A full slate of conference games will be played this weekend beginning with Thursday?™s game between Hawai'i and Louisiana Tech. The Rainbows travel to Ruston for a four-game series as the teams had an earlier game rained out in Honolulu. Tech won both of the games that were played March 17-18. The teams will play single games on Thursday and Friday and conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday. The other two series involve teams that have not seen each other this year. San Jose State hosts New Mexico State and Nevada travels to Fresno State. Both of those series begin on Friday. Sacramento State is off until May 9 when it travels to Pacific.
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XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER ?“ New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins, a sophomore from Albuquerque, N.M. (St. Pius X HS), returned to action after missing 11 games due to a hamstring injury. He hit .444 (4-for-9) in the three-game sweep of then league-leading Louisiana Tech. He hit a solo home run in his second at-bat on Friday night and finished the series with five RBI, five walks (2 intentional) and three runs scored. It is Hopkins?™s fourth WAC Hitter of the Week award this year.
PITCHER ?“ Hawai'i left-handed pitcher Ian Harrington, a junior from Renton, Wash. (Bellevue CC), pitched a complete game in the Rainbows?™ 5-2 win over Sacramento State on Sunday. He allowed six hits, two runs (one earned), walked none and struck out three batters. The win completed a three-game sweep of the Hornets and moved Hawai'i into first-place in the WAC standings. It is Harrington?™s first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and fourth for a Rainbow this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Beau Mills, So., 3B, Fresno State - hit .438 (7-16) in a split of four games against Dallas Baptist. He had four RBI, two home runs and scored three times in the series.
Luis Avila, Sr., 1B, Hawai'i - was 4-for-10 in a three-game sweep of Sacramento State last week. He scored two runs, drove in three, was walked twice and hit two doubles and a home run.
Ryan Angel, Jr., 3B/OF, San Jose State - hit .375 (6-16) in four wins for the Spartans last week. Angel drove in four, scored four runs, was walked three times, hit a home run and stole five bases in five attempts during the week.
Other pitchers nominated:
Andy Underwood, Jr., Fresno State - threw his third consecutive complete game in a 6-3 win over Dallas Baptist on Saturday. He allowed seven hits, two walks and two earned runs while striking out eight batters.
Jason Conner, Jr., New Mexico State - pitched seven innings of a 5-2 win over Louisiana Tech last Friday. He allowed just two runs, seven hits and four walks while striking out six in the victory.
Loren Moneypenny, Jr., San Jose State - had a no-hitter through 7.2 innings of San Jose State?™s 6-4 win over Nevada last Friday. Moneypenny ended up allowing three hits, three runs and three walks in eight innings pitched.
THREE TEAMS SWEEP ?“ New Mexico State, Hawai'i and San Jose State all swept their three-game WAC series last week. The Aggies swept then league-leading Louisiana Tech in Las Cruces and is now just a half game behind sixth-place Nevada as the two teams battle for the last spot in the WAC tournament. San Jose State traveled to Reno and took three from the Wolf Pack to move into a tie for second place. Hawai'i is now leading the WAC with a 10-6 record after taking the series from Sacramento State.
HOWSER WATCH LIST ?“ The WAC had four baseball players named to the Dick Howser Trophy watch list as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association last Thursday. New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins and Nevada outfielder Shawn Scobee joined Fresno State teammates Christian Vitters and Eddie Romero on the list of 64 candidates for the award given to the top player in collegiate baseball.
HOPKINS TOPS NATION IN RBI AND WALKS ?“ New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins continues to lead the nation in both RBI and walks per game in the NCAA?™s statistical release that came out on May 2 for games through April 30. The sophomore is averging 1.69 RBI per game and 1.29 walks per contest. He is also ranked in slugging percentage (2nd-.847), batting average (9th-.432) and home runs per game (12th-0.37).
STREAKING ?“ Louisiana Tech sophomore centerfielder Adam Cobb has the WAC?™s longest current hitting streak at 12 games. Cobb has hit .392 (20-for-51) with 2 RBI and 12 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.
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 119-86 (.580). Fresno State is 21-10 (.677), Hawai'i is 22-6 (.786), Louisiana Tech is 18-10 (.643), Nevada is 12-14 (.462), New Mexico State is 13-18 (.419), Sacramento State is 12-17 (.414) and San Jose State is 21-11 (.656). Last year, the WAC was 85-80-1 (.515) in non-conference matchups. Against Collegiate Baseball top-30 non-conference 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 for the media can be found at the end of this release and is due back to the WAC office by Monday, May 15. There will not be a media hotel for the tournament.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (30-16, 9-6 WAC)
Has lost six of its last 10 games ... has matched its win total from last season ... is 2-2 in its current 10-game homestand ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills leads the WAC in hitting in conference games only with a .459 average ... he has hit three home runs in the last five games ... junior LHP Eddie Romero leads the WAC in wins and is 9-2 on the season ... it is the most wins for a Fresno State pitcher since Bob Runyon had 10 in 2002 ... junior RHP Andy Underwood is tied for second in the WAC in wins with eight ... Underwood has allowed just three earned runs in his last 33 innings of work ... was 16-0 in the month of March.
Hawai'i Rainbows (32-12, 10-6 WAC)
Has won seven of its last eight games ... has its most wins since going 37-20 in 1999 ... is 8-2 on the road, the second best record in the nation ... has not finished the season with a winning road record since 1999 (10-7) ... plays its final nine regular season games on the road ... has had eight games cancelled or moved due to rain this year ... leads the WAC in team ERA (3.63) ... Darrell Fisherbaugh leads the WAC in saves with eight ... junior RHP Steven Wright leads the WAC in strikeouts (94) ... Wright is 3-0 in three road starts with a 0.78 ERA and 28 Ks in 23.0 innings pitched ... junior LHP Ian Harrington leads the WAC in fewest walks allowed per game with 1.27.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (27-18, 9-8 WAC)
Has a five-game losing streak after posting an eight-game winning streak ... has lost those five games by a total of seven runs ... freshman OF/RHP Jericho Jones is currently hitting .371, the fourth best average in the WAC ... he is tied for the WAC lead in home runs with 14 ... Jones is also 5-2 on the mound with a 6.87 ERA ... Tech leads the WAC in hitting with a .312 team average and is the only team in the WAC hitting over .300 ... junior OF/DH Brandon Hudson has a 13-game hitting streak in WAC games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... Adam Cobb has a 12-game hitting streak, the longest current streak in the WAC.
Nevada Wolf Pack (17-23, 5-9 WAC)
Has lost seven of its last nine games ... in Saturday?™s game against San Jose State, the Pack had a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning but ended up losing 8-6 in 10 innings ... senior OF Shawn Scobee is tied for the WAC lead in home runs with 14 ... he is second in the WAC in slugging percentage (.760) ... sophomore 3B Matt Bowman leads the Pack in batting average (.372), third in the WAC ... he hit .280 last year in 41 games ... Bowman has an 11-game hitting streak, the second longest active streak in the WAC ... junior RHP Ryan Rodriguez has 207 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC player ... the Pack is last in the WAC in both hitting (.256) and fielding (.959).
NMSU Aggies (18-28, 5-10 WAC)
Picked up its first ever sweep in the WAC after taking three from Louisiana Tech last week ... has won four in a row ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins returned from an 11-game abscence due to a hamstring injury last week and won the WAC?™s Hitter of the Week award ... he leads the WAC in hitting with a .432 average ... Hopkins also leads the WAC in RBI (59), slugging percentage (.847) and on-base percentage (.575) ... Hopkins has 14 more RBI than the player with the second most in the WAC ... senior OF Vince Rodden leads the WAC in runs (46) and stolen bases (32 in 40 attempts) ... senior SS Abe Aguirre is tied for the WAC lead in hits with 63.
Sacramento State Hornets (20-27, 8-10 WAC)
Has lost six of its last nine games ... sophomore 3B David Flores is hitting .410 in conference games only ... Flores had 10 assists against Hawai'i last Friday, the most by any WAC player this season ... junior Mick Joyce leads the Hornets with a 5-1 record and a 3.09 ERA ... junior 2B/OF Gary Johnson is the only Hornet to start all 47 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 hitter with a .340 batting average ... the Hornets have matched its total number of wins from last season (20) ... Sacramento State was also an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96.
SJSU Spartans (30-17, 9-6 WAC)
Swept Nevada for the first time since 2002 ... has 30 wins for the first time since going 45-17 in 2002 ... has won five of its last six games ... posted its WAC-best fifth shutout last week by beating CS-Monterey Bay 6-0 on Tuesday ... senior LHP Branden Dewing leads the WAC in ERA (2.53) ... set a school record last year in fielding percentage (.978) and leads the WAC this season (.979) ... OF Ryan Angel has no errors in 97 chances, the most chances by any non-catcher in the WAC with a 1.000 fielding percentage ... he is also tied for the WAC lead in hits with 63 ... senior Steve Jones picked up his 10th career save against Nevada on Sunday, tying the school record.