Consider this season the Sacramento State baseball team?s farewell tour, at least to the Big West Conference. After five consecutive losing seasons, including a 4-14 mark during conference play just one season ago, Sac State will bid the Big West goodbye and go independent next season.

Mike Daniels, information director for the Big West, said the move has nothing to do with the Hornets? five-consecutive losing seasons since joining the conference in 1997, and everything to do with the Big West Board of Directors? endless chase for continuity.

In July 2000, the Board of Directors voted to only allow full members to compete. According to the new guidelines, voted on by the presidents and chancellors of each participating school (including Sac State President Donald Gerth), a school could only compete in the Big Sky if its entire athletic department participated.

“It has nothing to do with (Sac State?s) play. It?s a combination of trying to get continuity between members and sports,” Daniels said. “We want all of our full members to play all of the sports.”

As it stands, Sac State?s athletic department currently splits time between the Big West, Big Sky Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

“We added Northridge and UC Riverside and, at the same time, the Big West Council decided to have no more associate members,” Daniels said. “We decided not to cut it off this season.”

For John Smith, Sac State?s head baseball coach, the move away from the Big West is nothing new. The Hornets played as an independent baseball team during the ?80s and early-?90s, before joining the Western Athletic Conference in 1993.

“They don?t need us,” said Smith, whose teams have struggled since joining the conference in 1997, amassing a record of 109-184.

“I?m going to look at this from a positive point of view. It?s not going to hurt us. As long as we can get a schedule, we?re fine,” Smith said. “At the present time, it doesn?t seem to have caused us a problem.”

Since the motion passed to remove Sac State from the Big West, Smith and his staff have worked tediously at filling the void that will be left in the schedule once Sac State?s affiliation with the Big West is over.

Smith, who feels that the clear and resounding advantage to being part of a conference is set scheduling, has already arranged meetings with the University of Arizona and the University of Washington, both of which are Pac-10 schools.

“We?re definitely going to get the chance to play,” Smith said.In fact, the Hornets have seen their best seasons as an independent club, having twice been named the NCAA Regional Champions while eclipsing the 40-win plateau four times.

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