It comes down to the final weekend

The final weekend of the regular season in the Western Athletic Conference holds serious scenarios for Sacramento State. The Hornets host first-place Fresno State (36-16, 15-6) for a three-game series, beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

Sacramento State is currently sixth in the conference standings, with a spot in the postseason tournament on the line. The top six teams advance to the WAC tourney – hosted by Fresno State – and the Hornets need one victory or a New Mexico State (19-33, 6-15) loss to punch their ticket. The Aggies will be in Las Cruces to host fifth place Nevada (21-26, 8-12).

Senior Day

Sunday will be the final game at Hornet Field for 12 Sunday''s regular season finale will also serve as the final time the 12-member senior class will play at Hornet Field. Seniors Kyle Atrat, Brian Blauser, Matt Campbell, Brian Conradi, Travis Kane, Pat Keiper, Josh Levin, Ronnie Machado, Buddy Morales, Everet Rincon, Jim Strombach and James Wheeler will be honored prior to the game, scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Record Watch

Adding up the numbers

Speaking of the seniors, Sacramento State''s veterans have found their way into the program record books. The most tenured player, shortstop Everet Rincon, has been with the Hornets since 2002. In his fifth-year with the program, Rincon has set single-season career highs with a .269 batting average, 43 hits, 18 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. For his career, the Riverside, Calif., native ranks second in program history with 634 at-bats and places in the top 10 with 152 hits. His 101 runs scored are fifth all-time, and earlier in the season, he set a personal single-game high with three RBIs in a 11-10 victory over Louisiana Tech. Rincon even broke his own single-season record, recording 11 sacrifices on the year, the best mark of any Hornet in program history. He also holds the career all-time mark with 34 sacrifices.

Senior center fielder Jim Strombach has cracked the top 10 in six offensive categories. In 2006, the Aiea, Hawaii, native is batting a career-high .293, while setting career bests with three triples, 20 RBIs and nine sacrifices. In his fourth year with the program, Strombach''s 619 at-bats rank third in program history and his 168 hits tie him for third on the all-time list. A starter in 163 career games, Strombach has 47 stolen bases, ranking him in the top 10 and his 33 doubles tie him for fifth in program history. His seven career triples rank in the program''s top five and his 16 sacrifices are third all-time. Earlier this season, he set a career high with a seven-game hitting streak.

Another fourth-year senior is starting first baseman Brian Blauser. The Elk Grove, Calif., native''s 35 runs, 13 doubles and 23 RBIs in 2006 are all career highs. He currently leads the team with nine home runs, a .558 slugging percentage, 21 walks and 35 runs scored.Blauser currently ranks ninth in program history with 503 at-bats and fourth all-time with 34 doubles. A Sheldon High School graduate, Blauser has 16 career blasts.

The Hornets final fourth-year senior is right-hander James Wheeler. The El Camino High School graduate has made 62 appearances in his career, ranking him sixth in program history. In 2006, he has posted career bests with a 3.52 ERA, while just allowing six earned runs on 11 hits in 15.1 innings pitched. The Sacramento native has not surrendered a double or home run this season and is holding batters to a .200 average.

Designated hitter Kyle Atrat is in his first year with the Hornets, but made an impact this season with six home runs and 22 RBIs. A Clovis, Calif., native, Atrat has played in 37 games.

Left-hander Matt Campbell has been one of the Hornets most reliable starters the last two years. He currently has four victories on the year and leads the staff with 54 strikeouts. He has pitched three complete games in his career and recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in a 5-2 victory over Northern Colorado on March 11.

Outfielder Brian Conradi has had a flair for dramatic in his two years at Sacramento State after transferring from Taft JC. Three times in the last two seasons, Conradi has recorded the game-winning RBI in victories over Hawai''i and Louisiana Tech. In 2006, the Bakersfield, Calif., native is hitting a career-best .320 with eight doubles and 21 RBIs.

Right-hander Travis Kane has also been a part of the Hornets'' starting rotation the last two years. At Nevada on Sunday, in his 10th start of the season, Kane recorded 11 strikeouts, a personal career-best and season high for any Sacramento State pitcher. In fact, no Hornet pitcher has posted at least 11 strikeouts in a game since 2003. In his career, the Wenatchee, Wash., native has accumulated six victories and 93 strikeouts.

Designated hitter Pat Keiper has been at the top of nearly all of the Hornets'' offensive categories in 2006. In his second season at Sacramento State, Keiper is batting .319, posting career bests with 51 hits, 26 RBIs, 23 runs, and 11 doubles. Keiper''s 11-game hitting streak earlier in the year is the longest of any player this season and he also has 14 multiple-hit games.

Outfielder Josh Levin was sidelined at the beginning of the year with a hand injury, but has played in four games as the season winds down, recording two hits and three RBIs. As a junior in 2005, Levin had 34 hits and 11 doubles with 19 RBIs. In the team''s 4-3 upset of Stanford, he was 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs.

Outfielder Ronnie Machado has been with the Hornets since 2004. As a junior, Machado played in 59 games, starting 54 in center field. He batted .253 with 29 runs, 43 hits, two triples and eight doubles. Forced to redshirt in 2005 after a hamstring injury, Machado returned in 2006 for his final year.

Similar to Machado, catcher Buddy Morales came to Sacramento State in 2004 and was forced to redshirt in 2005 after shoulder surgery. The Hornets starter behind the plate this year in 49 games, Morales is batting a career-best .316, producing career highs with 53 hits, 32 runs, 13 doubles, 21 RBIs and three home runs. He has been hit by a pitch 17 times this year, and on two occasions, was hit three times in a single game. He has 16 multiple-hit games and currently is the hardest player to strike out in the WAC.

The Opponents

Fresno State Bulldogs

Fresno State comes to Hornet Field as the hottest team in the WAC, winning its last seven conference games after sweeps of Nevada and San Jose State. The Bulldogs (36-15, 15-6) are batting .308, led by Beau Mills, Brian Lapin, Christian Vitters, Erik Wetzel and Steve Susdorf.

Mills leads the Bulldogs, hitting .349 overall and .417 against conference competition. He has produced 68 hits and 53 RBIs with 20 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 runs scored. Vitters is batting .338 with 66 hits, 51 RBIs, 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 47 runs scored.

The Fresno State pitching staff is led by Andy Underwood, Doug Fister and Eddie Romero. Underwood, a right-hander, posts a staff-best 2.96 ERA in 15 starts. Romero, a left-hander, leads the staff with an 11-2 record and has 83 strikeouts. Fister, with a 3.36 ERA and 7-5 record, is holding batters to a .250 average.

A Fresh Start

Welcome to the WAC

Mission Impossible no longer. Sacramento State has ended its three-year stint competing as an independent team, and will begin 2006 competing as an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference.

The league includes Fresno State, Hawai''i, Nevada, San Jose State, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech, with the top six teams advancing to the conference tournament held May 25-28. The outright winner of the postseason tourney will receive the WAC''s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Hornets last competed in conference play from 1997-2002 in the Big West and were members of the WAC from 1993-96.

Head Coach John Smith

Since taking over the Sacramento State program in November of 1978, head coach John Smith has produced 18 winning seasons, including 12 years with at least 30 wins and four years with at least 40 wins.

In his 28th season as a head coach, he has posted 793 wins, ranking him among the top 40 active Division I coaches. The 793 victories and his 27-year tenure are also the most by any coach in Sacramento State baseball history. Smith''s current mark is 793-774.

Smith has led the team to four NCAA postseason appearances, winning two regional crowns and making two trips to the NCAA Div. II Championship. Smith was named American Baseball Coaches Association/NCAA Western Regional Coach of the Year twice, in 1986 and 1988.

A native of Redding, Calif., Smith spent three years in the U.S. Army Special Forces as a Green Beret. He played collegiately at Sacramento State in 1971 and 1972 and began his coaching career the following season. After five seasons as the head coach at Encina HS in Sacramento, Smith took over the Hornet program in 1978.

Friday vs. Fresno State, May 19, 2:30 p.m.

LHP M. Campbell (4-9, 4.90) vs. RHP D. Fister (7-5, 3.36)

Saturday vs. Fresno State, May 20, 1 p.m.

RHP M. Lively (0-5, 6.75) vs. LHP E. Romero (11-2, 3.78)

Sunday vs. Fresno State, May 21, 1 p.m.

RHP T. Kane (3-6, 6.23) vs. RHP A. Underwood (9-3, 2.96)