April 21, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WCC/Rawlings Co-Players of the Week
Ryan Wiegand, Gonzaga & James Meador, San Diego

Gonzaga's Ryan Wiegand and San Diego's James Meador share WCC/Rawlings Player of the Week honors after leading their respective teams to undefeated marks last week. Wiegand batted .429 (9-for-21) as the Zags posted a 5-0 record, including a three-game sweep of Portland. The junior slugged three home runs, collected seven RBI, and scored four runs on the week. Meador paced the Toreros to a 4-0 mark, batting .438 (7-for-16) as USD stretched its winning streak to 12 straight games. The sophomore belted a home run, scored twice, and drove in eight runs as the Toreros improved to 31-11.

WCC/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week
Nate Garcia, Santa Clara

Nate Garcia pitched Santa Clara to a crucial 8-0 victory over San Francisco on Friday, helping the Broncos take two-of-three from the Dons over the weekend and move into sole possession of third place in the WCC standings. The sophomore threw his first career complete game against USF, striking out nine batters in nine innings of work, and surrendering just four hits on the evening. Garcia did not walk a single batter en route to improving to 4-2 on the season.

Upcoming Games

Apr. 21
1 Stanford at Santa Clara - 5:00 PM

Apr. 22
Sacramento State at San Francisco - 2:00 PM
LMU at UC Riverside - 3:00 PM
Washington at Portland - 3:00 PM
Long Beach State at San Diego - 3:00 PM
Gonzaga at Washington State - 5:30 PM
Santa Clara at Fresno State - 6:00 PM

Apr. 23
Portland at Oregon State - 2:00 PM
Lewis-Clark State at Gonzaga - 6:00 PM
Saint Mary's at Stanford - 6:00 PM
San Francisco at Fresno State - 6:00 PM

Apr. 25
*Gonzaga at Saint Mary's - 3:00 PM
*LMU at San Diego - 3:00 PM
*Portland at San Francisco - 3:00 PM
Hawaii-Hilo at Santa Clara - 7:00 PM

Apr. 26
*Gonzaga at Saint Mary's - 1:00 PM
*LMU at San Diego - 1:00 PM
*Portland at San Francisco - 1:00 PM
Hawaii-Hilo at Santa Clara - 6:00 PM

Apr. 27
*Gonzaga at Saint Mary's - 1:00 PM
*LMU at San Diego - 1:00 PM
*Portland at San Francisco - 1:00 PM
Hawaii-Hilo at Santa Clara - 1:00 PM

* Denotes Conference Game; 1 Televised on CBS College Sports

Around The WCC

WCC Trio Named To Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List
Three WCC relievers were named to the midseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year Award, presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Pepperdine's Nick Gaudi joined San Diego's AJ Griffin and Santa Clara's Thain Simon on the list of 45 players named to the list. The award will be presented to the nation's top closer by the NCBWA on June 4, 2008.

WCC Baseball On Television
An unprecedented amount of WCC baseball games will be broadcast to a national television audience this season, as five tilts involving conference teams will be televised during the 2008 campaign. WCC baseball continues its long standing relationship with CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV) this season, as four games will be televised on the network. It marks the fifth straight year that CBS College Sports will broadcast a regular season league contest, and the second straight year that multiple league games will be broadcast. ESPNU will televise the fifth national broadcast of the WCC baseball season, marking the first time that a regular season league tilt will be carried by the network. Below is a list of the games involving WCC teams that will be broadcast this season.

April 21 - Stanford at Santa Clara - 5:00 pm (PT), CBS College Sports
April 28 - Stanford at Santa Clara - 5:00 pm (PT), CBS College Sports
May 2 - San Diego at Pepperdine - 1:00 pm (PT), CBS College Sports
May 3 - San Diego at Pepperdine - 1:00 pm (PT), CBS College Sports
May 9 - Portland at Pepperdine - 3:00 pm (PT), ESPNU

WCC Team Notes

Gonzaga Bulldogs (23-16 / 5-6 WCC)
- Gonzaga posted a two-game, mid-week sweep of Washington before sweeping Portland in a three-game weekend set to improve to 23-16, and 5-6 in conference play.

- Cody Martin made his first career start on Sunday, and tossed a complete game in a 5-1 win over the Pilots. The freshman, who tied the GU single-season saves record with seven earlier this season, lowered his ERA to a team-best 1.64.

- Ryan Wiegand continued to swing a hot bat, batting .429 (9-for-21), while slugging three home runs and driving in seven on the week. The junior has collected a team-high 48 RBI this season, and needs just seven more to crack the Gonzaga single-season top-10 list.

- Gonzaga travels to Washington State (4/22) and hosts Lewis-Clark State (4/23) before traveling to Saint Mary's for a three-game weekend series.

Loyola Marymount Lions (19-20/ 5-7 WCC)
- The Lions dropped two-of-three to then-No. 6 ranked Pepperdine over the weekend, taking Friday's contest in 10 innings, 6-5.

- Xavier Esquivel earned the win in relief on Friday, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless ball against the Waves. The sophomore improved to 4-2 on the season, and has also nailed down a team-high three saves in 15 appearances for the Lions.

- Joe Vierra singled down the right field line to drive in the winning run in Friday's victory over Pepperdine, marking the freshman's first collegiate RBI.

- Kyle Spraker batted .636 (7-for-11) in the series with Pepperdine, and raised his season batting average to .306 (44-for-144).

- LMU travels to UC Riverside (4/22) before meeting San Diego for a three-game series.

Pepperdine Waves (25-13 / 8-3 WCC)
- The Waves rebounded from a 10-0 loss to then-No. 24 Long Beach State to take two-of-three from cross-town rival LMU over the weekend, and improve to 8-3 in conference play.

- Pepperdine slugged five home runs in Saturday's 22-3 win over the Lions, including a pair of round-trippers from Eric Thames. The senior moved into a tie for the conference lead with 12 dingers on the season, and needs just one more to move into a tie for 10th place on the Waves' single-season list.

- Matt Bywater earned his team-leading sixth victory of the season in Sunday's 10-1 win over LMU, as the freshman tossed seven shutout innings and improved to 6-1 on the year.

- Pepperdine will take the week off for graduation before resuming the season with a home contest against UCLA (4/29).

Portland Pilots (17-23 / 2-10 WCC)
- The Pilots' match up with Oregon State at PGE Park was suspended due to rain, but UP recorded a 7-0 win over Lewis & Clark before suffering a three-game sweep at Gonzaga over the weekend.

- Danny Meier continued his climb up the Portland career home run chart, as the senior clubbed three round-trippers on the week to move into sole possession of ninth place on the list with 21. Meier currently ranks fourth in the WCC with 10 home runs this season.

- Owen Jones picked up his first collegiate win, striking out five batters in four shutout innings in Wednesday's win over Lewis & Clark.

- The Pilots host Washington (4/22) and travel to No. 26 Oregon State (4/23) before heading to San Francisco for a three-game WCC series this weekend.

Saint Mary's Gaels (20-16-1 / 4-8 WCC)
- Saint Mary's posted a 17-6 win over San Francisco State before traveling to then-No. 12 San Diego and suffering a three-game sweep in WCC action over the weekend.

- Kyle Jensen extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games before going 0-for-4 in Saturday's 6-0 loss at San Diego. The sophomore enters the week batting a conference-best .426 (55-for-129), and aims to become the first Gael since Mark Teahen in 2002 to lead the WCC in batting.

- Taylor Reid earned his first collegiate victory, as the freshman made the start and tossed six innings against San Francisco State on Tuesday.

- The Gaels travel to No. 5 Stanford (4/22) before returning home to take on Gonzaga for a three-game weekend set.

San Diego Toreros (31-11 / 10-2 WCC)
- San Diego extended its winning streak to 12 straight games, handing then-No. 5 UC Irvine a 7-1 defeat before rolling to a three-game sweep of visiting Saint Mary's in WCC play.

- James Meador continued to swing a hot bat, hitting .438 (7-for-16) on the week and driving in a team-high eight runs. The sophomore enters the week batting a team-best .366 (52-for-142), and currently ranks third on the club with 40 RBI.

- Josh Romanski improved his undefeated record to 7-0 with a seven-inning shutout effort in Saturday's 6-0 victory over Saint Mary's. The junior is tied for second in the conference in wins, and is one of three Toreros to rank among the WCC's top-four in strikeouts with 48.

- The Toreros continue an eight-game home stand against No. 23 Long Beach State (4/22) before hosting LMU in WCC play this weekend.

San Francisco Dons (22-17 / 6-6 WCC)
- San Francisco was edged in 11 innings by then-No. 10 ranked Stanford, 11-10, before traveling to Santa Clara and dropping two-of-three to the Broncos in WCC play over the weekend.

- Connor Bernatz batted .375 (6-for-16) on the week for the Dons, including a 3-for-5 performance in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Broncos. Bernatz enters the week as the top hitting freshman in the WCC, batting at a .371 (46-for-124) clip for the season.

- Mitchell Bialosky enjoyed an outstanding week, batting .316 (6-for-19) and slugging a home run in the loss at Stanford. The senior also picked up his third save of the season in Saturday's win at Santa Clara.

- The Dons host Sacramento State (4/22) and travel to Fresno State (4/23) before opening up a three-game WCC series with Portland at home this weekend.

Santa Clara Broncos (21-15 / 7-5 WCC)
- Santa Clara rebounded from a 3-1 loss to then-No. 10 Stanford to take two-of-three from San Francisco over the weekend, moving the Broncos into sole possession of third place in the conference standings.

- Nate Garcia tossed his first career complete game, as the sophomore improved to 4-2 on the season after striking out nine batters and surrendering just four hits in Friday's 8-0 win over San Francisco.

- Matt Long batted .412 (7-for-17), including a .462 (6-for-13) clip against USF, while slugging a pair of home runs and driving in six last week. Long has clubbed six round-trippers this year, doubling his career total entering the season.

- The Broncos host No. 5 Stanford (4/21) in a match up televised on CBS College Sports before traveling to Fresno State (4/22) and hosting Hawaii-Hilo for a series this weekend.