TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State is the three-time defending WAC champion ... in 2008, the Bulldogs won the program’s first-ever NCAA National Title ... Tommy Mendonca and Alan Ahmady are two of the student-athletes named to the Brook Wallace watch list for 2009 ... six Bulldogs were selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft ... the Bulldogs have had 32 consecutive .500 or better seasons ... Fresno State has made 31 NCAA appearances, the most of any WAC school ... five Bulldogs garnered all-WAC honors in 2008, five earned College World Series team honors and Tommy Mendonca was named College World Series Most Valuable Player ... Fresno State opens the season with a three-game homestand against Washington this week.
Hawai?i Rainbows (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
UH returns three all-WAC players in starting pitcher Jared Alexander (first team), second baseman Greg Garcia (second team) and catcher Landon Hernandez (second team) ... Greg Garcia also earned recognition on the Ping! All-Freshman Honorable Mention list ... UH also returns three other position players that started more than 50 games last season in third baseman Vinnie Catricala, first baseman Kevin Macdonald and outfielder Jeffrey Van Doornum ... four other returning pitchers (Jayson Kramer, Sam Spangler, Josh Slaats and Alex Capaul) all posted at least 13 appearances last season, including Kramer’s team-leading 27 appearances ... finished second in the WAC standings for the second time in the last three years.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech’s 52-game 2009 schedule features 25 games at home, six double headers and three non-conference series against 2008 NCAA Tournament regional participants Eastern Michigan, Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist ... the Bulldogs have had a winning record at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park for 32 of the past 38 years ... six Bulldogs were selected in the June 2008 MLB Draft, the most in school history ... the Bulldogs earned their 1,500th victory last season as they defeated New Mexico State 7-6 in Las Cruces, N.M., on Saturday, May 17 ... senior Nick Grunenwald returns after leading the WAC in 2008 in steals during WAC games (10) and finishing the season tied for most stolen bases in the WAC during all games (20).
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada returns four position starters and two starting pitchers from last season’s team that tied for second in the regular season WAC standings and took second at the WAC tournament ... six times last season a Pack player earned WAC Player of the Week honors, including a stretch of three in a row ... four Pack players were selected in the MLB draft last season, including third baseman Jason Rodriguez, outfielder Matt Bowman and pitchers Rod Scurry and Dan Eastham ... Nevada returns two second-team all-WAC selections in first baseman Shaun Kort and outfielder Matt Bowman ... has produced the last two WAC batting champions (Jason Rodriguez .390 and Shaun Kort .392)
NMSU Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The 2008 NMSU baseball team reached the WAC Tournament for the first time in school history, although it went 0-2 in tournament play ... the Aggies finished 28-33 on the year, going 16-16 at home and 11-10 away, but falling 1-7 on neutral fields ... the Aggies placed six players on all-WAC teams in 2008 ... three players earned first-team honors and three earned second-team honors ... only the 2003 NMSU baseball team had as many all-conference selections, when there were three first-team and three second-team all-Sun Belt Conference selections ... NMSU returns three all-WAC selections from 2008 including right-hand pitchers Heath Goin, Tyler Sturdevant and Richard Stout, who played shortstop for the Aggies in 2008.
Sacramento State Hornets (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Sacramento State returns 18 letterwinners from its 2008 squad that won the team’s first ever WAC Tournament game ... the team welcomes the return of three position starters (Tim Wheeler, CF; Blake Crosby, SS; Hunter Martinez, 2B) and three starting pitchers (Brian Smith, LHP; Jose Ramirez, LHP; Trevor York, RHP) ... last season, the team produced a school record five all-conference performers ... three players from last year’s squad, junior Gabe Jacobo, and seniors Ryan Blair and David Flores, were selections in the 2008 MLB Draft ... junior Tim Wheeler and departed senior Ryan Blair led the WAC in 2008 with 20-game hitting streaks.
SJSU Spartans (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Corner infielders Kyle Bellows and Danny Stienstra have earned postseason Freshman All-America and preseason Wallace Award Watch List honors in successive seasons ... Bellows has played in all 116 games in his two years at SJSU, while Stienstra hit a team-leading .365 in his rookie campaign, tied for eighth-best in the WAC ... in 2009, San Jose State will be in search of a fourth straight winning season with 30-plus victories, and a fourth WAC Tournament berth in a row ... the Spartans return all but one starting position player, and all four members of their weekend pitching rotation, among 16 letterwinners back from a year ago ... there are 14 seniors on the 2009 roster. A total of 11 newcomers have joined the program.
WAC NOTES
2009 WAC PRESEASON POLL AND ALL-WAC TEAM ANNOUNCED
Fresno State has been selected as the favorite to win the 2009 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 four players on the team while Hawai?i, Nevada and New Mexico State each had three. Fresno State junior third baseman Tommy Mendonca was named the preseason player of the year, while Hawai?i senior Jared Alexander was picked the preseason pitcher of the year.
Fresno State received 34 points and five first place votes after a 47-31 season last year. The Bulldogs have won both the WAC regular season and tournament titles the past three seasons. Fresno State won last year’s national title at the College World Series. San Jose State ranked second with 29 points followed by Nevada with 26, Hawai?i with 25, New Mexico State with 14 points, Louisiana Tech with 13, and Sacramento State with six.
The preseason all-WAC team included four Fresno State players: senior outfielder Gavin Hedstrom, junior outfielder Steve Detwiler, sophomore shortstop Danny Muno and junior third baseman Mendonca. Mendonca was picked as the preseason player of the year after hitting .281 last year with 70 RBI, 19 home runs and eight doubles.
Hawai?i had three players on the team: Alexander, senior catcher Landon Hernandez, and sophomore relief pitcher Josh Slaats. Alexander was selected the preseason pitcher of the year after posting a 7-3 record with a 3.27 ERA last season. Nevada had three players on the team: junior first baseman Shaun Kort, senior second baseman Matt Bowman, and senior utility player Tyson Jaquez. New Mexico State also placed three on the team in senior outfielder Richard Stout, senior pitcher Tyler Sturdevant, and senior relief pitcher Erik Nyquist. Junior outfielder Tim Wheeler represented Sacramento State. San Jose State’s representative was junior pitcher Max Peterson.
The 47th year of WAC baseball begins Friday, February 20 when each of the league’s seven teams will open regular season play. The WAC Tournament will be held in Honolulu at Hawai?i’s Les Murakami Stadium, May 21-24. The top six teams will advance to the tournament.
FRESNO STATE’S MENDONCA, SACRAMENTO STATE’S WHEELER NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Fresno State junior third baseman Tommy Mendonca and Sacramento State junior outfielder Tim Wheeler have been named to the preseason All-American team by Baseball America. Mendonca received first team honors while Wheeler was named to the third team.
Mendonca capped off his sophomore campaign with four home runs and 11 RBIs at the College World Series earning the CWS Most Outstanding Player award. Mendonca started 77 games for the Bulldogs in 2008 and recorded 19 home runs, eight doubles, and 70 RBIs. He also was named the 2009 Preseason WAC Player of the Year.
Last season, Wheeler earned first team all-WAC honors after hitting .330 with three home runs and 43 RBI. He had eight outfield assists on the season, while ranking second on the team during WAC play in RBI (22) and stolen bases (5). Wheeler also tied for the longest hitting streak in the WAC last season, hitting safely in 20 straight games during the year.
FRESNO STATE RANKED NO. 16 IN PRESEASON POLL
Collegiate Baseball announced their Fabulous 40 preseason poll and ranked Fresno State at No. 16. The Bulldogs received 456 votes. Hawai?i and San Jose State were listed just outside the top-40 in a group of teams that also received votes.
Last season, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 21 in the preseason poll and finished No. 1 after winning the program’s first NCAA National Title. This is the highest preseason ranking since 2002 when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 11. The Collegiate Baseball preseason poll started in 1999.
Louisiana State earned the No. 1 spot, while Fresno State’s College World Series opponents North Carolina and Georgia were ranked No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
Other WAC teams that received votes in the poll were Hawai?i and San Jose State. For the second time in three years, San Jose State is among a group of teams that are also receiving votes just outside the top 40. The Collegiate Baseball poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS
The WAC will feature three players who were 2008 first team all-WAC performers. Fresno State returns junior first baseman Alan Ahmady. Ahmady hit .382 at the plate last season and tallied 60 runs, 110 hits, and 92 RBI. Sacramento State returns all-WAC first team outfielder Tim Wheeler. Wheeler hit .330 at the plate with 38 runs and 43 RBI. Hawai?i welcomes back first team all-WAC honoree Jared Alexander. Alexander led the WAC with a 3.27 ERA. He registered 63 strikeouts in 82.2 innings of work, and compiled a 7-3 record. 2008 WAC Freshman of the Year Danny Muno returns for his sophomore campaign. The Fresno State shortstop hit .330 with 62 runs, 95 hits, 13 doubles and 30 RBI last season. There are also seven second team all-WAC honorees that return this year. The list of second teamers includes Hawai?i senior catcher Landon Hernandez, Nevada sophomore first baseman Shaun Kort, New Mexico State senior shortstop Richard Stout, San Jose State junior pitcher Max Peterson, New Mexico State senior pitcher Heath Goin, and New Mexico State senior pitcher Tyler Sturdevant.
THREE WITH 30
The WAC had three teams with at least 30 wins last season. It marked the 31st time in the last 32 years that the WAC has had at least three teams with 30 wins (only two in 2005). Fresno State led the WAC with 47 wins, followed by Nevada with 34 and San Jose State with 31. Hawai?i was just one win shy of 30.
2009 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2009 WAC Tournament will be held at Les Murakani Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 21-24. 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.