WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (20-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs won their seventh series of the year after taking two of three games from San Francisco ... the Dogs improve to 20-3, which ties for the best 23 game start in school history ... Fresno State recorded a batting average of .270 with eight doubles, a home run and 10 RBIs ... both, Jordan Ribera and Austin Wynns hit .500 in the three-game series ... the pitching staff recorded an ERA of 3.33 over the weekend with three Bulldogs allowing no runs in their appearances ... the Dogs combined for 20 strikeouts and allowed 10 earned runs ... Charlie Robertson earned his ninth save of the year and Greg Gonzalez improved to 6-0 on the year ... the Dogs open the WAC season on the road at San Jose State April 8-10.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (14-14, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i earned a 3-1 series win over 28th-ranked Wichita State this past week ... the Rainbows won the opener 8-7 before dropping game two 6-2 ... the team then won the last two games, 12-4 and 12-3 ... Kolten Wong led the team at the plate, batting .500 with seven runs scored, eight hits, one triple, a home run and nine RBI ... Wong also walked four times ... Breland Almadova was also impressive, hitting .438 in the series with seven hits, two doubles and a pair of RBI ... Rany Yard picked up a win on the mound, going 5.0 inning without giving up an earned run ... Yard also tallied seven strikeouts and only gave up two hits ... this week, Hawai‘i opens WAC play at home against Sacramento State April 8-10
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-13, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 2-1 last week, recording a pair of wins over LSU-Shreveport by scores of 3-2 and 6-0 ... the team then dropped a 5-3 decision to Northwestern State ... Tech has won 18 of its last 20 games at J.C. Love Field … Tech is 12-0 on the season when leading after the eighth inning … the five saves from Caleb Dudley (he had two this past week) this season moves him into a tie for seventh place on the all-time single-season list at Tech … Ewing was hit by his sixth pitch of the season giving him a total of 21 in his career which is now ties him with Mitch Mcllwain for 10th all-time in program history … Mark Threlkeld has made 98 consecutive starts ... LA Tech heads into WAC play this week, hosting New Mexico State April 8-10.
Nevada Wolf Pack (8-16, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada took two of three games from Utah Valley at home last week to win the series 2-1 ... the team defeated UVU 5-4 in the opener before dropping game two 19-6 ... Nevada then won the finale 8-7 (10) ... it marks the second series win of the season for the Wolf Pack ... Nevada’s 8-7 win over UVU in 10 innings was the Pack’s first extra inning game of the season ... Joe Kohan led Nevada in the UVU series, batting .429 with six hits, one double, two home runs, four walks, three runs and eight RBI ... Brock Stassi, Nick Melino and Carlos Escobar have current 8-game hit streaks which are tied with Hugo Hernandez for the longest of the season by a Pack player ... Nevada also defeated UC Davis 7-4 on Monday ... the Pack hosts Seattle this week.
NM State Aggies (22-6, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies won a four-game series against Northern Colorado at home last week, 3-1 ... the Aggies dropped game one of the series 9-6 before winning the next three by scores of 15-8, 13-4 and 19-16 ... Ryan Aguayo led the team at the plate, hitting .714 with 10 hits, six runs, five doubles, five RBI and four walks ... Zac Fisher was also impressive, batting .545 in three games with six hits, four runs, three home runs and nine RBI ... Fisher earned WAC Hitter of the Week honors for his efforts ... Scott Coffman led the team on the mound, going 4.1 innings without giving up an earned run ... he also registered five strikeouts ... this week, New Mexico State opens WAC play at Louisiana Tech with a four-game series set for April 8-10.
Sacramento State Hornets (9-20, 0-0 WAC)
Sacramento State 3-1 in a four-game series at Seattle University ... the Hornets won the first two games 10-7 and 3-2 before dropping game three by a score of 2-1 ... Sacramento State then won the finale 3-1 to secure the series win ... David Del Grande led the Hornets at the plate, batting .438 with seven hits, three runs and two RBI ... Derrick Chung hit .357 with five hits, two runs, two doubles and RBI and a pair of walks ... Shea Lukes picked up a win on the mound, going 6.2 innings without giving up a run ... Lukes also had three strikeouts and gave up only one hit ... Dallas Chadwick collected a complete game shutout, allowing only one earned run with seven strikeouts ... this week, the team opens WAC play at Hawai‘i April 8-10.
SJSU Spartans (19-9, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 2-1 in a three game series at UC Santa Barbara last week ... the Spartans won the first two games 9-8 and 7-3 before dropping the finale 4-1 ... the team also dropped a 5-2 decision at Stanford on Tuesday ... Danny Stienstra led the Spartans at the plate in the three-game series at UCSB, hitting .500 with six hits, two runs, a double, two RBI and a pair of walks ... Jason Martin hit .462 with six hits, three runs, one double and three RBI ... Zack Jones hit .385 in the series against UCSB with five hits, two runs and three RBI ... Esteban Guzman went 3.2 innings on the mound without giving up a single run last week ... Guzman also had four strikeouts ... Jones had a team-high seven strikeouts on the mound last week ... SJSU opens WAC play at home against Fresno State this week.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S FISHER NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State catcher/designated hitter Zac Fisher has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for March 28-April 3.
Fisher, a sophomore from Fontana, Calif. (A.B. Miller HS), helped the Aggies to a 3-1 record last week against Northern Colorado. Fisher did not play in the series-opening loss to the Bears, but played the next three games, hitting .545 with half of his hits being home runs. Fisher went 6-for-11 at the plate during the three games, tallying nine RBI, three home runs, four runs scored and a pair of walks. The three home runs marked Fisher’s first home runs of the season.
The other hitter of the week nominations : Fresno State senior Jordan Ribera … Hawai‘i junior Kolten Wong … Louisiana Tech senior Clint Ewing … Nevada junior Nick Melino … San Jose State senior Danny Stienstra.
LOUISIANA TECH’S DUDLEY NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech pitcher Caleb Dudley has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for March 28-April 3.
Dudley, a sophomore from Texarkana, Texas (Texas HS), picked up two saves on the week to bring his season total to five, moving him into seventh on the all-time single season list at LA Tech. Dudley stranded two runners on base in the eighth inning against Southern Arkansas and then retired the side with two strikeouts in the ninth to earn his first save of the week. He then threw a season-long 4.0 relief innings on Sunday, allowing one hit while striking out a career-high seven batters to earn his second save. On the week, Dudley gave up only three hits, did not allow a run and tallied nine strikeouts with a pair of saves in 5.1 innings of work.
The other pitcher of the week nominations : Fresno State junior Cody Kendall … Nevada junior Matt Gardner … New Mexico State junior Scott Coffman … San Jose State freshman Johnny Melero.
WAC PLAY OPENS THIS WEEK
Six of the WAC’s seven teams head into conference play this week. Louisiana Tech hosts New Mexico State, Fresno State travels to San Jose State and Hawai‘i welcomes Sacramento State. Nevada continues non-conference play this week at home against Seattle.
FRESNO STATE CONTINUES MOVE UP NATIONAL POLLS, NEW MEXICO STATE ENTERS AT NO. 28
Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Bulldogs broke into the Top 10 of Baseball America’s Top 25 polls. The Dogs are No. 9 in both Baseball America and No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball’s polls. The Bulldogs stayed at No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches poll. The fourth poll the Bulldogs are ranked in is the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association at No. 15, which is up six spots from last week. New Mexico State enters the polls this week as the team is ranked No. 28 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper 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.