PLAYER OF THE WEEK Loyola Marymount's Sami Strinz has been named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Both Strinz and pitcher of the week Jamie Southern have been honored this season. Strinz earned pitcher of the week honors on Feb. 4, while Southern has earned pitcher of the week honors the last three weeks.
Strinz, a sophomore right fielder from Keizer, Ore. (McKay HS), went 5-8 in a split against Brigham Young. She went 4-for-5 with five RBI and two home runs in a 13-4 win over the Cougars. The two home run game is the first since Hawai`i's Kate Judd hit two home runs in one game twice last year. Strinz ended the week with a .625 batting average. Strinz is the first player since New Mexico's Danielle Cassara to win player and pitcher of the week in the same season. Cassara achieved the feat in 1999.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Southern, a freshman from Clovis, Calif., (Clovis HS) earned her third-straight player of the week honor pitching against three top 10 teams at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. Southern earned wins against No. 6 Washington and Boston University. She lost to No. 2 Stanford (1-0 in eight innings) and No. 5 LSU (1-0). For the tournament, the right-hander went 2-2 with 43 strikeouts in 29.0 innings and a 0.97 ERA. For her efforts, Southern was named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team.
Southern is the first pitcher since Fresno State's Felicity Witt and Portland State's Morgan Seibert in 2001 to earn the honor three times in a season. In 2000, Fresno State's Amanda Scott earned eight pitcher of the week honors.
WAC HEADLINERS Others nominated for player of the week: Fresno States Lindsay Fossatti hit safely in all six games that the Bulldogs played. Fossatti is in the midst of a career-high 11-game hitting streak. Over the six games, Fossatti hit .353 with six hits and one run scored.
San Jose States Becca Baldridge hit .412 in five games as the Spartans went 1-4 last week. The junior had seven hits with one double and two runs scored. Baldridge scored her two runs in San Jose States only win against Drake.
Others nominated for pitcher of the week: Loyola Marymounts Corianne Rogalsky pitched 7.1 innings in a split with Brigham Young. She allowed four earned runs on five hits, striking out six.
CLIMBING THE LADDER Viking head coach Teri Mariani now has 587 wins, just 13 shy of 600 career wins. She is looking to become the third WAC coach with at least 600 wins. Fresno State head coach Margie Wright and Louisiana Tech head coach Bill Galloway both have over 900 career wins.
IN THE POLLS Fresno State is the only WAC team ranked in the second USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll. The Bulldogs remain ranked 13th with 362 votes.
PORTLAND STATES SEIBERT NEARS 400 MARK Portland States Morgan Seibert's 25 strikeouts through her first three starts this year give her 393 for her career, just seven away from the 400 mark. Deb Fitzhugh (1980-83) is the only other Viking to reach that level and holds the school record at 549 strikeouts's.
With her 393 career strikeouts, Seibert has moved past New Mexico's Dena Mullins (1992-93) and into ninth place on the all-time WAC list. Fresno State great Amanda Scott (1997-00) holds the conference career record with 851 career strikeouts.
BATTER UP The WAC begins its fifth week of the 2002 season. All seven teams are back in action this week. Once again Louisiana Tech had to battle the weather and its opponent. The Lady Techsters had their second-straight doubleheader postponed. Louisiana Techs doubleheader with Prairie View A&M is rescheduled for March 8 at 1:00 p.m.
The Wahine travel to Tucson for the Arizona Hillebrand Invitational where they will take on ranked teams No. 9 Arizona State and defending champion No. 2 Arizona.
In a battle of WAC teams, Portland State and San Jose State will face each other at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. Tulsa will play host for the Holiday Inn Select-Tulsa Festival. Midwestern schools Illinois-Chicago, Drake and the University of Missouri-Kansas City are among the teams playing in the tournament.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 51-37 (.580) in non-conference games. The WAC is 6-11 against teams that are ranked in the NFCA poll. San Jose State is 0-4 with losses to No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 23 San Diego State and No. 3 Arizona.
Fresno State is 4-4 with wins over No. 5 California and No. 23 San Diego State and losses to No. 8 Arizona State and No. 10 Cal State Fullerton. At the NFCA Classic, the Bulldogs went 2-2 against ranked teams with wins over No. 24 Mississippi State and No. 6 Washington. Fresno State fell to No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 LSU.
Hawaii is 2-0 with two wins over No. 23 San Diego State. Portland State fell to No. 5 California. LMU fell to No. 11 Michigan and No 19 Pacific. (Ranking on date played).
BULLDOGS FINISH FOURTH AT NFCA CLASSIC Frenso State had a strong showing at the always-tough NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. With a 4-2 record, the Bulldogs finished fourth. Fresno State advanced to the Gold Medal Bracket with a 3-0 record in pool play.
The Bulldogs continue to play the top competition, playing eight top 25 teams in their first 15 games. Four of their five losses have come against top 10 teams.
HAWAI`I PICKED TO TAKE TITLE The Western Athletic Conference softball coaches selected Hawaii to win the 2002 WAC regular season crown. This is the first time in seven years that a team other than Fresno State was voted to take the top spot in the WAC. The coaches also voted on 2001 preseason award winners today. Hawaii shortstop Kate Judd was voted preseason Player of the Year, while Fresno States Jamie Southern earned preseason Pitcher of the Year honors.
Hawaii earned 34 points, edging Fresno State by one point. Both the Wahine and the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. Hawaii advanced for the fifth time, while the Bulldogs are the only team to have advanced to all 20 NCAA Tournaments.
Loyola Marymount was picked third with 25 points after a 37-22 season. The WACs other affiliate member Portland State earned the fourth spot with 19 points. With 14 points, Tulsa took fifth, while San Jose State and newcomer Louisiana Tech tied for sixth with 11 points.
The preseason all-WAC team included five Fresno State players: junior catcher Pam West, senior third baseman Lindsay Fossatti, senior outfielder Tiffany Whipple, red-shirt freshman pitcher Jamie Southern and senior utility player Vanessa Czarnecki.
Hawaii placed four players on the preseason all-WAC team, including 2001 WAC Player of the Year Kate Judd. The sophomore shortstop earned preseason Player of the Year honors after driving in 31 runs and scoring 32 runs last season. Judd was joined by sophomore first baseman Stacey Porter and senior outfielder Stacie Hirano. Natalie Gonzales tied with Portland State Megumi Hackett for second base honors. Loyola Marymount outfielder Christy Cercedes rounded out the team.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES Fresno State made its 20th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs are the only program in the nation to have qualified for each of the 20 NCAA Division I womens softball championships. Hawaii made its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including its third in the past four seasons.
FRESNO STATE WINS WAC TITLE For the fourth-straight season and the fifth time in the past six years, Fresno State clinched the WAC regular-season title. Since joining the WAC in 1993, Fresno State has compiled a 161-41 (.797) record in conference play.