Fresno State Athletics
The 2009 WAC Tournament Begins!
5/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 5, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - The 2009 WAC Softball Tournament officially is underway as the seven teams who qualified arrive at Bulldog Diamond for their first practice at the field today. Teams will then enjoy the WAC Banquet on Wednesday at 11 a.m. before game one begins at 2 p.m. as No. 6 San Jose State takes on No. 7 Boise State.
The top seven seeds will fight for the WAC tournament title over the four days and the automatic berth into the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Last season Louisiana Tech won the tournament in Hawai'i as the WAC sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs have won the WAC Tournament twice, in 1999 and in 2006.
With the edition of Boise State to the WAC this season, the top seven seeds advance to the WAC Tournament in the double elimination bracket with the top seeding earning a first round bye.
The `Dogs will be the No. 1 overall seed followed by Nevada, Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Boise State. Utah State was eliminated from the WAC Tournament by the Bulldogs last weekend.
Fresno State will play its first game of the tournament on Thursday at 10 a.m. and will take on the winner of the San Jose State - Boise State matchup. If the `Dogs win the opening game, they will play Friday at 2 p.m. If the `Dogs lose game one, they will play Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
Fresno State was the favorite to win the 2009 WAC Title and the `Dogs did just that! The `Dogs won their 10th WAC Title (first since 2006) and their 21st overall conference title. With a two-game sweep over Utah State in the regular season series finale, the `Dogs improved to 33-18 overall and 15-5 overall and needed some help from San Jose State to win the WAC and clinch the No. 1 overall seed from the defending WAC Champion Nevada Wolf Pack. Nevada took game one from the Spartans 17-0 in San Jose. Then on day two, Nevada took game two 5-3 in 14 innings before SJSU rallied for a 1-0 win in the 10th inning in game three to give the `Dogs the title.
Tournament Website
Get up-to-date information such as recaps, quotes and live stats on every game of the WAC Tournament at: http://www.gobulldogs.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/09-wac-softbal-tourney.html.
WAC Tournament Tickets
Tickets to the 2009 WAC Tournament hosted by Fresno State at Bulldog Diamond, May 6-9, are on sale NOW. Tickets can be purchased online at www.gobulldogs.com. General admission tickets are $20.00 for the whole tournament or $10.00 for a single day pass. To view complete prices and for a complete tournament schedule log on to the WAC Tournament page at www.gobulldogs.com.
WAC to Stream Tournament
The Western Athletic Conference, in conjunction with its Web site partner JumpTV Sports, has announced it will stream the 2009 WAC Softball Tournament live from Fresno, Calif., Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv.
Every game of the tournament can be viewed for a single subscription price of $14.95 which will include on-demand viewing of any of the games the following day.
More information and how to subscribe to any of these video streaming events can be found at www.WAC.tv.
Note: There will only be one link to each day's games. The same link will be used for each day, so it is possible that there may be no picture or audio if the link is selected between games. Please continue to hit refresh and click on the "Now Available" link in the media player and once subsequent games begin, the link will begin streaming again.
`Dogs Back in the PollsFresno State jumped back into the USA Today/NFCA poll this week to No. 25. The `Dogs were receiving votes the last six weeks after being ranked in the top 25 in the pre-season and the first seven weeks. Fresno State is the only WAC team in this week's poll.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - Your Fresno State softball team is hosting the 2009 WAC Softball Tournament at Bulldog Diamond May 6 through 9. The Bulldogs are looking to claim their tenth tournament title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Tickets are on sale now at go bulldogs dot com or by phone at 278-DOGS.
