WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (25-5, 5-2 WAC)
The Bulldogs recorded their sixth series sweep over the weekend after beating Nevada 8-3, 8-1 and 4-2 ... the Bulldogs improve to 5-2 in the WAC and 25-5 on the season ... Fresno State also has an impressive record of 19-2 at Beiden Field ... the Bulldogs hit .337 against the Wolf Pack with two triples, three home runs and 20 RBIs ... the Dogs outscored the Wolf Pack 20-6 in three games ... Austin Wynns caught four base runners attempting to steal and picked off another runner ... the pitching staff struck out 32 batters with Tyler Linehan and Josh Poytress recording career-highs ... the Dogs play Cal Poly in a midweek match up against Cal Poly on April 19 before taking on Sacramento State on the road April 21-23.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (21-15, 7-1 WAC)
Hawai‘i took a four-game series against Louisiana Tech, going 3-1 against the Bulldogs ... the Rainbows won the first two contests, 1-0 and 10-2 before dropping game three 3-0 ... UH then won the series finale 5-2 on Monday night ... Pi’ikea Kitamura hit .385 during the series with five hits, two runs, two doubles, three walks and an RBI ... Jeff Van Doornum batted .364 at the plate with four hits, two runs, two doubles, six walks and three RBI ... Michael Blake led the Rainbows with five RBI during the series ... on the mound, Matt Sisto had an impressive performance, going 6.0 innings with five strikeouts without giving up a run for a win ... Blair Walters and Jarrett Arakawa also picked up victories on the mound ... UH hosts Valparaiso this week.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (18-18, 3-5 WAC)
Louisiana Tech dropped three of four games at UH ... the 3-0 win over UH marked the first time that Tech had won a game with four hits or less since Feb. 23, 2007 ... the shutout was also the first time Tech had shutout an opponent on the road since March 11, 2005 ... the five shutouts this season for the Bulldogs are the most since Tech had six shutouts during the 1990 season … with six saves on the season, Caleb Dudley is now tied for fourth all-time on the single-season saves list at Louisiana Tech ... Dudley is just one save shy of moving into fourth place on the career saves list … Jefferson’s scoreless innings streak is the longest such streak for a Bulldogs since Trevor Petersen did not yield a run in 19.1 straight innings from March 13-Apr. 10, 2010.
Nevada Wolf Pack (11-20, 0-3 WAC)
Nevada went 0-3 last week at 13th-ranked Fresno State ... Nevada dropped the games by scores of 8-3, 8-1 and 4-2 ... Joe Kohan led the Pack at the plate, batting .583 with seven hits, two runs, one triple, and an RBI during the three-game series ... Braden Shipley went 4-for-8 at the plate ... Brock Stassi had a pair of doubles during the series and hit .364 at the plate with one run and an RBI ... Troy Marks went 7.0 innings in one appearance, allowing only three earned runs ... Marks had six strikeouts in his outing ... this week, Nevada returns home to host New Mexico State in a four-game series April 21-23.
NM State Aggies (27-9, 5-3 WAC)
The Aggies are now 27-9 on the year and 5-3 in WAC play after defeating San Jose State three out of four games ... NM State leads the league with a .352 team batting average, while Wes Starkes leads the way with 45 runs scored ... Parker Hipp, who didn’t play this past weekend, leads the league in RBI with 48 ... during the four-game series against SJSU last week, Tyler Forney led the team at the plate batting .600 with nine hits, six runs scored, one double, one walk and five RBI ... Forney’s performance earned him WAC Hitter of the Week honors ... this week, New Mexico State travels to play Nevada in a four-game series April 21-23.
Sacramento State Hornets (12-25, 0-4 WAC)
Sacramento State stepped out of WAC play last week to take three of four games from Air Force at home ... the Hornets defeated Air Force by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 9-6 before dropping the finale 8-7 ... Blake Miller hit .429 to lead the Hornets last week during the series ... Miller went 6-for-14 at the plate with four runs, four RBI and a two-run home run (his team-best third of the season) ... Miller slugged .714 over the weekend and did not strike out once ... on the mound, Karl Maas pitched a complete game 9.0 inning victory, allowing only one earned run and only one walk with four strikeouts ... Brandon Sandoval also had a complete game victory, pitching 7.0 innings while giving up only one earned run ... Sacramento State hosts Fresno State this week.
SJSU Spartans (23-14, 3-5 WAC)
San Jose State dropped three of four games at New Mexico State last week ... the team dropped the first two games of the series by scores of 9-5 and 16-8 before picking up a 7-3 victory in game three ... the Spartans then dropped the series finale 20-8 ... Tyler Christian led the Spartans at the plate, hitting .538, going 7-for-13 with three runs, two doubles, one home run and four RBI ... Christian also had three walks during the series ... Nick Borg led the team with five runs scored and five walks, while Craig Hertler led the team with five RBI during the four games ... Esteban Guzman picked up the victory on the mound for the Spartans, working 6.2 innings with eight strikeouts ... this week, San Jose State returns home to host Louisiana Tech in a four-game series April 21-23.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S FORNEY NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State second baseman Tyler Forneyhas been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for April 11-17.
Forney, a junior from Gilbert, Ariz. (Yavapai College), helped the Aggies to a 3-1 record last week against San Jose State. Forney hit .600 (9-for-15) during the four-game series and struck out only once against a San Jose State pitching staff that has the most strikeouts in the WAC. Forney was perfect at the plate in the final game of the series, going 4-for-4 with three RBI, no strikeouts and two runs scored. Overall on the week, Forney tallied six runs, five RBI, one double and a walk. He registered a .957 fielding percentage.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Fresno State freshman Aaron Judge … Sacramento State sophomore Blake Miller.
LOUISIANA TECH’S JEFFERSON NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech pitcher Mike Jefferson has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for April 11-17.
Jefferson, a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio (Clermont Northeastern HS), earned his fourth win of the year on Sunday against Hawai‘i. Jefferson tossed 8.0 innings without giving up a run to earn a 3-0 victory against the Rainbow Warriors. The 8.0 innings of work marked a season-long outing and was the second longest outing of Jefferson’s career. His six strikeouts against UH was one shy of his season high. Jefferson has now been part of three-straight shutouts as a starting pitcher, including two straight shutouts against New Mexico State and Hawai‘i. As a starter, Jefferson has not allowed a run in his last 19.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .176 batting average during that stretch.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Fresno State junior Josh Poytress … New Mexico State sophomore Riley Bevill.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
As of April 17, the WAC boasts some of the nation’s top stats leaders. Teams from the WAC rank top-10 nationally in 11 different team categories and 12 individual categories. New Mexico State holds the highest team ranking as it leads the nation in batting average at .352. The Aggies also rank second nationally in four different statistical categories, including scoring (10.1), runs (363), walks (234) and sacrifice flies (34). Individually, New Mexico State’s Wesley Starkes ranks second nationally in runs per game at 1.41. NMSU’s Parker Hipp is also second nationally in RBI/game at 1.55, while teammate Tanner Waite ranks second in the nation in on base percentage at 0.579.
FRESNO STATE RANKS 12TH IN LATEST NATIONAL POLL
Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Bulldogs are No. 12 in the Baseball America poll. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Fresno State is ranked 14th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. New Mexico State is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
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.