HITTER OF THE WEEK ? Nevada first baseman Shaun Kort, a freshman from Woodland Hills, Calif. (El Camino Real HS), hit .647 (11-17) with five runs, four RBI, three doubles and a triple in four games last week. In winning two of three games against Louisiana Tech over the weekend, Kort was 10-for-13 (.769) with four runs, three doubles (one in each game) and four RBI. He opened the series against the Bulldogs going 4-for-5 with two RBI on Friday and was 4-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored on Sunday. At one point, he had hits in five consecutive at-bats. It is Kort’s second career WAC Hitter of the Week award and the fourth for a Wolf Pack player this year.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK ? Hawai?i right-handed pitcher Matt Daly, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif. (Esperanza HS), threw a one-hit complete-game shutout in Hawai?i’s 8-0 victory at Hawai?i-Hilo on Friday. Daly took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up a single with one out. He walked the leadoff hitter to start the game before retiring the next 25 batters. He also struck out a career-high nine in the game. It is Daly’s first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and the fourth for a Rainbow pitcher this year.
Other hitters nominated:
Ozzie Lewis, Jr., OF, Fresno State - hit .500 (6-12) in a three-game sweep of San Jose State last week. He scored five runs, drove in six and hit two home runs during the series.
Justin Frash, Sr., 3B, Hawai?i - was 4-for-8 in a three-game sweep at Hawai?i-Hilo. He hit two home runs, drove in three and scored six times.
Montana Dye, Sr., OF, Sacramento State - hit .455 (5-11) in four games last week (4-0). He scored two runs, hit two doubles and hit a key two-run home run in the Hornets’ 3-2 win over New Mexico State on Friday.
Other pitchers nominated:
Justin Wilson, So., Fresno State - threw six innings and recorded his sixth win of the season in a 9-4 victory over San Jose State on Saturday. Wilson allowed four hits, one run, and four walks while striking out six.
Rod Scurry, Jr., Nevada - pitched seven shutout innings in a 9-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Scurry allowed five hits, no walks and struck out seven Bulldogs.
Alvaro Orozco, Jr., Sacramento State - earned his fifth win of the year after throwing seven shutout innings in Sacramento State’s 11-0 win against New Mexico State last Thursday. He allowed just three hits, five walks and struck out two.
DALY NAMED NCBWA NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK ? The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) named Hawai’i sophomore right-hander Matthew Daly its National Pitcher of the Week on May 8. With this honor, Daly automatically is named to the watch list for the Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.
FOUR TEAMS CLINCH WAC TOURNAMENT BERTH ? With two weekends left in the regular season, four of the six spots in the WAC Tournament have been filled by Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada and Sacramento State. Fresno State sits atop the WAC standings with a two and a half game lead over Louisiana Tech. Fresno State would clinch the regular season title with a sweep of Louisiana Tech this weekend in Fresno, or if it wins two of three and Nevada loses at least once against Hawai?i. The Rainbows can get a spot in the tournament if it wins just one of its last six games or if New Mexico State loses one of its last three. San Jose State would earn the last spot by winning two of three games against New Mexico State this weekend. With a sweep of the Spartans, the Aggies would earn a spot in the tournament. Sacramento State has completed its WAC schedule while Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State finish this weekend.
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 Dennis Winn has the WAC’s longest current hitting streak at 20 games. Winn has hit .434 (33-76) with 15 RBIs and 14 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 116-99 (.540). Fresno State is 15-20 (.429), Hawai?i is 22-10 (.688), Louisiana Tech is 20-11 (.645), Nevada is 17-15 (.531), New Mexico State is 15-13 (.536), Sacramento State is 6-19 (.240) and San Jose State is 21-11 (.656). 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 (29-24, 14-4 WAC)
Swept San Jose State last week to snap a five-game losing streak ... had 20 hits in two games against SJSU (Friday and Sunday), tying its season-high ... allowed 17 hits on Sunday, tying for the most given up by the Bulldogs this year ... the 37 combined hits (including eight doubles) were the most in a WAC game this season ... is now 9-1 against the Spartans since last year ... the Bulldogs have six players with six or more home runs (Steve Susdorf-8, Tom Mendonca-8, Alan Ahmady-7, Loren Storey-7, Todd Sandell-6, Ozzie Lewis-6), the most in the WAC ... junior RHP Allison Clayton leads the WAC in wins with nine.
Hawai?i Rainbows (31-19, 9-9 WAC)
Swept Hawai?i-Hilo last weekend to run its winning streak against the Vulcans to 13 ... senior LHP Ian Harrington went into the seventh innings with a no-hitter against Hawai?i-Hilo last Thursday ... finishes up a 10-game road trip (currently 4-3) this weekend at Nevada ... is averaging a WAC-best 2,605 fans per home game ... Hawai?i leads the WAC in team ERA (3.64) ... has three of the top four pitchers in the WAC by ERA ... senior 1B Kris Sanchez leads the WAC in doubles (20) ... his 10 HRs this season are the ninth most in school history ... sophomore RHP Matt Daly leads the WAC in ERA (2.35) ... is one of two teams in the WAC with a winning road record (9-8).
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (33-19, 13-8 WAC)
Is 4-5 in its last nine games ... is one of two teams in the WAC with a winning road record (11-9) ... leads the WAC in runs scored by 78 with 418 ... 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 (70), RBI (63), home runs (20-one shy of the school record held by four different Bulldog players), total bases (146), slugging percentage (.749) and is fourth in stolen bases (15) ... he has just one home run in the last 14 games ... his 20 homers rank fourth in the nation ... sophomore RHP Luke Burnett leads the WAC in strikeouts (94).
Nevada Wolf Pack (28-22, 11-7 WAC)
Has won three of its last four games ... tied a season-high with five doubles in a 9-7 win over Louisiana Tech last Friday ... has shut out four opponents this year, the most since 2000 (4) ... has 16 triples this year after hitting just six all of last year ... freshman 1B Shaun Kort leads the WAC in hitting (.404) ... in WAC games only, junior OF Terry Walsh leads the league in hitting (.463) while Kort is second (.447) ... senior RHP Ryan Rodriguez is the WAC’s active career leader and school record-holder in wins (30), innings pitched (378.1-7th in WAC history) and strikeouts (313) ... his 89 strikeouts this year are the eighth most in a season in school history.
NMSU Aggies (21-28, 6-15 WAC)
Was swept at Sacramento State last week, the third time the Aggies have been swept in a WAC series this year ... allowed a season-high four home runs in Thursday’s 11-0 loss against the Hornets ... the Aggies are 11-2 in games decided by two runs or less ... C Joe Leghorn is second in the WAC in hitting with a .386 batting average ... sophomore 2B/SS Richard Stout leads the WAC in stolen bases with 20 ... junior 1B Marcus Quade was held hitless in two of three games against Sacramento State last week after getting a hit in 39 of his previous 40 games ... Joseph Scaperotta has hit safely in his last 15 WAC games ... is the only team in the WAC to not post a shutout this year.
Sacramento St. Hornets (16-33, 10-14 WAC)
Had its season-best five-game winning streak snapped against UC Davis on Tuesday ... completed its WAC schedule with a sweep of New Mexico State last week ... the sweep was the first for the Hornets this year ... allowed just five runs against NMSU, the fewest in a series since 1995 ... won two more conference games than it did a year ago ... sophomore 1B Gabe Jacobo leads Sacramento State in hitting (.347), runs (37), RBI (37), doubles (12) and home runs (11) ... junior RHP Mitch Lively leads the WAC in saves with seven ... junior RHP Alvaro Orozco is the Hornets’ top pitcher with a record of 5-4 and an ERA of 4.31 ... the Hornets are last in the WAC in hitting (.279).
SJSU Spartans (27-23, 6-12 WAC)
Has lost six of its last seven games ... has lost nine of its last 10 games against Fresno State ... tied a season-high with five doubles against the Bulldogs on Sunday ... senior OF Donato Giovanatto had his 14-game hitting streak snapped against Fresno State on Friday ... it was the longest hitting streak by a Spartan this year ... senior OF/DH Ryan Angel is the WAC’s active career leader in games played (204), at-bats (751), runs (131), hits (226), doubles (53) 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.