HITTER OF THE WEEK ? Louisiana Tech first baseman Albie Goulder, a junior from Cave Creek, Ariz. (Cactus Shadows HS), was dominating in a doubleheader sweep at Lamar last Monday in Louisiana Tech’s only action of the week. In the first game, he was 3-for-4 with a career-high seven RBIs. Trailing 6-1 in the fourth, Goulder hit a two-run home run to cut into the deficit. The next inning, Goulder struck again with a two-run single to tie the game. The comeback was completed when Goulder cleared the bases with a triple to plate three more runs as the Bulldogs went on to win 12-9. In game two, it was Goulder doing the scoring as he had three runs to go along with one RBI. He was again 3-for-4 in the contest. In the two games combined, Goulder was 6-for-8 (.750) with eight RBIs, four runs, one walk and hit a double, triple and home run. It is Goulder’s first career WAC Hitter of the Week award and fourth for a Bulldog player this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK ? Nevada right-handed pitcher Ryan Rodriguez, a senior from Reno, Nev. (McQueen HS), tossed a complete game shutout as Nevada blanked Utah Valley State, 11-0, on Friday afternoon. Rodriguez allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out five in the game to even his season mark at 3-3. The win was the 26th of his career which now ranks him alone in second place in school history. It is Rodriguez’s fourth career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and second for a Wolf Pack pitcher this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Landon Hernandez, So., C, Hawai?i - was 6-for-11 (.545) with three RBI and four runs in three games last week. In the last two games against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI and 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run.
David Ciarlo, Jr., 2B, Nevada - had two game-winning hits last week as he singled in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth against Utah Valley State on Saturday and then did it again the next day with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. For the week, he was 3-for-9 with two RBI and three runs in three games.
Joe Leghorn, Jr., C, New Mexico State - hit .500 (8-16) with seven RBI in four games. On Tuesday, he was 4-for-5 in a 9-6 win over New Mexico. On Sunday, he hit for the cycle and scored the winning run in a 10-9 victory over Sacramento State that the Aggies trailed at one point, 8-1.
Gabe Jacobo, So., 1B, Sacramento State - was 9-for-16 (.562) in four games last week. He scored nine runs and drove in four while hitting four doubles and two home runs as the Hornets went 3-1.
Aaron Loewenthal, Sr., OF, San Jose State - was 6-for-12 in four games (3-1) with four RBI and two runs for the Spartans last week. He hit his first home run as a Spartan against Pacific on Friday.
Other pitchers nominated:
Aaron Lorio, Jr., Louisiana Tech - made one relief appearance against Lamar and pitched 3.1 innings allowing just two hits, no walks and no runs in picking up his second win of the season.
Alvaro Orozco, Jr., Sacramento State - picked up a win in a 7-3 victory at New Mexico State on Friday after pitching seven innings while allowing nine hits, three runs and a walk.
SMITH WINS 800TH ? Sacramento State won its second WAC series of the year last week, taking two of three from the Aggies in Las Cruces. In the process, Hornets’ coach John Smith picked up his 800th career win (all with Sacramento State). On Friday, the Hornets beat NMSU, 7-3, to give Smith his 800th victory. Smith is in his 29th season as the Hornets’ head coach and currently has a record of 801-794-1.
FULL WAC SCHEDULE ON TAP THIS WEEKEND ? This weekend, the WAC features three conference series. Beginning Friday, Fresno State is at Louisiana Tech, San Jose State hosts New Mexico State and Nevada travels to Hawai?i. Sacramento State (which leads the WAC with a 4-2 conference mark), has a two game-series with Stanford with Saturday’s game on the road and Sunday’s in Sacramento.
STREAKING ? New Mexico State junior catcher Marcus Quade has the WAC’s longest current hitting streak at 19 games. Quade has hit .459 (34-for-74) with 22 RBI and 17 runs scored during his streak. It is the longest streak for a WAC player since San Jose State’s Anthony Contreras finished the 2005 season with a 32-game hitting streak. The WAC record is 45 games set by Arizona State’s Roger Schmuck in 1972.
WALLACE WATCH LIST ? The WAC had five players named to the 2007 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 Justin Frash, UT, Hawai’i; Jericho Jones, P-OF, Louisiana Tech; Matt Bowman, OF, Nevada (who is out for the year due to injury), Adam Harvey, INF, New Mexico State; and Ryan Angel, OF, San Jose State. The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by late May. Additional candidates may be added as the season progresses.
NON-CONFERENCE ? In non-conference games, the WAC is 90-77 (.537). Fresno State is 12-15 (.444), Hawai?i is 19-8 (.704), Louisiana Tech is 16-9 (.640), Nevada is 14-12 (.538), New Mexico State is 10-12 (.455), Sacramento State is 4-13 (.235) and San Jose State is 15-8 (.652). Last year, the WAC was 128-94 (.577) in non-conference matchups. Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents this season, the WAC is 4-12 (.250) as Fresno State is 2-4, Hawai?i is 1-5, Louisiana Tech is 1-2, Nevada is 0-0, New Mexico State is 0-0, Sacramento State is 0-1 and San Jose State is 0-0.
NCAA STATS ? The NCAA will not begin compiling national statistics until Tuesday, April 10.
2007 FORMAT ? 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 ? Last year, the WAC reinstated a postseason tournament for the first time since 1999 season. The top six finishers in the WAC standings will play a double-elimination format at Peccole Park in Reno, Nevada, May 24-27. 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 (12-15, 0-0 WAC)
Opens WAC play this week with a 10-game conference winning streak from last year ... won its own Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic for the second straight year after winning the three-way tiebreaker between Dallas Baptist and Iowa based on least runs allowed ... outfielder Brian Lapin was named the offensive player of the tournament as he hit .556 (10-18) with five RBI and three home runs in the four games ... Clayton Allison was named the all-tournament pitcher after beating Dallas Baptist, 9-5, last Thursday ... he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed just four hits, two run and two walks ... Loren Storey has stolen nine bases in nine attempts this season.
Hawai?i Rainbows (19-8, 0-0 WAC)
Enters WAC play this week after winning its final 10 conference games last year ... has won 10 of its last 12 games ... Kris Sanchez is one of two WAC players hitting over .400 (.404) and leads the WAC in hits with 40 ... Joshua Schneider leads the WAC in ERA (2.28) ... UH leads the WAC in team ERA (2.65) and is the only WAC team with an ERA under 4.50 on the year ... four of the top six pitchers in the WAC by ERA are from Hawai?i ... Mark Rodrigues leads the WAC in wins with six ... begins the season with 30 of its first 33 games at home ... nine of its wins came against teams that were winless at the time (Chicago State, 0-11; Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 0-13).
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (17-11, 1-2 WAC)
Has a three-game winning streak ... has not played since sweeping Lamar in a doubleheader on March 12 ... hosts Fresno State this weekend and beat the Bulldogs by one in each game played in Ruston last year ... plays 10 of its next 11 games at home ... is 7-8 in its last 15 games after putting together a nine-game winning streak ... Brian Rike leads the WAC in runs scored (41), RBI (37), home runs (12), total bases (83) and slugging percentage (.776) ... he is also tied for the WAC lead in stolen bases (10) ... Brandon Hudson is 4-1 with a 3.20 ERA but has not pitched enough innings to qualify for inclusion in the WAC’s ERA stats.
Nevada Wolf Pack (14-12, 0-0 WAC)
Has a four-game winning streak and has won 10 of its last 13 games ... opens WAC play at Hawai?i after winning its final six conference games last year ... plays six of its next seven on the road before an eight-game homestand ... has not hit a home run in 11 games ... has nine triples this year after hitting just six all of last year ... Matt Suleski has had two hits in each of the past four games ... he is hitting .457 in 19 games on the season ... Ryan Rodriguez leads the WAC in strikeouts with 50 ... he is the WAC’s active career leader in wins (26), innings pitched (333.0) and strikeouts (274), all ranking him second in school history.
NMSU Aggies (11-14, 1-2 WAC)
Has lost three of its last four games after winning four of its previous five ... lost at New Mexico on Tuesday, losing the season series against the Lobos, 3-1 ... Marcus Quade leads the WAC in hitting (.407) ... his 19-game hitting streak is eight shy of tying the school record of 27 set by Gabe Veloz in 2002 ... Quade hit for the cycle in Sunday’s game against Sacramento State, the first time an Aggie had ever accomplished that feat ... Richard Stout is tied for the WAC lead in stolen bases (10) ... Joseph Scaperotta leads the WAC in doubles with 12 ... the Aggies lead the WAC in team batting (.314).
Sacramento State Hornets (8-15, 4-2 WAC)
Is 4-2 in WAC play and in first place but is just 4-13 in non-conference games this year ... has won six of its last 11 games after a 2-10 start to the season ... led 4-2 in the top of the ninth on Wednesday against San Francisco but gave up four runs to the Dons to lose, 6-4 ... it was the second straight ninth inning loss for the Hornets ... tied a season-high with 15 hits in Sunday’s 10-9 loss at New Mexico State ... was 2-1 in both of its first WAC series this year with both being played on the road ... Gabe Jacobo is fourth in the WAC in hitting with a .389 batting average ... he is tied for second in doubles with 10 after hitting two at New Mexico State last Friday.
SJSU Spartans (15-8, 0-0 WAC)
Has won four of its last five games ... beat Southern Utah on Tuesday to start a six-game homestand and is in the midst of a stretch where it plays 13 of 14 games at home ... in the 6-1 win over Southern Utah, five Spartans were hit by pitches ... Ryan Angel is the WAC’s active career leader in games played (177), at-bats (643), runs (108), hits (192), RBI (97), doubles (48) and stolen bases (41) ... Angel has not committed an error since Feb. 26, 2005 (225 chances) ... the Spartans lead the WAC in fielding percentage (.976) for the third year in a row ... SJSU set school records the past two years with a fielding percentage of .978 in 2005 and .979 in 2006.