .364 batting average ... Sacramento State was also an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96.
SJSU Spartans (22-14, 3-3 WAC)
Has lost five of its last eight games after posting a six-game winning streak ... has played the most 1-run games of any team in the WAC (12) and is 7-5 in those contests ... is tied with Hawai'i for the fewest home runs in the WAC this season (6) ... the other five teams have at least 28 home runs ... set a school record last year in fielding percentage (.978) and leads the WAC this season (.983) ... has committed just one error in the last five games ... OF Ryan Angel has no errors in 70 chances, the most chances by any non-catcher in the WAC with 0 errors ... senior Steve Jones has nine saves in his career, one shy of tying the school record.