WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (32-11, 12-7 WAC)
Fresno State went 3-2 over the weekend earning a win over Hawai’i and a pair of wins over Louisiana Tech ... the Bulldogs are 32-11 on the season and 12-7 in conference play ... the Bulldog defense turned eight double plays in five games and committed only five errors ... the team hit .323 with 14 extra base hits, including seven home runs and tallied 35 RBIs ... the Bulldogs pitching staff struck out 33 batters and Greg Gonzalez led the way with eight strikeouts on Friday night ... Jordan Ribera was impressive at the plate last week, hitting three home runs and tallying 18 RBI ... Fresno State hosts New Mexico State in their final WAC series of the 2011 season May 12-15.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (27-20, 12-4 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 3-1 at Nevada last week ... the team won the first game 12-9 before dropping game two 10-0 ... Hawai‘i then bounced back from the shutout loss to win the final two games by scores of 8-7 and 4-0 ... the 3-1 record last week continues to keep the Rainbows atop the WAC standings by 1 1/2 games with a 12-4 mark ... Zack Swasey led the team at the plate last week with a .500 average, tallying eight hits, seven RBI, one run, one home run and two walks ... Sean Montplaisir also hit .500 with seven hits, two runs, one double, one triple and a pair of RBI ... Randy Yard picked up a win on the mound in 5.0 innings of work without giving up a single run ... Lenny Linsky had a pair of saves ... UH hosts San Jose State in a four-game series this week.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (27-24, 9-11 WAC)
Tech’s wins over 19th-ranked Fresno State marked the programs first wins over a ranked opponent since Tech knocked off No. 11 Baylor on March 4, 2008 … with his ninth save of the season on Saturday, Caleb Dudley is now tied for the all-time single-season saves mark at Louisiana Tech … in the series finale against Fresno State, eight of Tech’s nine starters recorded at least one hit while seven of those eight tallied multi-hit games … Kyle Roliard has now hit safely in 14-straight games since moving to the leadoff spot (22-for-50, .440) ... Mark Threlkeld has made 120 consecutive starts ... this week, Louisiana Tech hosts Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday before having the rest of the week off.
Nevada Wolf Pack (17-26, 6-9 WAC)
Nevada dropped three of four games at home to league-leader Hawai‘i this past week ... the Wolf Pack dropped the first game by a score of 12-9 before bouncing back to pick up a 10-0 seven-inning shutout in game two ... Troy Marks was named WAC Pitcher of the Week after picking up the complete game shutout in the win ... Marks struck out four and gave up only three hits in the game ... Nevada then dropped the final two games of the series ... Brock Stassi led the Pack at the plate, hitting .529 with four runs, nine hits, five doubles, one triple and seven RBI ... Stassi struck out only once ... this week, Nevada hosts Sacramenot State in a four-game series May 13-15.
NM State Aggies (32-16, 7-9 WAC)
The Aggies split a four-game series at home against Sacramento State ... NM State took game one 8-7 before dropping game two 15-8 ... the Aggies then won game three 11-9 before dropping the finale 19-11 ... Parker Hipp led the team at the plate, batting .769 with 10 hits, three runs and three RBIs ... Scott Coffman picked up a win on the mound, going 5.0 innings without giving up a run ... with eight games left in the regular season the Aggies hitting .340 as a team, while two Aggies are currently hitting above .400 ... Hipp leads the team with 60 hits on the year and Ryan Aguayo leads the team with 56 RBI ... Ryan Beck tallied a team-high ninth win on the year and has a team-high 59 strikeouts ... NM State travels to play Fresno State this week.
Sacramento State Hornets (17-33, 4-12 WAC)
Sacramento State split a four-game series at New Mexico State last week ... the Hornets dropped game one 8-7 before picking up a win in game two, 15-8 ... Sacramento State dropped game three 11-9 and then won the finale 19-11 ... Will Soto led the team at the plate, batting .706 with 12 hits, seven runs, two doubles, eight RBI and three walks ... Soto’s performance last week doubled his hit total on the year and earned him WAC Hitter of the Week honors ... Andrew Galvan and Brandon Sandoval picked up wins on the mound for the Hornets ... this week, Sacramento State travels to play Nevada in a four-game WAC series, May 13-15.
SJSU Spartans (30-18, 9-7 WAC)
San Jose State went 0-2 last week, dropping a 3-1 decision at home to Stanford before falling 6-5 at UC Davis ... Craig Hertler led the team during the two games at the plate, batting .875 with seven hits, two runs scored, one double, one triple and a pair of RBIs ... Nick Schulz batted .667 over the two games with two runs ... Esteban Guzman had an impressive performance on the mound, pitching 4.0 innings with four strikeouts without giving up a run ... this week, San Jose State hosts Pacific on Tuesday before traveling to play Hawai‘i in a four-game WAC series May 12-15.
WAC NOTES
SACRAMENTO STATE’S SOTO NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Sacramento State’s Will Soto has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for May 2-8.
Soto, a freshman from Elk Grove, Calif. (Elk Grove HS), hit .706 (12-for-17) with seven runs scored, eight RBI, two doubles and three walks without a strikeout as Sacramento State split a four-game series at New Mexico State. Soto had 10 singles and two doubles in four games, including a Sacramento State season-high five hits on Saturday. He became just the 11th player in school history to tally five hits in a single game, good for No. 2 all-time on the single-game hits list at Sacramento State. Prior to the NM State series, Soto was hitting .158 (12-for-76) on the year before exploding against the Aggies and doubling his season hit total. He improved his batting average to .258 (24-for-93) after the weekend.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Fresno State senior Jordan Ribera … Nevada senior Brock Stassi … New Mexico State sophomore Zac Fisher.
NEVADA’S MARKS NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech’s Nevada’s Troy Marks has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for May 2-8.
Marks, a junior from Fresno, Calif. (Fresno City CC/Bullard HS), tossed a complete game seven-inning shutout as Nevada defeated Hawai‘i 10-0 on May 6. Marks pitched 3.2 hitless innings before allowing a hit and gave up just one hit in the first six innings of the game. He struck out four UH hitters in the game. The final two Rainbow hits came in the seventh inning. Just on UH runner reached third base in the game and just two other times a Rainbow batter advanced to second. All three hits that Marks gave up were singles.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Louisiana Tech junior Mike Jefferson … New Mexico State junior Scott Coffman.
FRESNO STATE RANKS 21st IN LATEST NATIONAL POLL, HAWAI‘I RECEIVING VOTES
Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Bulldogs are No. 21 in the USA Today/Coaches poll and the National College Baseball Writers Association poll. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 22 in the latest Baseball America poll, and No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. Hawai‘i is receiving votes in the USA Today/Coaches poll.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
As of May 9, the WAC boasts some of the nation’s top stats leaders. Teams from the WAC rank top-10 nationally in eight different team categories and seven individual categories. New Mexico State holds the highest team ranking as it leads the nation in team batting average at .340. The Aggies also rank second nationally in scoring (9.0), runs (433) and hits (550). Individually, New Mexico State’s Parker Hipp holds the highest individual ranking in the WAC. Hipp ranks fifth nationally in on base percentage at .538.
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.