The Top 4 in the WAC
Fresno State: 20-3 entering conference play
Starters Greg Gonzalez (6-0 W-L, 1.36 ERA) and Derek Benny (3-0 W-L, 4.74 ERA) have paced the Bulldogs to a 20-3 non-conference start. Tom Harlan has rounded out the rotation nicely with a 2-2 record and 3.77 ERA as the third starter.
Charlie Robertson has been stellar out of the pen and hasn't allowed an earned run in 16 1/3 innings pitched. He has yielded only five hits while striking out 12 on the year.
Taylor Garrison (0.00 ERA, 11 2/3 IP) and Cody Kendall (0.79 ERA, 22 2/3 IP) give Fresno State a deep and talented bullpen to preserve leads.
Senior Outfielder Dusty Robinson (.325/6 HR/19 RBI) heads a fearsome middle of the order for Fresno State, who has had to replace the productivity of last year's conference MVP, Jordan Ribera. The struggling first baseman is hitting .244 for the season with just one homerun and seven RBIs, after a 2010 campaign in which he led the WAC with 27 long balls.
Infielder Danny Muno has been starting since he was a freshman at Fresno State and is having another solid year in 2011. The senior is hitting .341 with two homeruns and 24 RBIs to go along with a team-high 22 walks and eight stolen bases. Muno singled, stole second and scored the game winning run in the 22nd inning of the Bulldog's marathon affair with the University of San Diego earlier this season.
Shortstop Garrett Weber (.293 2 HR/15 RBI) and catcher Austin Wynns (.387/ 0 HR/ 12 RBI) round out a Bulldog order that needs Ribera to return to form if the Bulldogs are going to be the class of the conference.
The Verdict: 19-5 conference record in 2011 (1st place)
Fresno State's pitching will dictate their success as the offense should heat up during conference play. Greg Gonzalez looks like the early favorite for WAC pitcher of the year but if Harlan and Benny struggle, SJSU has a more formidable front-end of the rotation and could make a run at the title. Fresno State's bullpen has a clear edge on the Spartans and could prove to be the decisive factor in the conference showdown. Bulldogs will likely win the regular season crown, but SJSU’s pair of aces could earn them an automatic bid if they pitch well enough in the WAC tournament.
San Jose State: 16-8 entering conference play
SJSU may have the best 1-2 punch in the WAC with starters Blake McFarland and Roberto Padilla. McFarland earned Preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year awards and has lived up to the bidding thus far by going 4-0 with a 4.50 ERA.
The southpaw Padilla has burst onto the Division-I scene with an electric fastball and great curveball that has developed into an excellent out-pitch for the JC-transfer. In 50 innings pitched he is 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA and a team-high 37 strikeouts.
The Spartans also may have the best all-around talent in the WAC with sophomore Zack Jones. The pitcher/shortstop leads the team in saves with four and has a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings of relief. His 36 strikeouts are the most by any reliever in the WAC and opponents are hitting just .143 against the sophomore right-hander.
Jones also leads the team with a .513 slugging percentage and is hitting at a clip of .350 with a pair of homeruns.
While the first two spots in the rotation are spoken for, the third spot has been in flux and is still available to a number of candidates. Andy Hennessee has an early lead on Estaban Guzman and Sean Martin, but Hennessee’s 5.28 ERA leaves room for competition. Guzman has flourished in a relief role after struggling in two starts, improving his ERA to 3.13 in 23 innings. Continued success in relief may force head coach Sam Piraro to consider giving him another shot at the third spot if Hennessee is unable to provide stability. Martin has given up 19 hits in 13 1/3 IP and is losing ground on the job with an ERA of 6.75.
Eric LaBaron’s senior year has resulted in a team-best ERA of 0.90 in 10 innings pitched, potentially earning Piraro’s confidence as the set-up man for Jones in conference play.
Danny Stienstra's return to form has resulted in SJSU having one of the most reliable cleanup hitters in the conference.
His .398 batting average is good for fifth best in the WAC, while his 45 hits and 113 at-bats are both good for second in the conference.
Stienstra has struck out just four times on the season, less than any hitter in the conference with a minimum of 60 plate appearances.
Freshman Jake Valdez wasn’t in the opening day lineup and didn’t start for SJSU until the fourth game against Albany. His .338 batting average has earned him regular playing time at second base and the third best average on the team.
Senior outfielder Craig Hertler has found a home as the Spartans’ leadoff hitter, hitting .318 for the season with an on-base percentage of .446 in 81 at-bats.
Fellow senior outfielder Jason Martin has been heating up with conference play approaching, hitting .367 over his last six games to improve his average to .264 on the year.
Third baseman Tyler Christian leads the team in homeruns with three, but his .212 batting average has opened the door for freshman Caleb Natov who has hit .319 with 10 RBIs in 47 at-bats.
The Verdict: 15-9 conference record (2nd place)
With a formidable front-end of the rotation, SJSU’s pitching will carry them through WAC play and put them into position to challenge for their second WAC title in three years. Fresno State has a superior offense to SJSU and possibly the best pitcher in the conference in Gonzalez, but SJSU has pitching depth to rival the Bulldogs and a number two starter (Padilla) that would be the ace of nearly any other staff in the conference. The Spartans’ proved they could compete with the nation’s best by taking two of three from UCLA earlier in the season, beating a Bruin team that received several No. 1 votes in the national polls before the season. Even more impressively, SJSU bested both Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, two of the Pac-10’s better pitchers and likely first round draft picks in the upcoming MLB draft. The Spartans will be tested immediately in conference with a four game series with Fresno State that starts Friday at Municipal Stadium. An impressive showing against the defending conference champion Bulldogs could put the Spartans in position to dethrone a team that has won four of the last five WAC titles. If the Spartan’s can’t hang with the Bulldogs during opening weekend, they are going to have to rely upon a strong showing in the WAC tournament to impress the NCAA selection committee.
Hawaii: 14-14 entering conference play
The Rainbow Warriors finished fourth in the WAC last season at 12-12 but are poised to make a climb in the standings with a solid core of returning starters.
WAC Preseason Hitter of the Year, Kolton Wong, has lived up to his billing with a .393 batting average, four homeruns and 24 RBIs in 2011.
The senior second basema has helped lead Hawaii to a 14-14 non-conference mark, despite playing a tough preseason slate that included Oregon(14-11), Texas (20-7), Cal State Fullerton (19-8) and Wichita State (18-11).
Hawaii split the four game series with Oregon to open the season, but also took one game from Texas and three of four from Wichita State. Fullerton swept Hawaii in four games, but not a single game in the series was decided by more than three runs.
Zack Swasey (.317) and Sean Montplaisir (.301) have both complimented Wong in the batting order and have both knocked in more than 10 RBIs for Hawaii in 2011.
Starting pitcher Matt Sisto is second in the WAC in innings pitched (47) and has posted an ERA of 2.68, good for fourth in the conference.
Sisto’s run support hasn’t been a strong suit, posting a 1-4 record despite an ERA under three.
Connor Little (2-1, 3.90), Jarrett Arakawa (2-2, 3.79) and Jesse Moore (0-2, 4.88) round out the rotation and have already been tested by a number of offensive minded teams during the non-conference schedule.
Hawaii’s bullpen is led by closer Lenny Linsky who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 18 1/3 innings pitched. Linsky has also collected four saves, 20 strikeouts and has only allowed nine hits in his 13 appearances in 2011.
Randy Yard has posted a 1.50 ERA out of the bullpen, striking out 16 in 12 innings pitched. Yard will likely be called upon to bridge the gap until Linsky is called upon to close.
The Verdict: 13-11 in conference play (3rd place)
Hawaii has faced the toughest non-conference test of all the teams in the WAC, and the close games they played against nationally ranked teams showed they can compete with the best. Wong will stay around .400 all season and will help Hawaii improve upon their fourth place finish in 2010. If Hawaii can find a consistent third starter behind Sisto and Little, they will likely finish with a winning record in conference play for the first time since 2008.
New Mexico State: 22-6 entering conference play
The Aggies finished tied for second place in the WAC last season with a 14-9-1 overall mark and have opened the season with a 22-6 non-conference record in 2011.
New Mexico State has the second best record in the conference entering WAC play, but has only beaten one team in that span that had a winning record.
During their 28-game non-conference schedule, the Aggies only played four teams with a winning percentage better than .500.
Oregon State (19-7), Lamar (19-11), VMI (14-12) and Cal State Northridge (14-13) accounted for the toughest portion of the schedule, a stretch of games that saw the Aggies post a 1-4 record.
Offense hasn’t been an issue so far for New Mexico State, as the Aggies have scored 304 runs in 28 games to lead the WAC.
Second baseman Parker Hipp has been the WAC’s best hitter so far in 2011, leading the WAC in runs (35), RBIs (46), slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.548).
Hipp also sports an batting average of .424, making him one of four Aggies hitting .400 or better on the year.
Tanner Waiter, New Mexico State’s junior outfielder who is hitting .486 in 72 at-bats to lead the WAC in average and on-base percentage (.606).
Waite is playing his first year of Division-I baseball and wasn’t in the starting lineup when the Aggies opened the season.
Senior shortstop Ryan Aguayo is hitting an even .426 for the season, placing him second in the WAC in that category, behind his teammate.
Aguayo is also second in the WAC in on-base percentage and leads the conference in doubles with 15, giving the Aggies one of the most productive middle infield’s in the nation.
New Mexico State has four other players hitting better than .300 entering conference play, as Zachary Voight (.400), Zac Fisher (.372), Wesley Starkes (.337) and Brian Karraker (.333) give the Aggies a lineup that features six of the WAC’s top 15 hitters based on batting average.
While the offense has flourished against one of the softer non-conference schedules in the WAC, New Mexico State’s pitching hasn’t been as dominant as their bats.
Dan Reid has developed into the ace of the staff in 2011, going 5-0 with the third best ERA in the WAC at 2.59.
While Reid’s five wins are good for second best in the WAC, he hasn’t pitched against a team with a winning record and has recorded only 22 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings.
Trey Ross (4-1, 4.85) has been the only other Aggie starter with an ERA under five, as Ryan Beck (5.93) and Tyler Mack (7.91) have both struggled to solidify the third spot in the rotation.
Beck has still managed a 5-2 record despite the inflated ERA, a testament to the Aggies prowess on offense.
Mack also sports a 4-1 record despite having the worst ERA of any starting pitcher in the conference going into conference play.
The Verdict: 12-12 in conference play (4th place)
Either New Mexico State didn’t get the shipment of new bats or their offensive numbers have been greatly inflated by their soft schedule. The latter seems more likely as the Aggies were shutout by Oregon State and VMI, two of only four winning teams they opposed in non-conference play.
Against teams with a winning record, New Mexico State averaged 2.8 runs per game compared to 12.6 runs per game against the rest of their opponents.
Conference play will reveal if the Aggie offense can continue their torrid pace and if their pitching can stand up to teams like Fresno State, SJSU and Hawaii.
While they still have the best offense in the WAC, the Aggies will learn that pitching wins games come conference season and will be hard pressed to repeat last year’s second place finish.
