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MWC Weekly Diamond Notes: MWC Tournament Edition San Diego State enters tournament as No. 1 seed.
May 24, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The conference race came down to the final inning of the final weekend as three teams, UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State, were vying for the regular season MWC title and a No. 1 seed at the conference tournament. New Mexico took two-of-three games from UNLV, including a four-run, bottom-of-the-ninth-inning comeback for a 5-4 Lobo victory in the series finale in Albuquerque. As a result, UNLV and New Mexico finished the season tied at 20-10 in the league standings, allowing San Diego State to claim the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the MWC Championship. The Aztecs closed out the MWC race by winning five straight games and captured the top seed with the league's best win percentage (.679) and a 19-9 record (SDSU played two less games due to a pair of cancelled contests vs. Air Force which could not be made up). LAS VEGAS AGAIN The MWC Baseball Championship returns to Earl E. Wilson Stadium on the campus of UNLV for the second time in league history. The inaugural conference tournament was played in Las Vegas with No. 2 San Diego State defeating No. 6 Air Force 9-4 in the title game. UNLV is the only institution to host the MWC Championship twice. SAY "YES" TO BASEBALL
The Mountain West Conference, UNLV and the NCAA YES Program will host an NCAA YES Baseball Clinic on Saturday, May 29 from 10:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., preceding the MWC Baseball Championship game at 3 p.m. (PT). MWC coaches and student-athletes will share tips and skills on the importance of education and sports. The clinic is free to all accepted participants ages 10 -- 18 (space limited to 75 participants). The clinic will take place at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on the campus of UNLV.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT QUICK HITS UNLV and BYU are the only two teams to win the regular season and conference tournament titles in the same season. UNLV entered the 2003 MWC Tournament as a No. 1 seed for the first time after being a No. 5 seed three straight years and went 4-0 en route to the championship. BYU was a No. 1 seed in 2001 after winning the regular season title and captured the tournament championship. BYU repeated in 2002, entering as a No. 3 seed and posting a 5-1 mark to win the title. BYU captured two straight MWC Tournaments (2001, 2002), beating San Diego State three times in the finals to do so (4-3 in 2001; 6-4 and 5-3 in 2002). San Diego State and UNLV are the only teams to go unbeaten in an MWC Tournament. The Aztecs went 4-0 en route to the inaugural title in 2000 and the Rebels were 4-0 in 2003. San Diego State has made it to the finals four straight years (2000, 01, 02, 03), winning the title in 2000 as a No. 2 seed. Air Force is the lowest seed to advance to the title game, doing so in 2000 as a No. 6 seed. BYU is the lowest seed to win the championship, doing so as a No. 3 seed in 2002. The winner of the 2004 MWC Championship will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the MWC has a 4-6 record in the NCAA since the league was formed in 1999-2000. FOUR DIFFERENT CHAMPIONS IN FOUR YEARS The MWC had produced four different regular season champions the past four years before San Diego State won the 2004 title. New Mexico captured the inaugural regular season crown in 2000, but BYU and San Diego State established themselves in the upper echelon of the league with regular season titles in 2001 and 2002, respectively. UNLV took the league by storm in 2003, winning the regular season and tournament titles after being selected fourth in the preseason poll. The Rebels were picked first in the 2004 MWC preseason coaches poll. NATIONAL HONORS Utah's Matt Ciaramella, New Mexico's Sean Murray and San Diego State's Rielly Embrey were named CoSIDA Academic All-District and will be forwarded to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors. Murray was also recently one of 80 students nationwide to receive a Truman Scholarship, which awards $26,000 toward graduate studies. |
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