TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (3-6, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs went 1-3 last week with a win at No. 22 San Diego State ... The team also dropped a 10-inning 6-5 decision at Santa Clara on Tuesday night ... Gavin Hedstrom has led the Bulldogs at the plate over the past five games, hitting .400 with six hits, including a pair of doubles ... Erik Wetzel has also been impressive at the plate with a .391 average, nine hits and four RBI ... Holden Sprague has gone seven innings over the past five games with a 0.00 ERA with six strikeouts ... Next up for Fresno State will be a homestand against Indiana, starting on Mar. 8.
Hawai?i Rainbows (5-6, 0-0 WAC)
Vinnie Catricala played well in the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz., batting .429 with a slugging percentage of .786 ... the sophomore started the classic with a 3-for-3 game, adding a triple and two RBI vs. No. Illinois (Feb. 28) ... he then was 3-for-5 with three RBI, three runs and a home run vs. Portland (March 1) ... Jared Alexander pitched great against the top-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils, keeping them to a season-low two runs, including one run that was unearned ... The Rainbows continue their play against ranked opponents, facing No. 10 Long Beach State for a three-game series after playing No. 1 Arizona State and No. 8 Michigan last week ... Jon Hee also had a great week for UH, going 8-for-18 with four runs, a double and one RBI.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (7-3, 0-0 WAC)
After getting off to a 6-0 start, Tech ran into some tough competition at the Domino’s Pizza Classic in College Station, Texas, dropping three games to Arkansas, Ohio State and Texas A&M ? all teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last season ... Adam Cobb has hit safely in all 10 games thus far; he is hitting .409 on the season and hit two home runs against Texas A&M on Sunday, named to the All-Tournament team...Jericho Jones’ hitting streak reached seven games before going hitless against Ohio State on Saturday; he started a new streak on Sunday ... Louisiana Tech bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night, taking down 11th-ranked Baylor 9-6 on the road.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-5, 0-0 WAC)
Senior second baseman David Ciarlo and sophomore first baseman Shaun Kort were named the Southwest Diamond Classic All-Tournament team ... Nevada scored a season-high 10 runs in its first win of the season coming versus UT Arlington 10-6 ... Nevada plays its next 15 games at home ... The Pack’s 0-5 start to the season marked the second time in three seasons the team began the season 0-5 with the first coming in 2006.
NMSU Aggies (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies scored 63 runs in four games against Ball State last weekend ... they scored 24 runs in game one of the double-header and 25 in the series finale, which was the most runs scored since the 2006 team scored a team record 37 runs against Northern Iowa on March 4, 2006 ... NMSU leads the WAC in batting average through March 2 hitting .366 as a team ... they also lead in walks (65), slugging percentage (.601) and on-base percentage (.504) Richard Stout continues to lead the WAC in stolen bases after two weeks of play.
Sacramento State Hornets (1-5, 0-0 WAC)
Junior Hunter Martinez went 4-for-7 against Arizona, making one start and appearing in two games. Martinez posted a triple and three singles, batting .571 against the nation’s #1 team ... senior Travis Kirkman got off of a season slump, as his first hit of the year was a long shot that cleared the left field fence against Arizona in the first game of the series ... The Hornets hit .291 against the Wildcats, who have four pitchers who received preseason All-America Honors ... The Hornets co-host the River City Classic this week with UC Davis, as the two teams host BYU, Portland, San Jose State and Utah Valley. The Hornets will play BYU, Portland, Utah Valley and UC Davis in the tournament, which runs Thursday-Sunday.
SJSU Spartans (6-2, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State is now 6-2 on the season following a split of four games last week and picked up a win at San Francisco on Tuesday night ... the Spartans are scheduled to play five games over seven days in the week ahead, all away from home ... San Jose State’s week includes a first-ever appearance at the annual River City Classic, co-hosted by UC Davis and Sacramento State ... SJSU has won four straight over the Dons, sweeping the two-game home-and-home set in each of the past two seasons ... junior shortstop Tyler Heil is the only Spartan to have hit safely in all seven games in 2008 ... sophomore catcher Corey Valine has a six-game hit streak of his own, while leading the team with nine RBI.
WAC NOTES
NEVADA’S CIARLO NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Nevada second baseman David Ciarlo has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for Feb. 25-Mar. 2. Ciarlo, a senior from Vancouver, Wash. (Evergreen HS), hit .692 (9-for-13) with five runs, six RBI, a double, a triple and two home runs. In three of four games, he finished with multiple hits including a 3-for-3 performance in each of his final two games of the week. In the three games at the Southwest Diamond Classic, he hit .800 (8-for-10) with four runs, six RBI, a double, two home runs, and a 1.500 slugging percentage. The effort earned him all-tournament honors. With four starts last week, he has now started 77 consecutive games at second base.
The other hitter of the week nominations were senior outfielder Brandon Haislet, Hawai?i; senior infielder Jason Rodriguez, Nevada; junior second baseman Bryan Marquez, New Mexico State; senior outfielder Ryan Blair, Sacramento State; and junior second baseman John Shaffer, San Jose State.
LOUISIANA TECH’S KNOTTS NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech pitcher Alan Knotts has been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for Feb. 25-Mar. 2. Knotts, a senior from Shreveport, La. (Captain Shreve HS), pitched 5.1 scoreless innings against UT-Arlington, picking up his first win of the season. Knotts did not allow a run in his second career start, which also marked the longest outing of his career. He also struck out four while allowing only one walk.
The other pitcher of the week nominations were junior Jared Alexander, Hawai?i; senior Jericho Jones, Louisiana Tech; sophomore Chris Garcia, Nevada; junior Tyler Sturdevant, New Mexico State; and junior David Berner, San Jose State.
FRESNO STATE’S SCHEPPERS AND LOUISISNA TECH’S BURNETT NAMED TO USA BASEBALL GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST
Fresno State junior pitcher Tanner Scheppers and Louisiana Tech junior pitcher Luke Burnett have been named to USA Baseball’s pre-season Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The initial list - the first ever of its kind for the Golden Spikes Award - features 75 of the nation’s top collegiate talents. On May 20, baseball officials will cut the watch list of players to 50 names. For the first time ever, fan voting will be part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2008. May 20 will mark the day when college baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player for the Golden Spikes Award on www.usabaseball.com. The 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented nationally July 16. Past winners of the award include Terry Francona (1980), Will Clark (1985), Robin Ventura (2004), and David Price (2007).
NEW MEXICO STATE’S GARY WARD SELECTED TO BASEBALL COLLEGE HALL OF FAME CLASS
The College Baseball Foundation announced New Mexico State assistant baseball coach Gary Ward was named to the 2008 class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class, Wednesday, March 05. Ward joins such names as Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson, infielder, Pasadena Junior College and UCLA; Steve Arlin, pitcher Ohio State; Eddie Bane, pitcher, Arizona State. Ward came out of retirement to coach at his alma mater, New Mexico State, and led the Aggies to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2002. He is currently the hitting coach for his son, Rocky Ward. While the head coach at NMSU, Ward finished with a 75-32 (.700) record to get him of the 1,000 win milestone.
NINE WAC PLAYERS ON 2008 WALLACE WATCH LIST
Nine players from the Western Athletic Conference have been named to the preseason release of the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List. Fresno State led the list with three candidates, including senior pitcher Clayton Allison, junior reliever Justin Wilson, and senior outfielder Steve Susdorf. Sacramento State has two players on the watch list with senior outfielder Ryan Blair and junior infielder Gabe Jacobo. Other candidates include Louisiana Tech junior pitcher Luke Burnett, Nevada sophomore infielder Shaun Kort, New Mexico State senior outfielder Joseph Scaperotta, and San Jose State sophomore infielder Kyle Bellows.
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS
The WAC features seven players this season who were 2007 first team all-WAC performers. Fresno State returns five players in junior catcher Danny Grubb, junior second baseman Erik Wetzel, senior outfielder Steve Susdorf, junior pitcher Tanner Scheppers, and junior pitcher Justin Wilson. Louisiana Tech returns senior pitcher Albie Goulder and Sacramento State welcomes back junior third baseman David Flores. Second team returnees include: C Joe Leghorn, New Mexico State; 1B Shaun Kort, Nevada; 2B Jonathan Hee, Hawai?i; SS Kyle Bellows, San Jose State; OF Brandon Haislet, Hawai?i; OF Joseph Scaperotta, New Mexico State; DH Vinnie Catricala, Hawai?i; SP Clayton Allison, Fresno State; SP Dylan Moseley, Louisiana Tech; SP Rod Scurry, Nevada; and RP Brandon Burke, Fresno State. In all, 18 of the 33 all-WAC selections from last year return for the 2008 season.
2008 WAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
The 2008 WAC Tournament will be held at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, Louisiana, May 22-25. The top six teams in the WAC’s regular season standings will advance to the double-elimination tournament. The winner receives the WAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
FOUR WITH 30
The WAC had five teams with at least 30 wins last season. It marked the 30th time in the last 31 years that the WAC has had at least three teams with 30 wins (only two in 2005). Fresno State led the WAC with 38 wins, followed by Nevada and Louisiana Tech with 35. San Jose State and Hawai?i each had 34 wins.
2008 WAC PRESEASON POLL AND ALL-WAC TEAM ANNOUNCED
Fresno State has been selected as the favorite to win the 2008 Western Athletic Conference regular season baseball crown in a vote by the league’s seven head coaches. The coaches also voted on a preseason all-WAC team, and Fresno State placed seven players on the team while Nevada had four. Fresno State senior outfielder Steve Susdorf was named the preseason player of the year while his teammate, senior Clayton Allison, was picked the preseason pitcher of the year.
Fresno State received 36 points and six first place votes after a 38-29 season last year. The Bulldogs have won both the WAC regular season and tournament titles the past two seasons. Louisiana Tech ranked second with 29 points followed by Nevada with 26, Hawai?i with 23, San Jose State with 16 points, Sacramento State with 10, and New Mexico State with seven.
The preseason all-WAC team included seven Fresno State players: senior outfielder Steve Susdorf, junior second baseman Eric Wetzel, senior shortstop Todd Sandell, junior catcher Danny Grubb, senior pitcher Clayton Allison, junior pitcher Tanner Scheppers, and senior reliever Jason Breckley. Susdorf was picked as the preseason player of the year after hitting .340 last year with 68 RBI, 12 home runs and 14 doubles. Allison was selected the preseason pitcher of the year after posting a 10-5 record with a 4.50 ERA last season.
Nevada had four players on the team: sophomore first baseman Shaun Kort, senior DH Terry Walsh, junior utility player Matt Bowman, and senior reliever Mario Rivera. Hawai?i placed two on the team in senior outfielder Brandon Haislet and junior pitcher Matt Daly. Sophomore outfielder Tim Wheeler and senior third baseman David Flores represented Sacramento State. New Mexico State’s lone representative was senior outfielder Joseph Scaperotta.