PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Hawai`i's Natalie Gonzales, a junior second baseman from Stockton, Calif. (Lincoln HS), led Hawai`i with a .526 (10-for-19) batting average. She also added four runs, one double, two RBI and walked twice. Gonzales, who posted a .632 on-base average, had at least one hit in five of her six games, including four multiple-hit contests. In a doubleheader split against No. 18 Pacific, Gonzales batted 3-for-6, including a run and an RBI. In a four-game series against No. 15 Fresno State, she hit .700 (7-for-10), as the Wahine split the series and posted their first wins ever at Bulldog Diamond.
Gonzales currently ranks tied for first in the WAC in hits (55) and triples (3), is second in total bases (66), third in batting average (.350) and RBI (19) and is tied for fourth in runs scored (21).
Other player of the week nominees included: Becky Witt, Fresno State; Anna Trauernicht, Loyola Marymount and Kiauna Anderson, Portland State
PITCHER OF THE WEEK - Hawai`i's Desiree Duran, a senior lefthander from San Bernardino, Calif. (San Gorgonio HS), went 3-0 in three appearances, including two shutouts last week. In 21.0 innings pitched, she allowed nine hits, struck out seven, walked seven and allowed two earned runs for a 0.67 ERA. Duran began the week by throwing a five hitter against No .18 Pacific, while striking out five in a 4-2 win. She followed that performance by posting consecutive complete-game shutouts against Fresno State. In a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs, she tossed a one-hitter to post the Wahine's first-ever win in 19 attempts at Bulldog Diamond. The following day, Duran pitched a three-hit shutout to lead Hawai`i to a 4-0 victory. Duran limited the opposition to a .129 batting average. Duran ranks fifth in the WAC in wins (11), fifth in strike outs (84) and sixth in ERA (1.60). Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Leslie Poole, Fresno State and Corrianne Rogalsky, Loyola Marymount.
WAC HEADLINERS - Other nominees for player of the week: Fresno State's Becky Witt, a senior outfielder, hit .286 (6-for-21), including one run and one RBI in six games. Against Hawai`i, she hit .400 (6-for-15) scored a run, had one RBI and six total bases. In a 2-1 victory over the Wahine in 11 innings, Witt had the game-winning hit, going 4-for-6 in the contest. Loyola Marymount's Anna Trauernicht, a senior outielder, hit .833 (5-for-6), including three runs, two RBI, one stolen base and one walk in two games against Tulsa. Trauernicht had the game winning hit in a 3-0 victory. Portland State's Kiauna Anderson, a senior outfielder, hit .600 (6-for-10), including four RBI, one run scored, one double, one home run, one stolen bases and one walk in four games. Anderson scored four of PSU's five runs in a doubleheader sweep over San Jose State. She was also 3-for-4
against No. 13 Washington.
ON THE MOUND - Other nominees for pitcher of the week: Fresno State's Leslie Poole, a sophomore righthander, went 2-1, including one shutout. In 24.0 innings, she allowed 27 hits, struck out nine, walked four and allowed three earned runs for a 0.88 ERA. In a 2-0 win over No. 4 Stanford, Poole allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out two, notching her 11th shutout of the season. Her other victory came against Hawai`i where she pitched 8.1 innings, gave up eight hits, one run and struck out three in a 2-1, 11 inning victory. Poole's loss came to Hawai`i where she pitched 6.1 innings and gave up nine hits, two runs and struck out three. Prior to the loss, Poole had a scoreless and unearned run streak of 47.2 innings. Loyola Marymount's Corrianne Rogalsky, a junior righthander, threw a complete game one hitter against Tulsa. In seven innings, she struck out four and walked three for the shutout victory.
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 15th with 300 points. Hawai`i also received 11 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 Loyola Marymount on Saturday, April 21, while Hawai`i is at home against Portland State on April 20-21. The only other WAC games are on April 21-22, when Tulsa travels to San Jose State. In non-conference action, Fresno State is at No. 2 Arizona and Saint Mary's is at San Jose State on Wednesday, April 18. On Thursday, April 19, San Jose State hits the road against Cal Poly.
FRESNO STATE AND HAWAI`I SPLIT FOUR GAMES - Fresno State moved a half-game ahead of Hawai`i in the WAC standing after the two teams split four games this past weekend. On April 13, Fresno State won game one of the doubleheader, 1-0. The Bulldogs Mitzi Ing, who had the game-winning RBI, was the only Bulldog to pick up a hit as she went 1-for-1 with a sacrifice to score Vanessa Czarnecki with the game's only run in the bottom of the fifth inning. In game two, senior Desiree Duran pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout and batted 2-for-3 with a double to carry Hawai`i to a key win against Fresno State, 2-0. Duran (10-4) posted Hawai`i's first win in 19 attempts at Bulldog Diamond by limiting the Bulldogs to a single base hit. Duran walked three and recorded two strikeouts. The top of the Wahine batting order was productive, as their 1-2-3 batters Natalie Gonzales, Tyree Woodruff, and Stacie Hirano combined to bat 6-for-12, with a run and two RBI in the win. On April 14, Fresno State again won the opening game over Hawai`i, 2-1 in 11 innings. The Wahine's Natalie Gonzales went 3-for-5, to post her third straight multiple-hit game against Fresno State. Hawai`i bounced back from the loss and won game two, 4-0, behind the arm of Desiree Duran. Duran gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out one to improve to 11-4 on the year. Fresno State's Lindsay Foster, absorbed the loss after pitching 6.0 innings while yielding three runs and posting one strikeout. Gonzales went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while freshman first baseman Stacey Porter and designated player Sheri Oronoz each went 2-for-3.
FRESNO STATE SPLITS SERIES WITH NO. 4 STANFORD - Fresno State endured a 2-0 loss in game one, but the Bulldogs answered back with a 1-0 shutout over No. 4 Stanford in the night cap. Lori Hoffman, the losing pitcher in game one, picked up her team with a RBI single up the middle to give the Bulldogs their lone run in the second inning and eventual game-winning RBI. Leslie Poole, who gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out two, notched her 15th victory and 11th shutout against Stanford.
She also collected her fifth consecutive shutout win in as many starts to improve her scoreless streak to 41.0 innings.
HAWAI`I SPLITS SERIES WITH NO. 18 PACIFIC - Hawai`i travelled to Pacific on April 11 and split a doubleheader with the Tigers, losing game one 9-1 and bouncing back to win game two 4-2. Game one went only six innings as Pacific limited the Wahine to five hits and one run. In game two, Hawai`i's Desiree Duran went the distance allowing the Tigers just two hits. Three players for Hawai`i recorded multiple-hit performances, including Natalie Gonzales (2-for-4), Stacey Porter (2-for-4) and Kate Judd (2-for-3).
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT SWEEPS TULSA - Loyola Marymount earned its first WAC sweep of the season with 6-3 and 3-0 wins over Tulsa on April 14. The Lions earned the 3-0 win in game one thanks to junior Corrianne Rogalsky's one-hit complete game shutout. Rogalsky, who moved to 14-5 on the season, had her strongest outing since a midseason injury in striking out four. Providing the offensive fireworks was senior Laura Eckley who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a double. Junior Christy Cerecedes' double in the fifth inning scored a pair of runs to lead the Lions to the
win. The Lions completed the sweep with six runs on only four hits. However, Tulsa's five defensive errors proved to be the difference as five of the six Lions runs were unearned. Junior Jennifer Heliotes went five strong innings to get her sixth win of the season. Freshman Sami Strinz finished the game, allowing just one hit. The Lions got on the board early, as Anna Trauernicht scored after leading the inning off with a single. She finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 and finished the doubleheader 5-for-6. LMU trailed 2-1 after Tulsa got a pair in the bottom of the third. The Lions
would take the lead for good with a pair of runs on one hit in the fourth inning and another pair on no hits in the fifth inning. The Lions added an insurance run in the seventh when Trauernicht's single scored Strinz, who was hit by a pitch.
PORTLAND STATE SWEEPS SAN JOSE STATE - Kiauna Anderson led Portland State to 4-2 and 1-0 victories over San Jose State on April 4. The senior leftfielder belted a three-run double in game one and a solo home run in game two to lead the Vikings. In the first game, with Portland State on top, 1-0, in the second with the bases loaded and two out, Anderson lined a Candice Akin pitch over the head of leftfielder Amy Walter, driving in three off her WAC leading 12th double of the
year. Viking starter Nichole Ivie did the rest, allowing just two runs on five hits to improve to 5-9 on the year. Anderson's starring role continued in the nightcap as she led off the first inning with her fourth home run to account for the game's only score. PSU starter Morgan Seibert hurled her sixth shutout of the season to pick up the win, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out nine to even her record at 12-12.
IMPROVEMENTS - Hawai`i owns a 34-15 overall record. Last season, the Wahine finished the year with a 25-24 record. San Jose State owns a 21-28 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 310 career hits, a total that ranks third all-time in the WAC.
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS - The NCAA Division I Softball Committee released its second set of regional rankings on April 19. 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: CS Fullerton, CS Northridge, Fresno State, Hawai`i, Loyola Marymount and Pacific.
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 117-102 (.534). 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 208. She needs 38 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 310. She needs 48 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 246 (7th) and at bats with 816 (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 44 games this season, she is 26-for-30 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 leads the WAC with 44 stolen bases on 60 attempts. Last season, the Spartans were 16-for-33. Hawai`i has 32 this season compared to 22 last season, while Fresno State has 37 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 1.00 ERA through its first 46 games to lead the WAC. Leslie Poole owns a 16-6 record (1.00 ERA), while Lori Hoffman is 9-7 (1.10 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 1.34 ERA, while San Jose State's pitching staff currently has a 1.64 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. - 1.00 ERA - 1st), Fresno State's Lori Hoffman (Fr. - 1.21 ERA - 2nd), Witt (Fr. - 1.34 ERA - 3rd), and Loyola Marymount's Sami Strinz (Fr. - 1.62 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 972-319-3 (.752) 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 823-239-1 (.775) mark in 16 years at Fresno State.
WAC EXPANDS IN 2002 - Next year, the WAC will have seven softball teams as Louisiana Tech will join the conference. The teams will continue to play each other a total of four times for a 28-game schedule.