WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (15-2, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State swept Washington State in a three-game series by scores of 7-5, 16-1 and 7-2 to improve to 14-2 on the season ... the Bulldogs are undefeated against Pac-10 teams after beating Oregon State twice earlier this season ... the Dogs hit .424 10 doubles, a triple and five home runs ... the Bulldogs tied a school record of consecutive home runs after Brennan Gowens, Garrett Weber and Dusty Robinson all launched homers one after the other ... the pitching staff recorded an ERA of 2.62 with 29 strikeouts ... the Bulldogs also defeated Ohio State 3-2 on Tuesday night ... Fresno State’s Wednesday night matchup this week with Ohio State was cancelled due to rain ... the team returns to action on Friday at home against San Diego.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (11-9, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i swept Centenary at home in a four-game series this past week ... the Rainbows defeated Centenary 10-1, 7-1, 5-0 and 8-4 ... UH”s Garrett Champion led the team at the plate, going 6-for-11 for a .545 batting average ... Champion also had one double, one home run, two RBI, two walks and three runs scored ... Kolten Wong was also impressive at the plate with a .467 average, collecting seven hits, six RBI, one home run, two runs scored and three walks ... Jarrett Arakawa led the team on the mound, pitching 8.0 innings while giving up only one run while tallying six strikeouts ... Arakawa gave up only four hits in the game ... this week, Hawai‘i hosts Cal State Fullerton in a foug-game set in Honolulu this week.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (9-11, 0-0 WAC)
Mike Jefferson leads the WAC with five runners picked off … Tech’s nine game losing streak marked the longest since Tech lost 11 games from April 3, 2008 - April 20, 2008 … the Bulldogs snapped its losing streak with a 5-1 win at home against Alcorn State on Tuesday night ... Mark Threlkeld has made 92 consecutive starts … the 10 walks issued from the Bulldogs pitching staff at Rice (3/20) marked the most since Tech pitchers allowed 10 walks at Texas on May 16, 2010 … Kyle Roliard (five games) and Alex Williams (three games) both saw their hitting streaks come to an end over the weekend ... this week, Louisiana Tech travels to play Grambling State on Wednesday night before returning home to host Texas-Pan American in a three-game set.
Nevada Wolf Pack (4-13, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada went 0-4 last week ... the Wolf Pack dropped a pair of games at UC Santa Barbara (3-5, 1-2) before falling 0-2 at California ... the team then dropped a 3-9 decision at home against Saint Mary’s on Tuesday night ... in those four games, Nick Melino led the Wolf Pack at the plate, batting .500 with seven hits, one double, one RBI, one walk and one run scored ... Brock Stassi also helped at the plate, batting .308 with four hits, one double, one RBI, four walks and two runs scored ... Troy Marks was impressive on the mound for the team, pitching 4.0 innings without giving up a run ... he also tallied three strikeouts ... Tom Jameson also helped on the mound in 7.0 innings of work while only giving up one earned run.
NM State Aggies (15-5, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies are now 15-5 on the year with a .330 batting average as a team to lead the WAC ... the Aggies also lead in slugging percentage (.493), on-base percentage (.447), runs scored (204), hits (230), RBI (194), doubles (52) and home runs (17) ... NM State went a perfect 4-0 last week in a four-game series at home against IPFW ... Bryan Karraker led the Aggies at the plate last week, batting .600 with six hits, two doubles, one home run, four RBI and five runs scored ... Ryan Aguayo was also impressive, batting .455 with five hits, three doubles, one home run, five RBI, seven walks and four runs scored ... Parker Hipp led the team with 10 RBI last week ... Dan Reid was named WAC pitcher of the week after a complete game shutout with a pair of strikeouts.
Sacramento State Hornets (5-16, 0-0 WAC)
Sacramento State went 1-4 this past week ... the team dropped a pair of games at home to Minnesota (1-3, 5-7) before defeating Cal State Northirdge 3-1 on the road ... the Hornets then dropped its next two games at Cal State Northridge, 7-13 and 5-10 ... Andrew Ayers led the team at the plate over those five games, batting .412 with seven hits, three doubles, four RBI, three walks and four runs scored ... Blake Miller also hit well over the five games, hitting .333 with seven hits, one home run and three RBI ... on the mound, James Chamberlin went 5.0 innings while only giving up one run ... this week, Sacramento State hosts Utah Valley in a three-game set starting on Friday.
SJSU Spartans (14-6, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 2-2 this past week ... the Spartans dropped a 10-0 decision to San Francisco before going 2-1 against Seattle on the road ... Danny Stienstra led the team at the plate, hitting .500 with seven hits, three doubles, two RBI, one walk and three runs scored ... Kerry Jenkins hit .417 with five hits, one triple, four RBI and three runs scored ... Roberto Padilla led the Spartans on the mound, going 9.0 innings for the victory ... Padilla tallied seven strikeouts while giving up only two earned runs ... this week, San Jose State hosts UC Davis on Friday before traveling to play UC Davis on the road on Saturday ... SJSU then welcomes back UC Davis on Sunday.
WAC NOTES
FRESNO STATE’S GOWENS NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State outfielder Brennan Gowens has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for March 14-20.
Gowens, a junior from Clovis, Calif. (Buchannan HS), helped the Bulldogs to a three-game sweep of Washington State last week. Gowens went 8-for-11 at the plate for a .727 average. He also tallied 10 RBI, six runs, two home runs and a triple. Gowens also recorded a stolen base and had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
The other hitter of the week nominations : Hawai‘i junior Garrett Champion … New Mexico State third baseman Zach Voight.
NEW MEXICO STATE’S REID NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State pitcher Dan Reid has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for March 14-20.
Reid, a senior from Nasonworth, New Brunswick (Fredericton HS), picked up his first career complete game as he led the Aggies to an 11-2 won over IPFW last week. Reid did not allow an earned run and gave up only six hits. He faced 35 batters, struck out two and walked three. Reid now has a 2.10 ERA on the year, which is the second best average in the WAC.
The other pitcher of the week nominations : Fresno State sophomore Justin Haley … Hawai‘i freshman Jarrett Arakawa.
FRESNO STATE CONTINUES MOVE UP NATIONAL POLLS
The Bulldogs broke into the Top 10 of Baseball America’s Top 25 poll. The Dogs moved up seven spots to No. 10 and it is the highest regular season ranking under head coach Mike Batesole. Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. Collegiate Baseball has the Dogs at No. 20. The Bulldogs moved up two spots to No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches poll. The fourth poll the Bulldogs are ranked in is the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association at No. 21.
FRESNO STATE’S GOWENS NAMED COLLEGE BASEBALL INSIDER’S WEST REGION HITTER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State junior Brennan Gowens was a tough out for Washington State last weekend. The outfielder was 8-for-11 (.727) and was named College Baseball Insider’s West Region Hitter of the Week.Gowens recorded a triple, two homers, six runs and 10 RBI in a three-game sweep of Washington State. He had three hits and three RBI on Thursday against the Cougars. Gowens went 4 for 4 with two homers and six RBI on Friday before going 1 for 3 on Saturday.
2011 WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO MESA’S HOHOKAM STADIUM
After a succesful 2010 tournament, the WAC baseball tournament will return to Mesa, Arizona this 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 for a second-straight season, which features Hawai‘i, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Sacramento State, Nevada, New Mexico State and San Jose State. The City of Mesa will once again host the double-elimination tournament with the winner earning the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.