HITTER OF THE WEEK ? Louisiana Tech first baseman Albie Goulder, a junior from Cave Creek, Ariz. (Cactus Shadows HS), hit .667 (6-9) with five runs, eight RBI and four home runs as Louisiana Tech took two of three from San Jose State over the weekend. Goulder was 2-for-3 in each game and had at least one home run in each contest. On Saturday, he drove in four on two dingers in a 12-9 win and added three more RBI in Sunday’s 7-1 win. He was also walked once and hit by a pitch during the series. It is Goulder’s second career WAC Hitter of the Week award and the sixth for a Bulldog player this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK ? New Mexico State right-handed pitcher Kyle McFadden, a junior from Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS), earned a win and a save in his two appearances last week. On Tuesday, McFadden came into the game against Hawai?i-Hilo in the eight inning with the score 5-4 with two on and two outs. He got a ground ball out and pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save. In Saturday’s first game against Hawai?i, he started the game at third base and then moved to the mound in the sixth inning with one out and two on and the Rainbows leading 6-5. After loading the bases on a hit batsman, he started a double play by throwing the runner out at home and went on to finish the game allowing just one hit with no walks in the 8-6 victory. For the week, he allowed no runs, one hit and one walk in 5.0 innings pitched. He also got a hit in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. It is McFadden’s first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and the first ever for an Aggie pitcher.
Other hitters nominated:
Dan Grubb, So., C, Fresno State - hit .400 (4-10) in four games for the Bulldogs. He scored two runs, was walked five times and hit a home run during the week.
Chris Siewert, Sr., SS, Nevada - was 6-for-11 (.455) in three games against Sacramento State. He scored three runs, drove in six and hit a double and a home run. His best game came on Friday when he was 3-for-4 with three RBI.
Adam Harvey, Sr., DH/C, New Mexico State - appeared in three games against Hawai?i over the weekend. He came into Friday’s game as a pinch-hitter and got a hit and scored a run. In Saturday’s first game, he was 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBI and scored three times. For the week, he was 5-for-9 (.556) from the plate.
Donata Giovanatto, Sr., OF, San Jose State - hit .500 (8-16) in four games for the Spartans last week. He was 2-for-4 in each game and had a total of nine RBI while scoring four times.
Other pitchers nominated:
Clayton Allison, Jr., Fresno State - made two appearances and allowed seven hits, two runs and two walks over seven innings.
Dylan Moseley, So., Louisiana Tech - pitched eight innings of Tech’s 7-1 win over San Jose State on Sunday. He allowed eight hits, one run and one walk while striking out two.
Matt Renfree, Sr., Nevada - threw 4.1 innings of relief and picked up the win in Nevada’s 11-5 win over Sacramento State on Saturday. He allowed just one hit, no walks and no runs while striking out seven.
FRESNO STATE HOLDS SLIM LEAD ? Fresno State continues to sit atop the WAC standings, but enters this weekend with just a half-game lead over Louisiana Tech. Conference play begins Thursday when Sacramento State hosts New Mexico State. On Friday, Fresno State is at San Jose State and Nevada hosts Louisiana Tech. Hawai?i heads to the Big Island for a three-game series with Hawai?i-Hilo beginning Thursday.
WAC.TV ? The Western Athletic Conference officially launched WAC.tv prior to the 2006-07 season. WAC.tv, the Internet based media platform of the Western Athletic Conference, will offer selected baseball games this season. Go to www.wac.tv to sign up or login.
STREAKING ? Louisiana Tech senior shortstop has the WAC’s longest current hitting streak at 17 games. Winn has hit .439 (29-66) with 15 RBIs and 12 runs scored during his streak. The longest hitting streak by a WAC player this year was 33 games by New Mexico State’s Marcus Quade. The WAC record is 45 games set by Arizona State’s Roger Schmuck in 1972.
WALLACE WATCH LIST ? The WAC has two players on the revised Wallace Watch that was released on May 2. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented by the College Baseball Foundation and given to the national college baseball player of the year. The WAC’s candidates are both from Louisiana Tech: junior outfielder Brian Rike and senior utility player Brandon Hudson. Prior to the start of the season, the WAC had five players on the watch list: 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.
RIKE A GOLDEN SPIKES SEMIFINALIST ? Louisiana Tech’s Brian Rike was named one of 50 semifinalists for the 2007 Golden Spikes Award as announced by USA Baseball. The award is given annually to baseball’s premier amateur player. Rike is among the national leaders in home runs, runs scored and RBI. The winner will be announced July 29 during the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
NON-CONFERENCE ? In non-conference games, the WAC is 110-93 (.542). Fresno State is 15-17 (.469), Hawai?i is 19-10 (.655), Louisiana Tech is 20-11 (.645), Nevada is 16-14 (.533), New Mexico State is 15-13 (.536), Sacramento State is 5-18 (.217) and San Jose State is 20-10 (.667). Last year, the WAC was 128-94 (.577) in non-conference matchups. Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents this season, the WAC is 4-14 (.222) as Fresno State is 2-4, Hawai?i is 1-6, Louisiana Tech is 1-3, Nevada is 0-0, New Mexico State is 0-0, Sacramento State is 0-1 and San Jose State is 0-0.
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.
WAC 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 form follows at the end of this release. Credential requests are due back to the WAC office by Monday, May 14. There will not be a media hotel for the tournament.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (26-24, 11-4 WAC)
Has lost five games in a row for the first time since April of 2005 ... faces SJSU this weekend and was 6-1 versus the Spartans last year ... Justin Wilson struck out nine batters in 5.2 innings of the Bulldogs’ 16-9 loss to Cal Poly on Saturday ... was shut out, 13-0, in Sunday’s game, the third time Fresno State has been blanked this year ... senior OF Loren Storey leads the WAC in stolen bases with 18 (21 attempts) ... the Bulldogs have five players with six or more home runs (Steve Susdorf-8, Storey-7, Tom Mendonca-7, Todd Sandell-6, Alan Ahmady-6), the most in the WAC ... junior RHP Allison Clayton leads the WAC in wins with eight.
Hawai?i Rainbows (28-19, 9-9 WAC)
Is 1-3 in its current 10-game road trip ... is 4-8 in its last 12 games ... scored a season-high 21 runs at NMSU last Friday, the most for the Rainbows since 1999 (34 vs. Air Force) ... leadoff hitter Jonathan Hee scored seven runs last week ... travels to Hawai?i-Hilo this weekend and has beaten the Vulcans 10 straight times ... is averaging a WAC-best 2,605 fans per home game ... Hawai?i leads the WAC in team ERA (3.81) ... has three of the top six pitchers in the WAC by ERA ... senior 1B Kris Sanchez leads the WAC in hitting (.388) and doubles (19) ... his 10 HRs this season are the ninth most in school history ... sophomore RHP Matt Daly leads the WAC in ERA (2.75).
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (32-17, 12-6 WAC)
Has the WAC’s only winning road record (10-7) ... leads the WAC in runs scored by 69 with 400 ... C Matt Combs threw out all four Spartans attempting to steal last week ... senior SS Dennis Winn is the fifth Bulldog to put together a hitting streak of at least 10 games this year ... junior OF Brian Rike leads the WAC in runs scored (68), RBI (61), home runs (20-one shy of the school record held by four different Bulldog players), total bases (141), slugging percentage (.762) and is third in stolen bases (16) ... he has just one home run in the last 11 games ... his 20 homers rank second in the nation ... sophomore RHP Luke Burnett leads the WAC in strikeouts (90).
Nevada Wolf Pack (25-21, 9-6 WAC)
Senior C Konrad Schmidt stole two bases in Sunday’s game at Sacramento State, tying for the most by a Wolf Pack player in a game this year ... has shut out four opponents this year, the most since 2000 (4) ... has 15 triples this year after hitting just six all of last year ... three of the top six hitters in the WAC are from Nevada ... in WAC games only, junior OF Terry Walsh leads the league in hitting (.489) while Schmidt is second (.426) ... senior RHP Ryan Rodriguez is the WAC’s active career leader and school record-holder in wins (29), innings pitched (372.1-8th in WAC history) and strikeouts (309) ... Gary Powers picked up his 750th career win in Friday’s 8-6 win at Sac State.
NMSU Aggies (21-25, 6-12 WAC)
Has won four of its last five games ... hit a season-high four home runs (two by Adam Harvey) in Saturday’s first game against Hawai?i ... Harvey became the first Aggie to hit two home runs in a game this season ... was 4-1 against teams from Hawaii last week (2-0 versus Hawai?i-Hilo and 2-1 versus Hawai?i) ... the Aggies are 11-1 in games decided by two runs or less ... sophomore 2B/SS Richard Stout is second in the WAC in stolen bases with 17 ... junior C Marcus Quade has gotten a hit in 39 of the last 40 games ... Joseph Scaperotta has hit safely in his last 12 WAC games ... is the only team in the WAC to not post a shutout this year.
Sacramento State Hornets (13-32, 7-14 WAC)
Has won its last two games after losing 10 of its previous 11 ... has won the third game in three of its last four conference series ... finishes its WAC schedule this week when it hosts New Mexico State ... senior OF Montana Dye hit two home runs in the three-game series against Nevada last week ... sophomore 1B Gabe Jacobo leads Sacramento State in hitting (.354), runs (35), RBI (35), doubles (12) and home runs (10) ... junior RHP Mitch Lively leads the WAC in saves with six ... junior RHP Alvaro Orozco is the Hornets’ top pitcher with a record of 4-4 and an ERA of 4.78 ... the Hornets are last in the WAC in hitting (.276).
SJSU Spartans (27-19, 6-9 WAC)
Has won five of its last eight games ... faces Fresno State this weekend and was 1-6 versus the Bulldogs last year ... senior OF Donato Giovanatto has gone 2-for-4 in five consecutive games and has driven in 13 during that span ... he has hit safely in 14 straight games, the longest streak for a Spartan this season and the second longest active streak in the WAC ... senior OF/DH Ryan Angel is the WAC’s active career leader in games played (200), at-bats (732), runs (130), hits (221), doubles (52) and stolen bases (48) ... SJSU leads the WAC in fielding percentage (.972) ... has the best winning percentage among the nine Division I baseball teams in Northern California.