MWC Baseball Weekly Diamond Notes
TCU leads the MWC race heading into the third week of conference play.
April 11, 2006
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THIS WEEK IN THE MWC
The MWC heads into its third week of conference play, with TCU sitting atop the standings with a 6-1 record. The Horned Frogs start the week with a non-conference game vs. No. 16 Oklahoma and return home to host UNLV. Other conference series on this week's schedule are Utah at second-place San Diego State and Air Force at New Mexico. BYU has the week off from conference play.
In other non-conference action, Air Force hosts Northern Colorado, BYU plays at Utah Valley State, New Mexico at Texas Tech, San Diego State hosts Long Beach State and Utah hosts Southern Utah. All single non-conference games take place on Tuesday. BYU also travels to Seattle, Wash., for a three-game tilt with Washington, starting on Thursday.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE QUICK HITS
AIR FORCE
Air Force went 1-3 last week, defeating Northern Colorado and being swept by TCU...The Falcons win over UNC was their 10th of the season, which surpassed their nine win total from the 2005 season...The Falcons are batting .236 as a team, led by junior Geno Salazar, who leads the team with a .275 average, 25 hits and 19 runs scored...The AFA pitching staff has an earned run average of 7.25, led by senior right-hander Paul Vignola (1-1, 2.84 ERA) who has 35 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched...The Falcons return to action on Tuesday with a game vs. Northern Colorado...Air Force then heads to Albuquerque, N.M., for a three-game series with New Mexico.
BYU
BYU went 2-1 vs. UNLV last week...Freshman Seth Johnson's team season-best hitting streak came to an end at 10 games in the final game of the series vs. the Rebels...Freshman Kasey Ko and senior Adrian Molina both have current seven-game hitting streaks...The Cougars turned four double plays vs. UNLV last week, including three in their 14-8 win last Friday...BYU will be in non-conference play this week, starting out with a single game at Utah Valley State on Tuesday, before heading to Seattle, Wash., for a three-game series vs. Washington.
NEW MEXICO
The Lobos went 2-1 at San Diego State last week...New Mexico's 15-7 win over the Aztecs last Sunday marked its 20th win of the season...It took UNM 31 games to reach the 20-win plateau ,which is tied for the ninth fastest Lobo team to reach 20 victories...The Lobos have played eight extra inning games this season, going 4-4...The eight extra inning affairs are a program record for a single season...New Mexico takes on Texas Tech Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas, before hosting Air Force in a three-game conference series, starting on Thursday.
SAN DIEGO STATE
SDSU went 1-2 vs. New Mexico last week...The Aztecs' 10-4 game one win over the Lobos marked Tony Gwynn's 100th career victory as San Diego State's head coach...Senior Curt Mendoza led the Aztec offense in their win over UNM, hitting a home run and driving in five runs as part of a 2-for-4 performance...Junior right hander Justin Masterson gave up six hits and two earned runs, while striking out nine in 8.0 innings of work for the victory...San Diego State hosts Long Beach State on Tuesday, before hosting Utah in a three-game conference series.
TCU
TCU went 4-0 last week, beating then-No. 22 Baylor 18-8, and sweeping a three-game series vs. Air Force...The Horned Frogs are currently in the midst of a season-best five game winning streak...Sophomore Bryan Kervin hit .636 vs. the Falcons, including his first career home run in TCU's 13-2 game two victory...Junior Chad Huffman extended his hit streak to a career-high 18 games last week...The TCU pitching staff held Air Force to a .189 batting average and seven runs on the weekend... The Horned Frogs take on No. 16 Oklahoma on Tuesday, then host UNLV in a three-game conference series.
UNLV
UNLV went 1-2 vs. BYU last week, losing the first two games of the series, before winning the final contest, 18-8...The Rebels hit five home runs in last Saturday's win, and 10 total home runs for the series...Junior Keith Smith nearly hit for the cycle vs. the Cougars on Saturday, hitting a home run, a triple and a double on the way to a 3-for-6, three RBI, two runs scored performance...Freshman Michael Brenly hit his first career home run and drove in a career-high five runs in the third game vs. BYU...The Rebels lead the MWC in runs scored (264), hits (373), RBI (230), home runs (35) and total bases (563)...UNLV heads to Fort Worth, Texas, for a three-game tilt with league-leader TCU this week.
UTAH
Utah tallied a 3-1 record vs. Utah Valley State last week...The Utes averaged 11.25 runs in their four games vs. UVSC, including 13.6 runs in the first three games...Sophomore Rory James didn't allow a single run, scattered three hits and struck out two batters, while not allowing a walk in 5.0 innings of relief in Friday's 12-6 game two win vs. UVSC...Senior Ryan Khoury and junior Jay Brossman went a combined 16-for-21 in Friday's doubleheader sweep...Khoury, Brossman and juniors John Welsh and Erich Kemp have started all 29 games for the Utes this season...Utah hosts Southern Utah on Tuesday, then heads to San Diego, Calif., for a three-game conference series vs. San Diego State.
