The 2006 WAC baseball season came to an end in June. Read more for a complete wrap-up of the season along with postseason awards, final NCAA statistical rankings and WAC statistics.
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17 PLAYERS TAKEN IN MLB DRAFT ? The WAC had 17 players picked in Major League Baseball’s Annual First-Year Player Draft in June. Fresno State had a WAC-high six players drafted while Hawai?i had four, New Mexico State had three and Nevada and San Jose State had two each. Hawai?i pitcher Steven Wright was the first WAC player taken in the draft going to Cleveland in the second round with the 56th pick. It is the highest a Rainbow player had been selected since Mark Johnson was taken in the first round in 1996. Fresno State had six players selected, including five in the first 10 rounds, the most taken in the first 10 rounds in Bulldog history. New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins was a fifth round selection of the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the highest an Aggie player had ever been drafted.
Rd.-Pick, Name, Pos., School, MLB Team
2-56, Steven Wright, P, Hawai?i, Cleveland
3-99, Nick Moresi, OF, Fresno State, Houston
5-150, Luke Hopkins, 1B, New Mexico State, Toronto
5-153, Andy Underwood, P, Fresno State, San Diego
7-201, Doug Fister, P, Fresno State, Seattle
9-267, Eddie Romero, P, Fresno State, Arizona
10-308, Christian Vitters, SS, Fresno State, Oakland
12-350, Kent Sakamoto, 1B, Fresno State, Pittsburgh
14-420, Shawn Scobee, OF, Nevada, Toronto
16-488, Branden Dewing, P, San Jose State, Oakland
21-642, John Vincent, OF, New Mexico State, L.A. Angels
21-645, Matt Inouye, OF, Hawai?i, Chi. White Sox
23-702, Tim Schoeninger, P, Nevada, L.A. Angels
25-743, Esteban Lopez, C, Hawai?i, L.A. Dodgers
31-917, Brandon Lance, C, New Mexico State, Kansas City
41-1221, Brandon Fromm, 1B, San Jose State, Seattle
50-1499, Darrell Fisherbaugh, P, Hawai?i, Boston
HAWAI?I DROPS REGIONAL FINAL TO OREGON STATE ? Hawai?i made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years and advanced to the finals of the Oregon State regional before losing to the host and eventual national champions, 12-3. The Rainbows began the tournament by jumping out to a 5-0 lead over Kansas in its first game, but lost to the Jayhawks, 9-6. Hawai?i came back and beat Wright State, 5-3, and Kansas in a rematch, 9-5, before losing to the Beavers. A total of four Rainbow players earned all-regional honors: P Ian Harrington (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 9 IP), DH Derek Dupree (.471, 4 runs, 1 triple), OF Matt Inouye (.467, 4 runs, 6 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 home runs), and 3B Justin Frash (.231, 3 RBI, 3 walks).
FRESNO STATE BOWS OUT IN REGIONAL FINAL ? Fresno State also advanced to its regional final before losing to host Cal State Fullerton. The Bulldogs opened its tournament action with a 9-8 win over San Diego and then lost to Cal State Fullerton, 9-2. Fresno State rebounded with another 9-8 win against San Diego, but again lost to the Titans, this time, 10-2. OF Nick Moresi (.500, 3 runs, 7 RBI, 2 home runs) and 1B Kent Sakamoto (.429, 5 runs, 8 RBI, 3 home runs) were named to the all-regional team.
WAC WITH TWO ? This season marked the first time that the WAC 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 past eight tournaments missing only the 2004 and 2006 seasons.
WRIGHT AN ALL-AMERICAN ? Hawai?i pitcher Steven Wright earned several All-America honors this year. The junior was named to the College Baseball Foundation team, Baseball America’s second team, Rivals.com’s second team, Louisville Slugger’s third team, and the ABCA’s third team. Wright led the WAC with a 2.30 ERA and was 11-2 with a save in 16 appearances.
THREE NAMED FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS ? The WAC had three players named to the 2006 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American Team: 2B Eric Wetzel, Fresno State; RP Matt Daly, Hawai?i; and OF Jericho Jones, Louisiana Tech. Daly and Jones were also named to Rivals.com’s Freshman All-America second team and Jones was included on Baseball America’s Freshman All-America second team.
ABCA ALL-REGIONALS SELECTIONS ? Hawai?i pitcher Steven Wright and New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins were named to the West All-Region and Midwest All-Region teams, respectively, as announced by the ABCA and Rawlings.
FRESNO STATE WINS 2006 WAC TOURNAMENT ? Fresno State beat Hawai?i, 8-4, in the title game to claim the WAC’s postseason baseball tournament crown. 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 was the first title for Fresno State since it won the 1998 West Division crown.
THREE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT ? New Mexico State second baseman Jason Long, Fresno State pitcher Doug Fister and Fresno State outfielder Steve Susdorf were 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-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. 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 led the nation in walks per game in the NCAA’s final statistics release. The sophomore averaged 1.20 walks per contest. He was also ranked in RBI per game (2nd-1.48), slugging percentage (4th-.799), home runs per game (6th-0.41) and batting average (19th-.403). Other players ranked in the top five were: Shawn Scobee, Nevada (2nd in slugging percentage-.847) and Eddie Romero, Fresno State (3rd in wins-13).
STREAKING ? Fresno State sophomore outfielder Ozzie Lewis has the WAC’s longest current hitting streak at 15 games. Lewis hit .444 (24-for-54) with 12 RBI and 14 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 finished the season ranked 22nd by Baseball America and 28th by Collegiate Baseball. Both the Bulldogs and Hawai?i also received votes in the USA Today coaches poll and by the NCBWA.
NON-CONFERENCE ? In non-conference games, the WAC was 128-94 (.577). Fresno State was 23-12 (.657), Hawai?i was 25-9 (.735), Louisiana Tech was 21-10 (.677), Nevada was 13-14 (.481), New Mexico State was 13-18 (.419), Sacramento State was 12-19 (.387) and San Jose State was 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 was 12-20 (.375) as Fresno State was 3-5, Hawai?i was 3-4, Louisiana Tech was 2-4, Nevada was 1-5, New Mexico State was 3-1, Sacramento State was 0-1 and San Jose State was 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 (45-18, 18-6 WAC)
Put together 17- and 16-game winning streaks this year ... was undefeated in both the months of March and May ... in the WAC Tournament, hit .342 and had a 2.50 ERA in posting a 4-0 record ... junior LHP Eddie Romero led the WAC in wins and was 13-2 on the season ... the trio of Romero, Andy Underwood and Doug Fister combined for 33 wins, the most in the WAC ... the three also held three of the top four spots in strikeouts in the WAC ... the Bulldogs led the WAC in hitting with a .313 team average ... sophomore 3B Beau Mills was suspended for the remainder of the year with two games left in the regular season due to academics.
Hawai?i Rainbows (45-17, 17-6 WAC)
Had its most wins since going 49-14 in 1992 ... was 16-5 on the road, the third best record in the nation ... led the WAC in team ERA (3.79) ... junior Darrell Fisherbaugh led the WAC in saves with nine and his 17 career saves are tied for the fifth most in WAC history ... junior RHP Steven Wright led the WAC in ERA (2.30) and strikeouts (123) ... his 228 career strikeouts are the most of any active WAC pitcher ... Wright was 5-0 in five road starts with a 0.71 ERA ... Robbie Wilder was hit by a pitch 22 times this season, the most in the WAC ... Mike Trapasso was one of four head coaches named National Coach of the Year 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, the fifth best average in the WAC ... he was 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)
Lost its final two games of the season, snapping a nine-game winning streak ... tied the WAC Tournament record with seven doubles in its 15-1 win over San Jose State on May 25 ... senior OF Shawn Scobee led the WAC in home runs with 22, the third most on the school’s single season records list ... he led the WAC and was second in the nation in slugging percentage (.847) ... Scobee has 40 home runs in his career, tied for the 12th most in WAC history ... sophomore 3B Matt Bowman was second in the WAC in batting average (.376) ... he had five doubles in the 2006 WAC Tournament, 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’ final game of the season against Nevada ... sophomore 1B Luke Hopkins hit two home runs in the season finale, his third multi-home run game of the year ... Hopkins led the WAC in hitting with a .403 average but hit just .302 in WAC games ... Hopkins also led 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 led 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 in the WAC Tournament ... catcher Buddy Morales led the team in hitting (.344) for the season 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 against Fresno State in the WAC Tournament 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 ... OF Ryan Angel had 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.