Fresno State Bulldogs:
2010: (38-25 overall) (16-8 conference) won the WAC for the fourth time in five years last season and will once again be a force to be reckoned with.
Senior Second Team All-WAC infielders Garrett Weber and Danny Muno return to a crowded lineup of conference standouts. Weber hit .387 a year ago while Muno tagged along with a .329 batting average.
Senior first Baseman Jordan Ribera led the WAC in home runs in 2010 with 27 and will bring his .343 average and 69 RBIs back to the heart of the Bulldog lineup in 2011. He was named WAC player of the year in 2010 after finishing near the top of every offensive category in the conference.
Outfielder Brennan Gowens, a junior, was also a preseason All-WAC pick after hitting .359 with an on-base percentage of .427 last season for Fresno State.
Senior right-handed pitcher Greg Gonzalez
2011: (3-0) The Bulldogs started their season with a bang, plating seven runs in the first inning against Gonzaga in their 10-4 victory. Shortstop Garrett Weber was 4-for-5 at the plate with a home run while Fresno State’s starter Derek Benny threw five innings and allowed just one run.
The Bulldogs followed up their comfortable margin of victory with a nail-biting 2-1 win over Oregon State on Sunday. Preseason All-WAC starting pitcher Greg Gonzalez struck out eight for Fresno State while fellow All-WAC honoree Brennan Gowen broke a scoreless tie with his first home run of the young season.
The Bulldogs had a rematch with the Beavers on Monday and bested Oregon State for the second straight day. The 5-4 extra-inning win for Fresno State gives them a 3-0 record to start the season.
San Jose State Spartans:
2010: (23-37) (9-15) SJSU followed up its 41-win season in 2009 with a 23-win season last year that was derailed by inconsistent pitching and not enough thump in the lineup. Senior center fielder Jason Martin led the team with a .373 batting average last season but no returner for SJSU hit more than four home runs in 2010.
The pitching will be markedly improved from a year ago with Preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year Blake McFarland heading the staff and highly touted JC-transfer Roberto Padilla solidifying the weekend rotation.
Andy Hennessey, Estaban Guzman and Sean Martin are all fully capable of giving head coach Sam Piraro innings as starters and will battle for the final spot in the arms race.
2011: (2-0) SJSU took two games from Saint Mary’s to open the season, winning 5-1 on Sunday at home and taking Monday’s game 2-0 in Moraga, Calif.
McFarland and Padilla combined to go the distance for SJSU in game one of the series, holding the Gaels to just a lone run surrendered by McFarland on a single.
Senior Shortstop Nick Borg was 2-for-4 while junior catcher Michael DiRocco was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs in his first Division I collegiate game.
Game two of the series also showcased the Spartans improvement on the hill from 2010, as starter Andy Hennessey worked 4.2 innings of scoreless ball before handing the ball to the bullpen in the fifth inning.
The pen finished the game and kept the Gael’s scoreless for the final 4.1 innings to preserve the 2-0 victory. John Austin worked out of a jam before Zack Jones entered from the pen and struck out four of the six batters he faced.
Borg paced the offense for the second game in a row with his first home run of the season and another 2-for-4 performance.
Nevada Wolf Pack
2010: (36-22-1) (14-9-1) Nevada made a run at the conference title a year ago but was hurt by graduation and the draft as much as any team in the conference. A young and unproven pitching staff will be asked to fill holes early as Jesse Rasner (3.43 ERA) and Tyler Graham (10 saves) departed.
The Wolf Pack enter the season as one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams in the conference and will likely go through a learning curve in 2011. They have eight freshman and six sophomores on their 2011 roster, many of whom will be counted on to contribute this season.
2011: (0-3) Opened the 2011 season against UC Irvine and failed to keep any of the three games close. Nevada was bested 17-4 on Friday, 15-3 on Saturday and 7-1 on Sunday by the Anteaters who exposed the lack of pitching that was a concern for the Wolf Pack going into 2011.
Opening day starter Tom Jameson lasted just 1.1 innings while allowing eight runs on six hits. Only four of the runs were charged to Jameson as Nevada committed two errors as a team.
The rest of the weekend didn’t go much better for the rest of the Wolf Pack pitching staff who were tagged for 22 runs over the final two games.
Hawai’i Rainbows
2010: (35-28) (12-12) A fourth place finish a year ago give the Rainbow Warriors confidence to contend for the WAC title in 2011 with a several key starters returning from last year’s team.
Second baseman Kolton Wong hit .365 last year with seven home runs, earning him the preseason hitter of the year in the WAC for 2011.
2011: (2-2): Hawaii opened eyes around the nation by taking two games from #9 Oregon during the opening weekend. The Rainbows overcame a 3-1 deficit in their season opener and eventually rallied to top the Ducks 4-3 by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Wong had two hits and first baseman Jeffrey Van Doornum was 2-for-2 with an RBI to go along with a pair of walks.
Game two of the series witnessed another impressive comeback by the Rainbows who trailed by as many as four heading into the fifth inning. Down by one going into the bottom of the ninth, Hawaii put runners in scoring position before a walk off single by Breland Almadova plated two runs and gave the Bows the win for the second day in a row. The 11-10 victory was paced by a 4-4 performance by David Peterson who had two RBIs and a run scored.
The magic ran out for the Bows in the third game of the series as Oregon blanked Hawaii 4-0 behind a strong outing by starting pitcher Madison Boer (1-0). After the Rainbow bats had exploded for 15 runs over the first two games of the series, Boer limited Hawaii to one hit in eight innings of work for his first win of the season. Wong had the lone hit of the final game for the Bows and finished the weekend 3-11 at the plate (.273).
The Rainbows run at taking three out of four from the Ducks was halted by a travel curfew in the fourth and final game of the year to hand Oregon a 4-3 victory in eight innings.
No ninth inning heroics were prohibited as the umpires had to call the game due to an NCAA rule that is in place to ensure adequate travel time is allocated for both teams.
Wong had a 2-3 day for Hawaii and also walked, but two runs in the top of the sixth by Oregon gave the Ducks the lead for good.
New Mexico State Aggies
2010: (36-23) (14-9) Seniors Ryan Aguayo and Chance Perkins will be forces in the lineup, but the Aggies will have to patch together a rotation that will have to replace most of the productivity from last year. Aguayo led the WAC in runs scored and was named Second Team All-WAC while Perkins hit .363 and belted a team-high 17 home runs in 2010.
Fellow infielder Parker Hipp returns for his sophomore season after hitting .349 as a freshman
Tyler Mack returns for his sophomore year as well after leading the Aggies’ pitchers in wins with six a year ago.
2011: (3-0) The Aggies won their first three games of the season with a weekend sweep of Houston Baptist. The offense was fueled in the first game by a 4-for-5 day at the plate by Ryan Aguayo and three RBIs from second basemen Parker Hipp who added two hits himself in the 9-6 win.
Game two was a slugfest that saw the Aggies win 13-11 behind another strong game from Hipp who was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Centerfielder Wesley Starkes hit his first homerun of the season and was a combined eight for 10 at the plate over the first two games (.800).
The Aggies also took the third game 9-1 behind a strong performance on the hill by pitcher Trey Ross who was relieved in the seventh inning after allowing just one run for the game in his first Division I start. Hipp was a factor in the offense once again with his first home run of the season while Aguayo was 2-for-4 for the day. Outfielder Bryan Karraker hit his second homerun of the season and added four RBIs in the victory.
Sacramento State Hornets
2010: (18-35) (7-17) Trevor Paine returns to the lineup after hitting .381 with 10 home runs and 64 RBI but the Hornets need to improve on the hill to climb in the WAC standings.
2011: (2-1) Split a doubleheader with UC Davis on Sunday to start the season, winning the first game 4-3 before dropping the nightcap 1-0. Game one was decided on a three-run double by designated hitter Derek Goodwin of the Hornets who cleared the bases in the first inning to give Sacramento State the early lead.
The Hornets were shutout in the second game by UC Davis starting pitcher Anthony Kepbens hurled six scoreless innings before the bullpen was called upon to preserve a 0-0 tie. Davis added the only run of the game on an RBI by designated hitter Scott Lyman, handing the Hornets their first loss of the year.
Sacramento State answered back to beat UC Davis 3-2 on Monday behind five strong innings by starting pitcher Dallas Chadwick who allowed just one run. The win was recorded by Steven Amaral who pitched a scoreless top half of the inning before shortstop Kirby Young’s game-winning RBI single won it for the Hornets in the bottom half of the tenth.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
2010: (27-30) (11-13) Hovered around .500 for most of the season and were never able to string together enough wins for a run at the conference crown. Junior third baseman Mark Threlkeld powered the offense with a .335 average, 14 home runs and 62 RBIs and was an All-WAC selection.
2011: (3-0) Louisiana Tech won all three of its games over the weekend to start the season 3-0. The Bulldogs bested Southern Illinois 3-1 on Friday, Nichols State 4-2 on Saturday and remained perfect on Sunday with a 13-0 rout of Grambling State.
Centerfielder Joey Ford finished the three-game stint with a .545 average (6-11) while slugging a home run and knocking in five RBIs.
Mark Threlkeld added two home runs in the three games while hitting at a clip of .455 (5-11). Threlkeld was a Preseason All-WAC selection and tabbed as the most draft-eligible prospect in the conference by Baseball America Magazine.
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