May 5, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WCC/Rawlings Player of the Week
Drew Heid, Gonzaga

Gonzaga's Drew Heid earned his second straight WCC Player of the Week honor after leading the Zags to a 3-2 mark, including a mid-week sweep of then-No. 23 ranked Oregon State. The sophomore batted .588 (10-for-17), while scoring seven times and driving in four runs through five games. Heid collected multiple hits in four games, including a 3-for-5 effort in Friday's series opener with San Francisco. He also scored three runs in Monday's win over Oregon State.

WCC/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week
Kyle Blair, San Diego

Kyle Blair pitched San Diego to a 2-0 victory in the rubber game of a crucial WCC series at Pepperdine on Sunday. The freshman did not allow a run in 7.2 innings of work, striking out seven Wave batters and surrendering just two hits on the afternoon. Blair improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.86 on the season, and the Toreros clinched a spot in the WCC Championship Series for the second straight year with the victory.

Upcoming Games

May 5
Concordia at Portland - 1:00 PM

May 6
Washington at Portland - 3:00 PM
San Jose State at Saint Mary's - 3:00 PM
Stanford at San Francisco - 3:00 PM
Pepperdine at Cal State Fullerton - 6:00 PM
San Diego at UCLA - 6:00 PM

May 7
UC Santa Barbara at Pepperdine - 3:00 PM
Saint Mary's at San Francisco - 3:00 PM
Santa Clara at Pacific - 6:00 PM

May 9
1 *Portland at Pepperdine - 3:00 PM
*San Diego at San Francisco - 3:00 PM
*Saint Mary's at Santa Clara - 7:00 PM

May 10
*Portland at Pepperdine - 1:00 PM
*San Diego at San Francisco - 1:00 PM
*Saint Mary's at Santa Clara - 6:00 PM
LMU at Arizona State - 7:00 PM

May 11
*Portland at Pepperdine - 1:00 PM
*San Diego at San Francisco - 1:00 PM
*Saint Mary's at Santa Clara - 2:00 PM
LMU at Arizona State - 6:00 PM

* Denotes Conference Game; 1 Televised on ESPNU

Around The WCC

San Diego Clinches Spot In The WCC Championship Series
San Diego clinched a spot in the WCC Championship Series after taking two-of-three from second place Pepperdine over the weekend. The Toreros will make their second straight appearance in the championship event, and can clinch the WCC regular season title at USF this weekend. Several teams remain in contention for the second spot in the WCC Championship Series, with Pepperdine sitting four games back of USD in second place. Santa Clara is just a half game back of the Waves, while San Francisco is one game behind Pepperdine.

Four WCC Hurlers Named To Clemens Award Watch List
Four WCC pitchers were named to the watch list for the Roger Clemens Award, presented annually to the nation's top pitcher. Gonzaga's Cody Martin was one of five freshmen named, and he was joined by San Diego All-Americans Brian Matusz and Josh Romanski, as well as Pepperdine's Brett Hunter on the list.

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 remain this season.

May 9 - Portland at Pepperdine - 3:00 pm (PT), ESPNU

WCC Team Notes

Gonzaga Bulldogs (28-20 / 8-9 WCC)
- Gonzaga swept a two-game mid-week set against then-No. 23 Oregon State before resuming WCC play and dropping two-of-three to San Francisco at home.

- Drew Heid continued to swing a hot bat for the Bulldogs, batting .588 (10-for-17) on the week and hitting at a .636 (7-for-11) clip against USF. The sophomore enters the week ranked second in the league with a .483 (29-for-60) batting average in conference play.

- Cody Martin earned the victory on Saturday, tossing 1.2 innings of relief to improve to 4-0 on the season. Martin, who set a GU program record with his eighth save of the season in Tuesday's win over Oregon State, was named to the Roger Clemens Award watch list last week.

- Gonzaga has the week off before closing out its home slate with non-conference games against Lewis-Clark State (5/12) and Washington State (5/13).

Loyola Marymount Lions (22-26/ 6-12 WCC)
- The Lions had a busy week, handing then-No. 7 UC Irvine an 11-3 defeat before falling to UCLA, 6-2, and dropping two-of-three to Santa Clara in league play.

- Michael Glomb and Angelo Songco clubbed back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning of Friday's 9-6 win over Santa Clara. Glomb enters the week on a career-high 18-game hitting streak, while Songco blasted his team-leading 10th home run of the season on Sunday.

- Sean Dovel moved into a tie for sixth place on the LMU all-time doubles list with his 58th career two-bagger in Friday's victory over the Broncos. Dovel is currently tied with former Lion David Jones (1976-79), and needs just three more doubles to move into fifth place on the list.

- LMU takes a break from conference play to travel to No. 3 ranked Arizona State for a three-game set this weekend.

Pepperdine Waves (28-15 / 9-5 WCC)
- The Waves went 3-2 on the week, posting mid-week wins over UCLA and UC Santa Barbara before dropping two-of-three to then-No. 7 San Diego over the weekend.

- Nick Gaudi notched his 11th save of the season in Friday's 5-2 win over the Toreros, tossing a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory. The senior moved into a tie for fourth place on the Pepperdine single-season list with the save.

- Nathan Newman worked five innings and struck out five USD batters to earn the victory on Friday, improving to 6-2 on the season. Newman has posted a perfect 3-0 mark in conference play, and currently ranks second in the WCC with a 2.38 ERA in league action.

- Pepperdine travels to No. 12 Cal State Fullerton (5/6) and hosts UC Santa Barbara (5/7) before hosting Portland for a three-game WCC set this weekend.

Portland Pilots (18-25 / 3-12 WCC)
- Portland had the week off, and enters the final stretch of the season with an 18-25 overall mark and a 3-12 record in conference play.

- Danny Meier and Riley Henricks each slugged a pair of home runs in a 5-2 win over the San Francisco on April 26. It marked the 12th round tripper of the season for Meier, who moved into a tie for eighth place on the Portland single-season home run chart.

- Henricks enters the week batting a team-best .343 (62-for-181) on the season, the second-highest clip among conference freshmen. Henricks also ranks seventh in the league with a .409 (27-for-66) batting average in WCC play.

- Portland returns to action at home, hosting Concordia (5/5) and No. 30 Washington (5/6) before traveling to No. 14 Pepperdine for a WCC series this weekend.

Saint Mary's Gaels (22-22-1 / 5-10 WCC)
- Saint Mary's posted a 10-3 win over Sonoma State before making the trip across the country to face No. 1 ranked Miami (FL), and suffering a three-game sweep in Coral Gables.

- Joel Staples went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple in Friday's series-opening loss to the Hurricanes. The three-bagger marked his fifth of the season, and moved him into a tie for second place on the Saint Mary's career triples list with 12.

- Kenny Fuglerud collected multiple hits in each of the Gaels' games against Miami (FL). Fuglerud batted .600 (6-for-10) for the series, and improved his season batting average to .338 (45-for-133) with the performance.

- The Gaels close out their home slate against San Jose State (5/6) and travel to San Francisco (5/7) before meeting Santa Clara for a three-game weekend set.

San Diego Toreros (37-13 / 15-3 WCC)
- San Diego clinched a spot in the WCC Championship Series for the second straight year after taking two-of-three from then-No. 13 Pepperdine over the weekend.

- Josh Romanski improved to a perfect 9-0 on the season, surrendering just one earned run and tossing his second complete game of the year in Saturday's 9-1 win over the Waves. The junior moved into a tie with teammate Brian Matusz for eighth place on the USD all-time wins list with 23.

- Kyle Blair worked 7.2 innings, allowing just two hits to earn the victory in Sunday's 2-0 win at Pepperdine. Blair is holding opposing lineups to a WCC-low .221 batting average this year.

- The Toreros travel to UCLA (5/6) and will look to clinch the WCC regular season crown at San Francisco this weekend.

San Francisco Dons (28-21 / 10-8 WCC)
- San Francisco went 3-2 during a busy week, falling to Pacific and defeating Fresno State before taking two-of-three from Gonzaga on the road over the weekend.

- Joey Railey enjoyed an outstanding week at the plate, batting .524 (11-for-21) through five games. The senior also moved into fifth place on the San Francisco career hits list with 226 during his time on the Hilltop.

- Mitchell Bialosky notched a victory and nailed down two saves out of the bullpen for USF last week. The senior tossed two innings to earn the decision in a 7-6 win over Fresno State, and threw a combined four innings to close out both wins at Gonzaga over the weekend.

- The Dons host No. 6 ranked Stanford (5/6) and Saint Mary's (5/7), and will host No. 8 ranked San Diego for three games this weekend.

Santa Clara Broncos (29-17 / 9-6 WCC)
- Santa Clara knocked off then-No. 3 Stanford and Sacramento State at home last week, and took two-of-three from LMU in conference play over the weekend.

- Mark Willinsky enjoyed an outstanding week out of the Bronco bullpen, earning victories in both of Santa Clara's mid-week wins and collecting his fifth save of the season in Sunday's 5-4 win at LMU.

- Thain Simon improved to 9-2, striking out eight LMU batters in 7.2 innings pitched during Saturday's 7-2 win. The freshman moved into a tie for the conference lead with nine victories on the season.

- The Broncos travel to Pacific (5/6) before returning home to face Bay Area rival Saint Mary's for a crucial WCC series this weekend.