Fresno State

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

Fresno State’s Jordan Ribera hit a two-run homer in the first game of the day and followed it up with another in the championship as Fresno State defeated New Mexico State 9-7 in game one and 5-3 in the final to claim its fourth-straight WAC Tournament baseball title. Ribera went 2-for-3 in the championship game with two RBI, a home run and two runs scored. Matt Morse picked up the win in the championship after going 2.2 innings without giving up a run.  Fresno State receives the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Pairings for the tournament will be announced Monday at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Day one of the WAC tournament saw some exciting baseball be played and as was the case all season long the games’ final scores were indicative of how closely bunched the league has been this season. The top two seeds in the tournament, San Jose State (over Nevada) and Louisiana Tech (over Hawai’i) won their opening day games while 4-seed New Mexico State handed 3-seed Fresno State their first loss in tournament play in the past three season (the Bulldogs had previously been 12-0).
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The WAC tournament begins today and the six teams that are participating are the six teams that were picked in the preseason to be in Honolulu at the end of the season. However, that’s where the good prognostication ends.

Fresno State, the three time defending regular season, conference tournament and defending national champion was once again picked to win the league but they faltered in the early part of the conference season and nearly missed the conference tournament but used a four game sweep on the final weekend of play to go from 7th place to a tie for third place. Nevada, the team picked to finish third in the league was swept in the final two weekends of play to finish sixth. At one point the Wolf Pack were in first place in the league. Read the rest of this entry »

Hohokam Stadium

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

DENVER, CO – The Western Athletic Conference has awarded the City of Mesa the WAC Baseball Tournament for 2010, 2011 and 2012, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson announced on Thursday. The event, which is subject to the WAC Board of Directors approval, 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 which features Hawai‘i, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Sacramento State, Nevada, New Mexico State and San Jose State. Read the rest of this entry »

RUSTON, LA – Fresno State claimed its third consecutive WAC crown defeating Nevada 6-4 in the championship game on Sunday. The Bulldogs fell behind early 2-0 as Nevada’s Mike Hale and David Ciarlo hit solo home runs in the second and third innings. Fresno State exploded for five runs in the top of the 5th inning taking a 5-2 lead. Fresno State added one more in the next inning to go up 6-2. Nevada would score runs in the seventh and eighth innings to close to within two runs at 6-4 but Fresno State’s Brandon Burke pitched the final 1.2 innings picking up his 10th save of the season preserving the Bulldogs’ lead.

Holden Sprague picked up the victory for the Bulldogs going 5.1 innings giving up two runs. Nevada’s Chris Garcia took the loss throwing 4.2 innings and giving up four runs.
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GAME ONE – #1 FRESNO STATE VS. #2 HAWAI’I
Fresno State scored one run on an Eric Wetzel homer in the bottom of the fourth to take an early 1-0 lead over 2-seed Hawai’i. Hawai’i would answer and take the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth inning and Landon Hernandez and Matt Roquemore produced back-to-back home runs to start the inning. The lead didn’t last long however as Fresno State scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 8-3 and then added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to lead 11-3. Hawai’i added a meaningless run in the top of the ninth and the battle between the tournament’s only two remaining unbeatens went to top seed Fresno State.

Jason Brckley picked up the win for the Bulldogs pitching four innings and giving up just one run, that being on the Ryan Asato sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. The losing pitcher was Matt Daly who in five innings of work gave up six runs. With the win Fresno State advances to the Championship game on Sunday.
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GAME ONE – #5 NEW MEXICO STATE VS. #6 SACRAMENTO STATE

The first game of the second day of the tournament was an elimination game for both teams. Just as the did in their game against Hawai’i, the Aggies struck first via a home run from Colin Crouthamel. Sacramento State would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Gabe Jacobo homered to lead off the scoring for the Hornets. Sacramento State would plate two more runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead. New Mexico State answered with two runs to tie the game 3-3 but could have had a much bigger inning as Marcus Quade grounded into an inning ending double play. Sacramento State answered the two Aggie runs with three more runs to retake the lead 6-3 and would add two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stretch their lead to 8-3. New Mexico State would attempt to rally scoring runs in the eighth and ninth innings and had the tying run at the plate in Marcus Quade but Quade grounded into his second inning ending double play of the game as the season ended for New Mexico State.

Tyler Sturdevant picks up the loss for the Aggies as he pitched 4.1 innings and gave up six runs. Tommy Elrod picks up the win for the Hornets as he pitched 3.1 innings in relief of Brian Smith. Elrod gave up just one run.

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GAME ONE – #1 FRESNO STATE VS. #6 SACRAMENTO STATE

Fresno State defeated Sacramento State 3-2 in the first round of the WAC Baseball Championship Tournament on Thursday. The Bulldogs struck first blood in the first inning taking a 1-0 lead on a Steve Susdorf RBI single as Grand Hedstrom scored from from second. Sacramento State tied the game up in the fourth inning on a Tim Wheeler single that brought home Gabe Jacobo from second base. The Bulldogs would take the lead back in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring two runs off a Ryan Overland double as Tommy Mendonca and Alan Ahmady both scored on the play. Sacramento State would add one run to bring the Hornets to within one run but that was as close as they would get and Fresno State would hold Sacramento State scoreless over the final two innings. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2008 WAC tournament gets under way on Thursday, May 22nd in Ruston, LA at J.C. Love Field. The stadium has a 3,500 seat capacity. J.C. Love Field’s dimensions are (left-to-right) 315-370-385-340-325. The outfield wall has been raised to 12 feet from the left-field corner around to right center where it will remain at eight feet from right-center to the right-field line.

The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the mid to high eighties with a 30% to 40% chance of rain and scattered thunderstorms over the tournament weekend.

The first round matchups will see 1-seed Fresno State take on 6-seed Sacramento State, 2-seed Hawai’i take on 5-seed New Mexico State and 3-seed Nevada take on 4-seed San Jose State. The games are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. All times are CDT.

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