The WAC baseball season came to an end on Sunday night as both Fresno State and Hawaii lost in their respective regional championship games. The Bulldogs fell 10-3 to host Cal State Fullerton while the Rainbows lost 12-3 against Oregon State.
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FRESNO STATE TRAVELS TO FULLERTON REGIONAL ?“ Fresno State earned the WAC?™s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning last week?™s WAC Tournament. It is the first NCAA appearance for Fresno State since the 2001 season. The Bulldogs will travel to Fullerton, Calif., as the number two seed of the regional and will play No. 3 San Diego (32-23) on Friday at 4:00 p.m. (PT). Host Cal State Fullerton (43-13), the national #5 seed, plays Saint Louis (32-27) at 8:00. All of the games in the regional will be shown on ESPNU. The winner of the regional advances to the Super Regional and will face the winner of the Pepperdine Regional that includes Pepperdine, UCLA, UC Irvine and Missouri.
HAWAI'I MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 1993 ?“ Hawai'i is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years as the Rainbows received an at-large bid and will travel to Corvallis, Oregon this weekend. Hawai'i is the number three seed in the regional and will face No. 2 Kansas (42-23) at noon on Friday. No. 1 seed and host Oregon State (39-14) will play Wright State (32-25) in the second game at 5:00. The winner of this regional will face the winner of the Texas Regional that includes Texas (the national #3 seed), North Carolina State, Stanford and Texas-Arlington.
WAC WITH TWO ?“ This season marks the first time that the WAC has had two teams in the NCAA Tournament since Rice and San Jose State made appearances in 2002. A WAC team has advanced to the Super Regionals in six of the last seven tournaments missing only the 2004 season.
FRESNO STATE WINS 2006 WAC TOURNAMENT ?“ Fresno State beat Hawai'i, 8-4, on Sunday afternoon to claim the WAC?™s postseason baseball tournament title. The Bulldogs got on the board in the first inning on a solo shot by Steve Susdorf. Hawai'i came back with two in the bottom of the first before Fresno State scored seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to break the game open. Brandon Burke got the win for the Bulldogs after pitching 6.2 innings and allowing four runs on six hits.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM ?“ Fresno State placed six players, including the MVP, on the WAC?™s all-tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. The 11-member team: C-Buddy Morales, Sacramento State; 1B-Kent Sakamoto, Fresno State; 2B-Amos Ramon, Louisiana Tech; SS-Eric Wetzel, Fresno State; 3B-Justin Frash, Hawai'i; OF-Shawn Scobee, Nevada; OF-Ozzie Lewis, Fresno State; OF-Nick Moresi, Fresno State; DH-Steve Susdorf, Fresno State; P-Steven Wright, Hawai'i; and P-Doug Fister, Fresno State. Lewis was named the tournament MVP after hitting .588 (10-17) with five RBI and four runs scored in the four games he played. He also hit two doubles and two home runs and was walked twice. He had at least two hits in each game. His best single-game performance came against Sacramento State on May 25 when he was 4-for-5 with four RBI.
ATTEANDANCE ?“ The 2006 WAC Baseball Tournament was attended by a total of 5,381 fans over the four days (1,345/day). The title game drew 1,550 to Pete Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif.
FRESNO STATE WINS WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE ?“ Fresno State won the 2006 WAC regular season title with an 18-6 record. The Bulldogs finished a half game ahead of Hawai'i. It is the first title for Fresno State since it won the 1998 West Division crown.
TWO NAMED WALLACE SEMIFINALISTS ?“ The College Baseball Foundation announced its field of 30 semifinalists for the 2006 Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award and two WAC players made the list: Fresno State sophomore third baseman Beau Mills and Hawai'i junior starting pitcher Steven Wright. Three finalists will be selected following the NCAA Super Regionals and the winner will be announced on June 15.
THREE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT ?“ New Mexico State second baseman Jason Long, Fresno State pitcher Doug Fister and Fresno State outfielder Steve Susdorf have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams. To be eligible for the Academic All-District Team, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director. All three players will now be on the ballot for the Academic All-America Team.
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.
ALL-WAC TEAMS ?“ The all-WAC teams as selected by the league?™s head coaches were announced on May 25. Fresno State led the conference with seven players on the all-WAC first team while Hawai'i had four, Louisiana Tech two and Nevada and Sacramento State placed one each on the first team. There were no repeat selections from 2005?™s first team, but Fresno State?™s Christian Vitters was a 2004 first team selection.
TOP INDIVIDUAL HONORS ?“ Besides selecting all-WAC teams, the coaches also voted for the league?™s top individual awards. Fresno State shortstop Christian Vitters was named the Player of the Year, Hawai'i?™s Steven Wright earned Pitcher of the Year honors, and the Freshman of the Year award went to Louisiana Tech outfielder Jericho Jones. Hawai'i head coach Mike Trapasso was selected as Coach of the Year. Vitters, a junior from Anaheim, Calif. (Cypress HS), hit .364 with 29 RBI, eight doubles, four home runs, two stolen bases and scored 22 runs in 24 conference games. Wright, a junior from Moreno Valley, Calif. (Valley View HS), earned the WAC?™s Pitcher of the Year award after putting together a record of 6-1 in eight WAC appearances. He had an ERA of 2.63 and struck out 60 batters in 54.2 innings. Jones, a native of Corinth, Texas (Lake Dallas HS), hit .316 in 24 conference games. He had 23 RBI, seven home runs and scored 20 runs. He was also 1-3 in six starts on the mound with a 6.75 ERA. Trapasso, in his fifth season with Hawai'i, led the Rainbows to a second place finish in the WAC and a top 25 ranking. It was Trapasso?™s second career WAC Coach of the Year award as he also won the honor in 2004.
HOPKINS TOPS NATION IN WALKS ?“ New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins continues to lead the nation in walks per game in the NCAA?™s statistical release that came out on May 31 for games through May 28. The sophomore averaged 1.20 walks per contest. He is also ranked in RBI per game (2nd-1.48), slugging percentage (4th-.799), home runs per game (8th-0.41) and batting average (21st-.403).
STREAKING ?“ Fresno State sophomore outfielder Ozzie Lewis has the WAC?™s longest current hitting streak at 11 games. Lewis has hit .462 (18-for-39) with 10 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.
IN THE POLLS ?“ Fresno State moved up two spots to 19th in the Baseball America poll, the highest a WAC team has been ranked this season. The Bulldogs are also 22nd according to Collegiate Baseball and 25th in the USA Today coaches poll. Hawai'i is also ranked 25th by the NCBWA.
NON-CONFERENCE ?“ In non-conference games, the WAC is 124-90 (.579). Fresno State is 21-10 (.677), Hawai'i is 23-7 (.767), Louisiana Tech is 21-10 (.677), Nevada is 13-14 (.481), New Mexico State is 13-18 (.419), Sacramento State is 12-19 (.387) 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 featured 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 played a 24-game league schedule. Each team played a three-game series home and home versus two opponents and a three-game series either home or away against the other four opponents.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (43-16, 18-6 WAC)
Has a 15-game winning streak, currently the longest in the nation ... in the WAC Tournament, hit .342 and had a 2.50 ERA in posting a 4-0 record ... was undefeated in both the months of March and May ... junior LHP Eddie Romero leads the WAC in wins and is 12-2 on the season ... the trio of Romero, Andy Underwood and Doug Fister have combined for 31 wins, the most in the WAC ... the three also hold three of the top five spots in strikeouts in the WAC ... leads the WAC in hitting with a .316 team average ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills was suspended with two games left in the regular season for the remainder of the year due to academics.
Hawai'i Rainbows (43-15, 17-6 WAC)
Has won 14 of its last 17 games ... has its most wins since going 49-14 in 1992 ... is 16-4 on the road, the third best record in the nation ... leads the WAC in team ERA (3.61) ... junior Darrell Fisherbaugh leads the WAC in saves with nine ... junior RHP Steven Wright leads the WAC in ERA (2.30) and strikeouts (123) ... his 228 career strikeouts are the most of any active WAC pitcher ... Wright is 5-0 in five road starts with a 0.71 ERA ... Robbie Wilder has been hit by a pitch 20 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC ... Mike Trapasso was one of four head coaches that shared the National Coach of the Year honors as selected by the College Baseball Foundation.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (33-25, 11-13 WAC)
Was 5-3 in its last eight games ... freshman OF/RHP Jericho Jones finished the season hitting .357, currently the fifth best average in the WAC ... he is tied for second in the WAC in home runs with 16, setting a new freshman school record ... Jones was also 5-4 on the mound ... junior OF/DH Brandon Hudson finished the regular season with a hit in 20 straight conference games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... Hudson led the WAC in hitting in conference games only with a .432 average ... senior 3B Ryan Hamilton finished his career with a .345 batting average, the best of any active WAC players with at least 400 at-bats.
Nevada Wolf Pack (26-28, 11-12 WAC)
Had its nine-game winning streak snapped last Saturday when it lost two games in the WAC Tournament ... tied the WAC Tournament record with seven doubles in its 15-1 win over San Jose State ... senior OF Shawn Scobee leads the WAC in home runs with 22, the third most on the school?™s single season records list ... he leads the WAC and is second in the nation in slugging percentage (.847) ... Scobee has also been hit by a pitch 20 times this season, tied for the most in the WAC ... sophomore 3B Matt Bowman is second in the WAC in batting average (.376) ... he had five doubles in the WAC Tournament last week, tying a record.
NMSU Aggies (19-36, 6-18 WAC)
Finished its season losing eight of its last nine games ... senior pitcher Beto Romo recorded a career-high six strikeouts in the Aggies?™ last game against Nevada ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins hit two home runs in the season finale, his third multi-home run game of the year ... Hopkins leads the WAC in hitting with a .403 average but hit just .302 in WAC games ... Hopkins also leads the WAC in RBI (65), walks (53) and on-base percentage (.548) ... he missed 11 games in April due to a hamstring injury ... Hopkins recorded 53 RBI in his first 24 games and had 12 RBI in his last 20 ... senior OF Vince Rodden leads the WAC in stolen bases (33 in 41 attempts).
Sacramento State Hornets (20-37, 8-16 WAC)
Finished the season with a 13-game losing streak ... out-hit Louisiana Tech 18-15, but lost 14-9 to end its season last Friday ... catcher Buddy Morales led the team in hitting (.344) after going 6-for-10 in the Hornets?™ two WAC Tournament games ... sophomore 3B David Flores hit .395 in conference games only, fourth best in the WAC ... junior 2B/OF Gary Johnson did not play in the regular season finale, the only game he missed this season ... won 20 games for the second straight season ... head coach John Smith has 793 career victories (all with the Hornets) ... Sac State was also an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96.
SJSU Spartans (33-26, 12-12 WAC)
Finished the season with an eight-game losing streak ... scored just three runs in its final four games ... led 2-1 with two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning last week against Fresno State before giving up three straight singles to end its season with a 3-2 loss ... had more than 30 wins for the first time since going 45-17 in 2002 ... the Spartans broke a school record in fielding percentage (.979) for the second straight season ... is last in the WAC in hitting (.265) ... OF Ryan Angel has no errors in 127 chances, the most chances by any player in the WAC with a 1.000 fielding percentage ... senior reliever Steve Jones finished his career with 10 saves, tying the school record.