There are just two weekends left before the WAC tournament, and this week?™s schedule includes some key matchups. On Friday, Fresno State hosts San Jose State in a battle between two teams tied for second place. A sweep by one of the two teams would move it into first place as Hawai'i is idle this weekend. Sacramento State resumes play after taking a week off and travels to Nevada for a three-game series that also begins on Friday. Louisiana Tech hosts New Mexico State with a doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Click here for the complete release as a PDF
XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER ?“ Fresno State outfielder/designated hitter Steve Susdorf, a sophomore from Newhall, Calif. (Hart HS), hit .600 (6-for-10) in a three-game sweep of Nevada last week. On Friday, he was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, scored three runs on Saturday and was 3-for-4 (single, double and a triple) with four RBI on Sunday. For the week, he drove in eight, scored six runs and was walked twice. It is Susdorf?™s third career WAC Hitter of the Week award and fifth for a Bulldog this season.
PITCHER ?“ San Jose State right-handed pitcher Josh Amberson, a junior from Everett, Wash. (Edmonds College), pitched eight innings of San Jose State?™s 7-1 victory on Sunday, giving up four hits, one walk and one run while striking out a career-high 12 batters. He retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced (11 on strikeouts) with the only one reaching base after getting hit by a pitch. Amberson?™s no-hit bid was broken up in the seventh after he gave up a leadoff single. It is his second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and fourth for a Spartan this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Eli Christensen, Jr., IF, Hawai'i - hit .563 (9-16) in five games (all wins) on the road last week. He was 1-for-2 at Grambling State before going 8-for-14 with eight RBI in the four-game series at Louisiana Tech. He also scored a total of four runs, was walked three times and hit two doubles and a home run. He had a hit in each game to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
Ryan Hamilton, Sr., 3B, Louisiana Tech - was 11-for-18 (.611) in five games last week. He also had two home runs, two doubles and drove in three.
Ryan Angel, Jr., 3B/OF, San Jose State - hit .353 (6-17) in four games for the Spartans. In a three-game sweep of New Mexico State, he was 6-for-14 with six RBI, five runs and two home runs. He tied a career-high with five RBI in a 22-3 win on Saturday.
Other pitchers nominated:
Doug Fister, Sr., Fresno State - pitched eight innings and allowed four hits, two walks and one unearned run while striking out seven in the Bulldogs?™ 13-2 win over Nevada on Friday. It was his longest outing of the year.
Steven Wright, Jr., Hawai'i - threw eight innings and allowed six hits, two walks and one run in a 9-1 win at Louisiana Tech last Thursday. Wright struck out nine hitters in improving to 9-2 on the year.
THREE TEAMS SWEEP ?“ AGAIN ?“ For the second straight week, all three WAC series ended in sweeps. Hawai'i took all four games at Louisiana Tech, making up a game that was rained out in March in Honolulu. San Jose State and Fresno State swept home series against New Mexico State and Nevada, respectively. Hawai'i continues to lead the WAC with a 14-6 record. The Rainbows are one game up on both Fresno State and San Jose State. Nevada remains a half game up on New Mexico State in a battle for the last spot in the WAC tournament.
REVISED WALLACE WATCH LIST ?“ The WAC has four players on the revised 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 Steven Wright (SP), New Mexico State?™s Luke Hopkins (1B) and Fresno State?™s Andy Underwood (SP). The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by late May. Additional candidates will be added as the season progresses.
CLEMENS AWARD CANDIDATES ?“ Two WAC pitchers ?“ Fresno State?™s Eddie Romero and Hawai'i?™s Steven Wright ?“ have been added to the Roger Clemens Award watch list, given annually to the top collegiate pitcher in the nation. All Division I head baseball coaches will take part in the voting for the honor, in addition to a selected panel of national media and all past winners of the Rotary Smith Award, which was retired after the 2003 dinner by the committee that is sponsoring the Clemens Award.
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 late last month. New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins and Nevada outfielder Shawn Scobee joined Fresno State teammates Christian Vitters (SS) and Eddie Romero (SP) 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 continued 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 was averging 1.69 RBI per game and 1.29 walks per contest. He was also ranked in slugging percentage (2nd-.847), batting average (9th-.432) and home runs per game (12th-0.37).
STREAKING ?“ Louisiana Tech Brandon Hudson junior outfielder has the WAC?™s longest current hitting streak at 12 games. Cobb has hit .467 (21-for-45) with eight RBI and eight 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 ?“ Hawai'i jumped back into the polls on the strength of its eight-game winning streak and is ranked 25th by USA Today and 29th by Collegiate Baseball. The highest a WAC team has been ranked this season was when Fresno State earned the 21st spot in Baseball America?™s preseason poll and was again 21st on April 3 according to Collegiate Baseball.
NON-CONFERENCE ?“ In non-conference games, the WAC is 121-87 (.580). Fresno State is 21-10 (.677), Hawai'i is 23-6 (.793), Louisiana Tech is 19-10 (.655), Nevada is 12-14 (.462), New Mexico State is 13-18 (.419), Sacramento State is 12-17 (.414) and San Jose State is 21-12 (.636). 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 (33-16, 12-6 WAC)
Scored a school-record 13 runs in the second inning against Nevada on Saturday and tied the school record with 10 hits in that inning ... 14 consecutive batters reached base during the inning ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills leads the WAC in hitting in conference games only with a .466 average ... he had seven RBI against Nevada on Saturday before being replaced after the second inning ... junior LHP Eddie Romero leads the WAC in wins and is 10-2 on the season ... it is the most wins for a Fresno State pitcher since Bob Runyon also had 10 in 2002 ... junior RHP Andy Underwood leads the WAC in ERA (2.54) ... the Bulldogs were 16-0 in the month of March.
Hawai'i Rainbows (37-12, 14-6 WAC)
Has won 12 of its last 13 games and its current eight-game winning streak is tied for the second longest in the nation ... has its most wins since going 37-20 in 1999 ... is 13-2 on the road, the best record in the nation ... plays its final four regular season games on the road ... has had eight games cancelled or moved due to rain this year ... leads the WAC in team ERA (3.54) ... Darrell Fisherbaugh leads the WAC in saves with nine ... junior RHP Steven Wright leads the WAC in strikeouts (103) ... Wright is 4-0 in four road starts with a 0.87 ERA ... junior LHP Ian Harrington leads the WAC in fewest walks allowed per game with 1.14.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (28-22, 9-12 WAC)
Has lost nine of its last 10 games ... has lost nine straight WAC games ... is in fifth place (5.5 games back) after holding the top spot with a 9-3 record and a game and a half lead on April 21 ... freshman OF/RHP Jericho Jones is currently hitting .379, the second best average in the WAC ... he is tied for the WAC lead in home runs with 15 ... the 15 home runs are a new school record for a freshman ... Jones is also 5-3 on the mound with a 6.97 ERA ... Tech leads the WAC in hitting with a .310 team average ... junior OF/DH Brandon Hudson has a 12-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 17 straight WAC games, both streaks currently the longest in the WAC.
Nevada Wolf Pack (17-26, 5-12 WAC)
Has lost 10 of its last 12 games, including its last six, its longest losing streak since losing six in a row in 2003 ... senior OF Shawn Scobee is tied for the WAC lead in home runs with 15 ... he is second in the WAC in slugging percentage (.768) ... Scobee has also been hit by a pitch 15 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC ... sophomore 3B Matt Bowman leads the Pack in batting average (.361), fifth in the WAC ... he hit .280 last year in 41 games ... junior RHP Ryan Rodriguez has 210 career strikeouts, the most of any active WAC player ... the Pack is last in the WAC in both hitting (.255) and fielding (.956).
NMSU Aggies (18-31, 5-13 WAC)
Has lost three in a row after posting a four-game winning streak ... on Saturday against San Jose State, the Aggies allowed six runs in the second inning before giving up 10 in the fifth inning of a 22-3 loss ... junior 3B Joseph Godinez was 6-for-10 in the three-game series against San Jose State ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins leads the WAC in hitting with a .403 average despite a 1-for-11 performance in the series at San Jose State ... Hopkins also leads the WAC in RBI (60), slugging percentage (.783) and on-base percentage (.445) ... senior OF Vince Rodden leads the WAC in stolen bases (32 in 40 attempts).
Sacramento State Hornets (20-27, 8-10 WAC)
Has lost six of its last nine games ... is at Pacific on Tuesday, its first game since losing at Hawai'i on April 30 ... sophomore 3B David Flores is hitting .410 in conference games only ... 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 15 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC ... 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 (33-18, 12-6 WAC)
Has won seven of its last eight games ... has posted back-to-back WAC sweeps for the first time since 2002 ... in the three games against New Mexico State last week, Spartan pitchers struck out 39 batters ... has more than 30 wins for the first time since going 45-17 in 2002 ... senior LHP Branden Dewing is second in the WAC in ERA (2.56) ... the Spartans set a school record last year in fielding percentage (.978) and leads the WAC this season (.979) ... OF Ryan Angel has no errors in 106 chances, the most chances by any player in the WAC with a 1.000 fielding percentage ... he is also leading the WAC in hits with 69 ... senior Steve Jones has 10 career saves, tying the school record.