PLAYER OF THE WEEK Portland State's Kiauna Anderson, a senior outfielder from Portland, Ore. (Grant HS), led all Viking players last week with a .417 average. In seven games she went 10-for-24, scored six runs, stole two bases, walked twice and drove in six. She also hit two doubles, three home runs and had a .875 slugging percentage. In a doubleheader against Oregon, Anderson went 3-for-6, scored three runs, drove in five and hit one double and added two home runs. In a doubleheader against Western Oregon, Anderson went 4-for-7, including three runs, one RBI and one homer. Two of her three home runs were game winners. Anderson leads the WAC in doubles (11), ranks second in total bases (61), is tied for third in triples (2) and is fourth in batting average (.339).
Other player of the week nominees included: Alicia Dowland, Fresno State and Laura Eckley, Loyola Marymount.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State-s Lesle Poole, a sophomore from Akron, Ohio (St. Mary's/St. Vincent's HS), went 2-0 in three appearances, including two shutouts, last week. In 17.0 innings pitched, she allowed seven hits, struck out three and walked five. In a 2-0 win over Portland State, Poole tossed a three-hitter and walked three. In a 2-0 victory over San Jose State, she threw a
one-hitter, her second of the season. She also walked one and struck out one. After giving
up a hit to the third batter in the first inning against the San Jose State, Poole shut
down 20 of the last 21 batters.
Poole leads the WAC in ERA (1.02), ranks second in
victories (14) and is sixth in strikeouts (65).
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Candice Akin, San Jose State.
WAC HEADLINERS Other nominees for player of the week: Fresno State-s Alicia Dowland, a senior shortstop, hit .500 (4-for-8), including one double in three games. Against Portland State, Dowland went 1-for-2 with a double. Against San Jose State, she went 3-for-6 and was the only Bulldog to have a hit in each game of the doubleheader. Loyola Marymount-s Laura Eckley, a senior infielder, hit .462 (6-for-13), including one run, two RBI and one double. Her top game was in the
second game of a doubleheader against Portland State where she went 2-for-3, including one
RBI and one double.
ON THE MOUND Other nominees for pitcher of the week: San Jose State-s Candice Akin, a junior righthander, went 2-0, including one shutout. In 12.0 innings, she allowed 11 hits, struck out two, walked two and allowed two earned runs for a 1.17 ERA. In a 1-0, eight inning victory over No. 13 Fresno State, Akin allowed only two hits. It marked only the second time this season that Fresno State
has been shut out in a game. Akin also pitched 4.0 innings in a 3-2 victory over Loyola Marymount.
IN THE POLLS Fresno State is the only WAC team ranked in last week-s USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll. The Bulldogs are ranked 13th with 335 points. Hawai`i also received eight votes to rank 29th.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC All six WAC teams will be in action this week. Fresno State, a half-game ahead of Hawai`i in the WAC standings, plays host to the Rainbow Wahine on Friday April 13 and Saturday, April 14. Tulsa will open its WAC season on April 14-15, when it plays host to Loyola Marymount. In action involving ranked teams, Fresno State plays host to No. 4 Stanford and Portland State travels to No. 14
Washington on Tuesday, April 10. On Wednesday, April 11, Hawai`i is at No. 18 Pacific, while No. 16 Oregon State is at Portland State on Thursday, April 12.
FRESNO STATE AND SAN JOSE STATE SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER Fresno State and San Jose State met on April 7 as Fresno State won the first game of a doubleheader 2-0 and the Spartans won the second contest, 1-0. In game one, Fresno State scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning as Spartan pitcher Sabrina Quintero committed only her second error of the season to allow Vanessa Czarnecki to score.
Fresno State pitcher Leslie Poole allowed only one Spartan hit and improved her record to 14-5 with the complete game shutout.
In game two of the doubleheader, San Jose State walked its way to
a win as Kirsten Foster scored the winning run with a bases loaded walk in the
bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs, Spartan Veronica Ramos singled down the
leftfield line and both runners advanced a base on an error by Bulldog left fielder Tiffany
Whipple. Fresno State then intentionally walked Roxanne Staniorski to load the
bases and face Foster.
San Jose State handed Fresno State its first WAC loss of the season. SJSU also ended an 11-game losing streak to Fresno State that dates back to the 1997 season.
PORTLAND STATE SWEEPS OREGON AND WESTERN OREGON Portland State, winners of five its last seven games, swept both Oregon and Western Oregon at home. Against Oregon, junior shortstop Vanessa Applegate helped lead the Vikings back from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh inning, driving home Kiauna Anderson, to give Portland State an 8-7 win and its first doubleheader sweep of Oregon since the 1991 season. Game one was tied at two in the bottom of the seventh when Anderson slugged an opposite-field home run to give the Vikings a 4-2 come-from-behind victory. Against
Western Oregon, Anderson notched her second game-winning home run of the week, giving PSU a 4-3 win in game one of a doubleheader. In game two, Portland State defeated Western Oregon, 9-0 in five innings. PSU scored eight runs and tallied seven hits in the bottom of the second to take control of the contest. Morgan Seibert struck out four and allowed just one hit to improve to 11-11 on the season.
HAWAI`I RESUMES PLAY After 10 days off, Hawai`i resumes action on April 11 against 18th ranked Pacific and 13th ranked Fresno State on April 13-14. The Rainbow Wahine, winners of 10 of their last 13 games have won at least 30 games for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons. A young team, Hawai`i has only four seniors on its roster and starts five underclassmen.
IMPROVEMENTS Hawai`i owns a 31-12 overall record. Last season, the Wahine finished the year with a 25-24 record. San Jose State owns a 21-24 record, also surpassing last year-s win total (19-37). The Spartans- 21 victories are their most since the 1998 season.
WITT RECORDS 300TH CAREER HIT Fresno State-s Becky Witt, a senior centerfielder, became just the fourth Bulldog and just the third WAC player to reach the 300-career hit plateau against CS Fullerton on March 27. For her career Witt has 304 career hits, a total that ranks third all-time in the WAC.
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS The NCAA Division I Softball Committee released its first set of regional rankings on March 29. The first two rankings (March 29 and April 19) will be listed in alphabetical order, while the final two rankings (April 26 and May 10 will be in rank order. The rankings in the West Region which consists of the WAC and the Big West were as follows: Cal Poly, CS Fullerton, CS Northridge, CS Sacramento, Fresno State, Hawai`i, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Pacific and San
Jose State.
AFFILIATE MEMBERS Loyola Marymount and Portland State have joined the WAC as affiliate members in 2001 for the second-straight season. LMU, which competed in the Western Intercollegiate Softball League in the past, finished last season with a 43-28 overall record, the second-best mark in school history. Portland State enters its second season of Division I softball competition. Last season, the Vikings finished with a 12-37 mark, as 21 of their 49 games came against ranked opponents.
NON-CONFERENCE COMPETITION In all non-conference games, the WAC is 115-92 (.555). The WAC-s best non-conference record was in 1994, when conference teams were a combined 137-85-1 (.617).
CAREER LEADERS Fresno State senior outfielder Becky Witt has moved into second place on the WAC-s all-time runs list with 207. She needs 39 more runs to become the all-time leader, surpassing Fresno State-s Laura Berg-s 245 runs (1994-95, 97-98). Witt has also moved into third place in career hits with 304. She needs 54 more hits to move into second place ahead of Fresno State-s Robyn
Yorke-s 357 (1994-97). Witt also ranks among the all-time WAC leaders in games
played with 240 (T-7th) and at bats with 795 (4th). San Jose State-s Sabrina Quintero has moved into a third place tie with six saves, Loyola Marymount-s Jennifer Heliotes has moved into a fifth place tie with four saves and Portland State-s Morgan Seibert have moved into a tie for 10th place with three saves.
ON THE RUN Loyola Marymount-s Anna Trauernicht, a senior outfielder is continuing from where she left off last season in stolen bases. In 2000, Trauernicht led the WAC with 32 stolen bases on 36 attempts. In 42 games this season, she is 25-for-27 to lead the league. Fresno State-s Becky Witt is also a perfect 13-for-13. Several teams have already surpassed last year-s stolen base total, including San Jose State, Hawai`i and Fresno State. San Jose State is tied for first in the WAC with 40 stolen bases on 52 attempts. Last season, the Spartans were 16-for-33. Hawai`i has 32 this season compared to 22 last season, while Fresno State has 36 this season, compared to 26 last year.
TOP PITCHING For the past two seasons, Fresno State has owned the top pitching staff in the nation. In 1999, the Bulldogs allowed 0.51 runs per game, while allowing 0.62 runs per outing in 2000. This season, Fresno State owns a 0.99 ERA through its first 40 games to lead the WAC. Leslie Poole owns a 14-5 start (1.02 ERA), while Lori Hoffman is 8-6 (1.21 ERA). Jamie Southern in 2-0.
Poole transferred to Fresno State from Tennessee where she compiled a 10-10 record with a 3.55 ERA during her freshman campaign.
OTHER PITCHING NOTES Hawai`i-s Felicity Witt owns a league-high 17 wins and 1.10 ERA, while San Jose State-s pitching staff currently has a 1.48 ERA, the lowest since the 1992 season when the team finished with a 1.08 ERA. The pitching staff has already set a school record for saves in a season with
six. Of the six top pitchers in the WAC this season, four are underclassmen, including three freshmen. They include Fresno State-s Leslie Poole (So. - 1.02 ERA - 1st), Witt (Fr. - 1.10 ERA - 2nd), Fresno State-s Lori Hoffman (Fr. - 1.21 ERA - 4th) and Loyola Marymount-s Sami Strinz (Fr. - 1.57 ERA - 6th).
FRESNO STATE-S WRIGHT NCAA ALL-TIME WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACH - Fresno State head coach Margie Wright, who is in her 22nd season, is the all-time winningest coach by victories in NCAA history with a 969-316-3 (.753) record in 22 years. Having led the Bulldogs to a national title (1998) and three runner-up finishes (1988-89-90), Wright has led Fresno State to the NCAA Women's College World Series in 10 of the last 14 years. She also owns an 820-236-1 (.776) mark in 16 years at Fresno
State