14 PLAYERS TAKEN IN MLB DRAFT ? The WAC had 14 players picked in Major League Baseball’s Annual First-Year Player Draft in June. Fresno State had a WAC-high four players drafted while Hawai?i and Nevada had three, Louisiana Tech two and Sacramento State and San Jose State with one each. Louisiana Tech outfielder Brian Rike was the first WAC player taken in the draft going to Colorado in the second round with the 72nd pick. Rike was the 2006 WAC Player of the Year.
Rd.-Pick, Name, Pos., School, Team
2-72, Brian Rike, OF, Louisiana Tech, Colorado
16-492, Mitch Lively, RHP, Sacramento State, Colorado
17-525, Ryan Rodriguez, RHP, Nevada, Seattle
18-552, Brian Lapin, OF, Fresno State, Colorado
21-657, Tyler Davis, RHP, Hawai?i, San Diego
21-662, Ozzie Lewis, OF, Fresno State, Minnesota
23-703, Ian Harrington, LHP, Hawai?i, Arizona
24-732, Brandon Miller, LHP, Fresno State, Colorado
24-735, Matt Renfree, RHP, Nevada, Seattle
27-840, Justin Frash, 3B, Hawai?i, Oakland
27-841, Steve Susdorf, OF, Fresno State, Detroit
31-945, Rod Scurry, RHP, Nevada, Seattle
33-1015, Donato Giovanatto, OF, San Jose State, L.A. Angels
50-1440, Dylan Moseley, RHP, Louisiana Tech, Arizona
FRESNO STATE DROPS REGIONAL FINAL ? For the second straight year, Fresno State advanced to the regional finals, but for the second straight year, the Bulldogs fell to Cal State Fullerton. This season, Fresno State opened with a 6-2 win over national #8 seed and host San Diego. The Bulldogs then lost, 6-4, to Cal State Fullerton to drop into the loser’s bracket. Fresno State rebounded with an 11-6 win over Minnesota, but then fell, 13-2, to the Titans in the championship round. A total of five Bulldogs earned all-regional honors: 3B-Tom Mendonca (.375, 5 runs, 3 doubles, 1 HR, 2 RBI), C-Danny Grubb (.400, 3 RBI), OF-Steve Susdorf (.316, 3 RBI, 3 doubles), P-Tanner Scheppers (2 app., 1.42 ERA), and DH-Ozzie Lewis (.375, 3 RBI, 2 doubles).
RIKE EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS ? Louisiana Tech outfielder Brian Rike was named to three All-America teams in 2007. Rike was a second-team selection by both Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. He was a third-team honoree by the ABCA after earning all-regional honors.
THREE NAMED FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS ? The WAC had three players named to the 2007 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America Team: DH Vinnie Catricala, Hawai?i; 1B Shaun Kort, Nevada; and SS Kyle Bellows, San Jose State. Kort was also named to Ping!’s freshman All-America second team and Rivals.com’s freshman team. Bellows added third-team honors from Ping!.
FRESNO STATE WINS SECOND STRAIGHT WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE ? Fresno State beat host Nevada, 17-4, to claim the WAC’s tournament title for the second year in a row. The Bulldogs got on the board in the first inning on center fielder Brian Lapin’s two-run shot. Nevada halved the lead in the bottom of the first, but Fresno State added five in the second including three on another Lapin home run. Lapin hit his third of the game in the fourth giving the Bulldogs a 10-2 lead. Fresno State put the game away with six in the seventh.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM ? Fresno State placed three players, including the MVP, on the WAC’s all-tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. The 11-member team: C-Landon Hernandez, Hawai?i; 1B-Ryan Angel, San Jose State; 2B-David Ciarlo, Nevada; SS-Kyle Bellows, San Jose State; 3B-Jason Rodriguez, Nevada; OF-Brian Lapin, Fresno State; OF-Loren Storey, Fresno State; OF-Kevin Macdonald, Hawai?i; DH-Shaun Kort, Nevada; SP-Clayton Allison, Fresno State; RP-Matt Renfree, Nevada. Lapin was named the tournament MVP after hitting .412 (7-17) with 14 RBI, five home runs and six runs scored. He tied two tournament records with three home runs in a single game and five for the tournament. He was one shy of tying the tournament record of 15 RBI. In the championship game against Nevada, he was 3-for-4 with three home runs, seven RBI and was walked once.
ATTENDANCE ? The 2007 WAC Baseball Tournament was attended by a total of 4,553 fans over the four days (1,138/day). The title game drew 937 to Peccole Park in Reno, Nevada.
FRESNO STATE WINS SECOND STRAIGHT REGULAR SEASON TITLE ? Fresno State won its second straight WAC regular season title with a 17-7 record in WAC play. The Bulldogs finished two games ahead of second place Nevada. It was the sixth regular season conference or divisional title for Fresno State since joining the WAC in 1993.
SUSDORF NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT ? Fresno State junior outfielder Steve Susdorf was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII team. To be eligible, 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 23. Fresno State led the conference with six players on the all-WAC first team. Both Louisiana Tech and Nevada had four while Sacramento State placed one on the first team. Repeat first team selections from 2006 included Fresno State’s Erik Wetzel, Loren Storey and Steve Susdorf and Louisiana Tech’s Brandon Hudson.
TOP INDIVIDUAL HONORS ? Besides selecting all-WAC teams, the coaches also voted for the league’s top individual awards. Louisiana Tech outfielder Brian Rike was named the Player of the Year, Nevada’s Ryan Rodriguez earned Pitcher of the Year honors, and the Freshman of the Year award went to Nevada first baseman Shaun Kort. Louisiana Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux was selected as Coach of the Year. Rike, a junior from Richmond, Texas (Stephen F. Austin HS), hit .370 with 28 RBI, seven doubles, nine home runs, five stolen bases and scored 28 runs in 24 conference games. Rodriguez, a senior from Reno, Nevada (McQueen), earned the WAC’s Pitcher of the Year award after putting together a record of 9-7 in 18 appearances. He had an ERA of 3.92 and is second in the WAC in strikeouts with 106. Rodriguez is the WAC’s active career leader in wins (32), innings pitched (398.2) and strikeouts (330). Kort, a native of Woodland Hills, Calif. (El Camino Real HS), hit .424 in 24 conference games. He had 23 RBI, nine doubles, three home runs and scored 17 runs. Simoneaux, in his fifth season with Louisiana Tech, led the Bulldogs to a 35-24 overall record. Louisiana Tech finished the conference season in third place with a 14-10 record, its best finish and record since joining the WAC in 2002. It’s Simoneaux’s first career WAC Coach of the Year award.
STREAKING ? Sacramento State sophomore first baseman Gabe Jacobo ended the season with the WAC’s longest active hitting streak at nine games. Jacobo hit .459 (17-for-37) with seven RBI and seven runs scored during his streak. The longest streak this season 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.
NON-CONFERENCE ? In non-conference games, the WAC was 121-110 (.524). Fresno State was 17-22 (.436), Hawai?i was 22-10 (.688), Louisiana Tech was 21-12 (.636), Nevada was 17-15 (.531), New Mexico State was 16-16 (.500), Sacramento State was 7-24 (.226) and San Jose State was 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 was 5-14 (.263) as Fresno State was 3-4, Hawai?i was 1-6, Louisiana Tech was 1-3, Nevada was 0-0, New Mexico State was 0-0, Sacramento State was 0-1 and San Jose State was 0-0.
FORMAT CHANGE ? The WAC is comprised of the six baseball playing members of the conference along with an affiliate member ? Sacramento State. In 2008, the seven teams will play a 32-game league schedule. Each team will plays a four-game series home and home versus two opponents and a four-game series either home or away against the other four opponents. In 2007, the series were all three games.
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.