MWC Games Have Mixed Reviews in OOC Games
No earth shaking results to announce this week. Air Force continues to struggle but freshman Griffin Jax pitches well in the one win against New Mexico. San Diego State takes two of three against Fresno State in the only other conference games. Nevada got surprised by Grand Canyon with one more to play, UNLV played well in the state of Nebraska to help spread the MWC word, and San Jose State had a chance to make positive statements at Washington State but came up short. Read on.
New Mexico (8-4) at Air Force (2-10)
The Lobos went to Colorado Springs hoping to add to the Falcons misery; and they did. However, the Falcons did slip a gem of a game by Griffin Jax that slowed the Lobos down for at least one game. New Mexico took two of the three games but Jax (2-5) won for the Falcons second league win. He went the distance in a 5-0 shutout giving up only 4 hits and striking out 6 while walking one. A very good game indeed. New Mexico keeps pace with the leaders with the series win.
Fresno State (6-6) at San Diego State (7-5)
The Bulldogs are always threatening but they just can't seem to get above .500 in conference games. The talent is there but the wins have come with difficulty and they lost two of three to the Aztecs in San Diego. The Aztecs won the two pitchers' duels 2-1 and 1-0 and Fresno State won the middle game 6-4. Both teams are still within striking distance but I think the Aztecs have more weapons. One of which I want to feature in an upcoming post. Michael Cederoth has emerged as the premier closer in the MWC and maybe the west. He has eleven saves and that is just under half the wins the Aztecs have. Is he important? Well, duh. Speaking of which, I've been beating the drum for the UNLV's starting rotation. Well, the Aztecs are pretty good also. Just sayin'.
Grand Canyon (15-11) at Nevada (12-13)
The Wolf Pack didn't listen to me when I told them to watch out for this team. They've only played once in an abbreviated series but Grand Canyon took a well pitched game for both teams 4-0. It was a little cold (44 degrees) and that never makes for much fun. Only one more game remains.
San Jose State (8-21) at Washington State (12-13)
The Spartans were in a good position to make a statement for the MWC as well as themselves as they had taken the first game 7-5 behind Johnny Melero (1-3) and timely hitting. In game two the Spartans were up 8-5 until the bottom of the eighth when the roof caved in. The Cougars scored 7 runs and win 12-9 and the Spartans never recovered losing the next two games. Continued ineffective pitching has been the culprit most of the season as it was in this series.
UNLV (19-8) at Nebraska (15-12)
The Rebels accounted themselves well in Nebraska as they took two of three from the Huskers and a single game from Creighton. Kenny Oakley (2-2) went 8 innings for the win against the Blue Jays and struck out 9 along the way. John Richy (5-1) continued his dominant ways in his win giving up 4 runs but striking out 10 in 8 1/3 innings. Oh, no walks which he does quite well. Erick Fedde (5-1) also won in the first game going 7 innings. Overall, well done by the pitchers.