Courtesy: San Jose State Athletics
San Jose State will face a very familiar foe in their opening game of the 2011 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. As the fifth seed, they take on the fourth seed Nevada Wolf Pack in the first game of the tournament which begins on Wednesday, May 25.
WAC TOURNAMENT GAME #1
#5 SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY (33-24, 11-13 WAC)
vs. #4 NEVADA (23-29, 12-12 WAC)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 – 3:00 P.M.
HOHOKAM STADIUM, MESA, ARIZ.
(San Jose State Leads The All-Time Series, 81-68)
(Nevada Leads The Season Series, 3-1)
SCOUTING NEVADA
The Wolf Pack enter the WAC Tournament with an overall record of 23-29, 12-12 in WAC regular season play. By virtue of their three games to one series win over the Spartans last weekend, they finished in a tie with Louisiana Tech for third place in the conference. With Louisiana Tech holding the tie-breaker over the Wolf Pack, Nevada is the fourth seed and take on the fifth seed Spartans at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Spartans hold an 81-68 lead in the all-time series and have a slim 4-3 lead in WAC Tournament games against the Wolf Pack. SJSU has won the last three postseason meetings with Nevada (6-0 and 7-6 in 2010 and 5-3 in 2009).
The Wolf Pack offense is led by the No. 4 hitter in the WAC Brock Stassi, who is batting .376 (71-for-189) overall. He leads the team in hits, doubles (19) and RBI (34). Nick Melino is Nevada’s top run scorer (40) and is batting .312 (59-for-189). His 59 knocks are good for second on the team as are his 18 doubles and four home runs. As a team Nevada is batting .276, fourth best in the league.
As a pitching staff, the Wolf Pack has a 5.38 ERA. The No. 6 staff in the WAC has tossed 437.0 innings, have given up 536 hits and 200 walks while striking out 271 batters. Opponents are hitting .310 off of them.
The Spartans will likely face Troy Marks or Tom Jameson, Nevada’s starters from last Thursday and Friday, respectively. Marks (2-5, 3.88 ERA) got the nod last Thursday at Fresno State. He threw five innings and allowed five runs on six hits in a 7-1 loss. It was his eighth start in 16 appearances. He has been in there for 67.1 innings this season and surrendered 29 earned runs while striking out 50. Opponents are hitting .238 off him. Jameson (5-6, 5.05 ERA) was the Friday starter and earned the 11-4 victory over the Spartans. In 76.2 innings he has struck out 36 and given up 43 earned runs. Opponents hit .321 off him.
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