WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (36-11, 16-7 WAC)
The Bulldogs swept a four-game series of New Mexico State for the second year in a row improving to 36-11 on the season ... the Bulldogs outscored the Aggies 55-16 and pounded out 58 hits over the weekend including, nine doubles and eight home runs ... Kenny Wise hit three home runs and recorded nine RBIs while Robinson hit .500 with two jacks and 10 RBIs ... the pitching staff recorded 33 strikeouts with Greg Gonzalez leading the way with 10 ... the Bulldogs allowed 14 earned runs and had a team ERA of 3.94 ... Fresno State concludes WAC play this Thursday at home against Nevada before stepping out of conference for a three-game set against Cal State Bakersfield.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (30-21, 15-5 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 3-1 at home against San Jose State last week, clinching the team one of the top two seeds in next week’s WAC tournament ... the Rainbows defeated SJSU 8-2 and 5-2 in the first two games of the series ... UH then dropped a 7-3 decision in game three before winning the finale in the bottom of the ninth inning, 9-8 ... Jeff Van Doornum led the Rainbows at the plate, batting .500 with eight hits, three runs, one double, one triple and six RBI ... Jarrett Arakawa had an impressive outing on the mound, pitching 7.0 innings with five strikeouts ... Arakawa gave up only one run during his appearances ... this week, UH closes out regular season play with a four-game set at New Mexico State.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (29-24, 9-11 WAC)
Louisiana Tech stepped out of conference play last week to take two games from Mississippi Valley State ... the Bulldogs won game one 15-1 before taking game two on senior night, 5-4 ... Caleb Dudley is now tied for third all-time on the single-season list after appearing in his 28th game of the year ... Dudley is just two appearances shy of tying Billy Tanksley and Aaron Lorio for the school record … seniors Will Alvis and Joey Ford played all nine defensive positions in Tech’s 5-4 win over Mississippi Valley State ... Justin Gordey hit .800 over the two games with four hits, one run and one RBI ... this week, Louisiana Tech closes out regular season play with four games at Sacramento State.
Nevada Wolf Pack (20-27, 9-10 WAC)
Nevada went 3-1 at home against Sacramento State this past week ... the Wolf Pack dropped game one 4-2 before winning the next three by scores of 10-7, 8-3 and 10-0 (8) ... Brock Stassi hit .500 during the four-game series, tallying seven hits, one run, one triple, three walks and five RBI ... Waylen Sing Chow also hit .500 with seven hits, five runs, three doubles, two walks and six RBI ... Jeremy Cole was named the WAC’s Pitcher of the Week after going 7.0 innings in a 10-0 shutout victory that ended after eight innings due to the run rule ... Troy Marks picked up a complete game victory over the Hornets ... this week, Nevada wraps up regular season play at Fresno State on Thursday before a four-game set at San Jose State.
NM State Aggies (32-20, 7-13 WAC)
New Mexico State dropped four games at Fresno State last week ... the team lost the first two games by scores of 17-4 and 15-7 before dropping the final two games 17-2 and 6-3 ... Bryan Karraker led the Aggies at the plate during the four games, batting .583 with seven hits, three runs, three doubles, two walks and four RBI ... Zac Fisher hit .400 with six hits, one run, one double, one home run and a pair of RBI ... New Mexico State will wrap up regular season play at home this week against league-leader Hawai‘i ... the four-game series will begin May 20.
Sacramento State Hornets (18-36, 5-15 WAC)
Sacramento State went 1-3 at Nevada last week ... the Hornets won game one 4-2 before dropping the next three by scores of 10-7, 8-3 and 10-0 ... Will Soto led the Hornets at the plate during the four-game series, batting .400 with six hits, four runs, two doubles, one walk and a pair of RBI ... Carter Loud also hit .400 with four hits, one run, one double, one home run and two RBI ... Blake Miller led Sacramento State with six RBI during the four-game set ... Karl Maas picked up the lone victory on the mound for the Hornets, pitching a complete 9.0 innings while giving up only two runs and five hits ... this week Sacramento State wraps up the regular season at home against Louisiana Tech.
SJSU Spartans (30-18, 9-7 WAC)
San Jose State dropped three of four games at Hawai‘i last week ... the Spartans dropped the first two games by scores of 8-2 and 5-2 before picking up a 7-3 victory in game three ... the Spartans then dropped the finale in the bottom of the ninth inning, 9-8 ... Craig Hertler led San Jose State at the plate batting .533 with eight hits, one run, one double, two walks and an RBI during the four-game series ... Zack Jones hit .400 with six hits, four runs, one double, one home run and three RBI ... Blake McFarland picked up the win on the mound for the Spartans, going 7.0 innings with four strikeouts ... San Jose State finishes regular season play at home against Nevada this week.
WAC NOTES
FRESNO STATE’S ROBINSON NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State’s Dusty Robinson has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for May 9-15.
Robinson, a junior outfielder from Bakersfield, Calif. (Centennial HS), hit .500 (7-for-14) with seven runs scored, 10 RBI, two doubles, two home runs and three walks with only one strikeout as Fresno State State swept a four-game series against New Mexico State. Robinson went 2-for-5, 2-for-3 and 3-for-4 in the first, second and third games of the NM State series. He stole one base and did not commit a single error in four starts.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Hawai‘i senior Jeff Van Doornum … Nevada senior Waylen Sing Chow.
NEVADA’S COLE NAMED WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Nevada’s Jeremy Cole has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for May 9-15.
Cole, a senior from Rocklin, Calif. (Sierra JC), pitched seven shutout innings in a game that ended after eight innings as Nevada was up 10-0 over Sacramento State. Cole allowed just six hits and struck out a career-high seven batters with only two walks. A Sacramento State batter reached third base only twice during the contest. Cole allowed two hits in a single inning only one time, which also marked the only time that two Hornet hitters reached base in the same inning.
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Fresno State junior Josh Poytress … Hawai‘i freshman Jarrett Arakawa.
FRESNO STATE RANKS 19th IN LATEST NATIONAL POLL, HAWAI‘I RECEIVING VOTES
Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Dogs are No. 20 in
Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball’s polls. The Bulldogs highest ranking this week is
at No. 19 in both the USA Today Coaches poll and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association. Hawai‘i is receiving a vote in the USA Today Coaches poll.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
As of May 15, the WAC boasts some of the nation’s top stats leaders. Teams from the WAC rank top-10 nationally in nine different NCAA team categories and three individual categories. New Mexico State holds the highest team ranking as it leads the nation in team batting average at .334. The Aggies also rank second nationally in hits (582). Individually, San Jose State’s Danny Stienstra holds the highest individual national ranking in the WAC. Stienstra ranks seventh nationally as the toughest to strikeout at 26.0.
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.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE STREAMED LIVE
The Western Athletic Conference, in conjunction with its Web site partner NeuLion, has announced it will stream next week’s 2011 WAC Baseball Tournament live from Mesa, Arizona. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv. The double-elimination tournament will be held May 25-29 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz., with the first game beginning at 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday. Every game of the tournament can be viewed for a single subscription price of $17.95 which will include on-demand viewing of any of the games the following day. More information and how to subscribe to any of these video streaming events can be found at www.WAC.tv.