THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
February 19 (Friday)
San Jose State at Saint Mary’s, 2 p.m. PT
Alcorn State at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m. CT
Nebraska at Fresno State, 6 p.m. PT
Nevada at Santa Clara, 6 p.m. PT
#New Mexico State vs. Washington, 6 p.m. PT
Sacramento State at UNLV, 7 p.m. PT
Oregon State at Hawai‘i, 6:35 p.m. HT
February 20 (Saturday)
Nevada at Santa Clara, 1 p.m. PT
#New Mexico State vs. Gonzaga, 11 a.m. PT
Saint Mary’s at San Jose State, 1 p.m. PT
Sacramento State at UNLV, 2 p.m. PT
Nebraska at Fresno State, 2 p.m. PT
Alcorn State at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m. CT
Oregon State at Hawai‘i, 1 p.m. HT
#New Mexico State vs. Missouri, 7 p.m. CT
February 21 (Sunday)
Alcorn State at Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m. CT
Nebraska at Fresno State, 1 p.m. PT
Nevada at Santa Clara, 1 p.m. PT
Sacramento State at UNLV, 1 p.m. PT
San Jose State at Saint Mary’s, 1 p.m. PT
#New Mexico State vs. Washington, 3 p.m. PT
Oregon State at Hawai‘i, 1 p.m. HT
# Cactus Classic (Tucson, Ariz.)
TEAM-BY-TEAM PRESEASON NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State has won the last four WAC Titles and made four consecutive NCAA Regional ... appearances, including a National Title in 2008 ... Danny Muno and Dusty Robinson were both named Preseason All-Americans ... the Bulldogs have had 33 consecutive .500 or better seasons ... Fresno State has made 32 NCAA appearances, the most of any WAC schools ... four Bulldogs garnered all-WAC honors in 2009, Tom Mendonca was named the Joe Kearney award winner and three Bulldogs were taken in the 2009 MLB Draft ... the Bulldogs return seven position starters and their entire starting pitching rotation from 2009.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
UH is coming off a 32-26 season in 2009, their sixth winning record in the last seven seasons ... UH set the school record with 64 home runs ast a team in 2009, including 40 homers by players returning for the 2010 season ... he Rainbows spent two weeks in the Baseball America Top 25 Poll in 2009, appearing at No. 23 on Apr. 6 and at No. 20 on Apr. 20 ... Hawai‘i returns two fi rst-team all-WAC players in firstbaseman Kevin Macdonald and secondbaseman Kolten Wong, while also returning second-team shortstop Greg Garcia ... UH also returns four players that started at least half the season in the outfi eld and two of the starting pitchers in last season’s rotation ... Wong was named a freshman all-American by five different publications.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
After setting a new single season home run record for the Bulldogs with 23 in 2009, All-American outfi elder Devon Dageford chose to return for his senior year in 2010 and will be heavily relied on to produce at the plate ... Tech will look to a number of youngsters to step up and fill the hole left in the infield after graduation ... gone now are Chris Kersten, Nick Grunenwald and Kevin Winn who combined to produce 30 home runs and 152 RBI in 2009 ... Louisiana Tech’s 2010 baseball schedule will include match-ups with three of the final eight team’s of the College World Series in Southern Miss., Arkansas and Texas.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Designated hitter Nick Melino (first-team), first baseman Shaun Kort (second-team) and center fielder Westely Moss (second-team) all return after earning All-WAC honors a year ago ... Nevada tied for top honors by placing four players on the 2010 WAC Coaches’ Preseason team in Kort, Melino, Moss and relief pitcher Tyler Graham ... Kort was selected to the team for the third consecutive year ... the Wolf Pack return six starting position players and two weekend pitchers ... first baseman Shaun Kort led the Pack with 62 RBI, 70 hits and 36 walks while ranking in the top four in seven additional off ensive categories ... designated hitter Nick Melino earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America and first team.
NM State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The 2009 NM State baseball won 44 games, which broke the school record for most wins in a season ... the 2003 NM State baseball team held the previous record when they won 43 games ... the Aggies won 16 more games than they did in 2008 and finished with 29 wins at home ... with its winning ways, NM State went into the WAC tournament as the No. 4 seed and eventually ousted No. 1 seed San Jose State and No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech before falling to Fresno State on Championship Day losing 9-7 and 5-3 ... the Aggies did place three players on the all-tournament team including senior outfielder Richard Stout, junior infielder Mike Sodders and junior right hand pitcher DJ Simon.
Sacramento State Hornets (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Sacramento State returns 13 letterwinners from a team that won 27 games a season ago ... the Hornets welcome the return of four position starters (Josh Powers INF, Derrick Chung INF, Brent Hottman C, Justin Lamb DH) and three starting pitchers (RHP Brandon Sandoval, RHP Jesse Darrah, LHP Tommy Elrod) ... senior Josh Powers fi nished sixth in the NCAA in doubles with 26 in 2009, which marked the second most in single-season school history ... he will make the move from third base to first base this season ... sophomore Justin Lamb connected on 11 home runs a season ago, the most by a Hornet freshman during the team’s Division I era ... sophomore Jesse Darrah was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American team last season.
SJSU Spartans (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
In 2010, San Jose State is in search of a fifth straight winning season with 30-plus victories, and a fifth WAC Tournament berth in a row ... senior third baseman Corey Valine and junior centerfielder Jason Martin are returning second-team All-WAC selections from a year ago ... the Spartans boast almost an entirely-new pitching staff after leading the WAC with a 4.66 ERA in 2009 ... having lost all four members of its weekend rotation, San Jose State returns just four wins among 41 and six starts among 61 from a year ago ... nine letterwinners, five of them position starters, are back from a year ago ... there are just three seniors on the 2010 roster ... a total of 18 newcomers have joined the program.
WAC NOTES
THREE WAC PLAYERS ON 2010 NCBWA PRESEASON TEAM
Three WAC baseball players have been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-America team. Louisiana Tech’s Devon Dageford and New Mexico State’s Mike Sodders each earned fi rst team honors, while Fresno State’s Dusty Robinson was named to the third team.
2010 WAC TOURNAMENT HEADS TO MESA’S HOHOKAM STADIUM
The WAC has awarded the City of Mesa the WAC Baseball Tournament for 2010, 2011 and 2012, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson announced this past May. The event will be played at Mesa’s Hohokam Stadium, the Chicago Cubs Spring Training home. The City of Mesa, Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau and Phoenix Regional Sports Commission worked in tandem to secure the event which features Hawai‘i, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Sacramento State, Nevada, New Mexico State and San Jose State. Starting in 2010, the City of Mesa will host the double-elimination tournament with the winner earning the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The top six teams from the WAC’s regular season standings will advance to the tournament. The WAC Baseball Tournament is no stranger to the state of Arizona and the City of Mesa. The league’s championship has been played in Arizona nine times (1963, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78) and the event was held in Mesa in 1971 and 1973. Mesa has fast become the third largest metropolitan city in the state of Arizona off ering a variety of lifestyle and leisure pursuits that are in high demand by visitors and residents alike. Now boasting 460,000 residents, Mesa’s population is greater than such well-known cities as Minneapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Miami. Mesa is unique among cities in the Phoenix area as it is embraced by the Sonoran Desert – a playground for sought-after outdoor recreation and one-of-a-kind attractions. As a sports destination, Mesa shines off ering some of the nation’s best training facilities for field sports paired with unbeatable year-round weather and award-winning hotels. Mesa has been recognized as one of the country’s most desirable destinations for hosting dynamic sporting events and athletic competitions on all levels: amateur, youth, collegiate, and professional. Hohokam Stadium is best known as the winter home of the Chicago Cubs and is major league baseball’s most popular spring training venue. Boasting one of the largest capacities in the Cactus League, more than 240,000 attendees pass through its gates each March. In addition to hosting Cactus League Spring Training, Hohokam Stadium is also the home of the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Hohokam Stadium and adjacent training facility opened in February 1997. The stadium seats 13,030 and includes one practice fi eld and one practice infield.