PLAYER OF THE WEEK Hawai`i's Denise Dahlberg, a freshman right fielder from Chandler, Ariz., (Desert Vista) led the Wahine to a 6-2 week, sweeping Loyola Marymount to open WAC play and winning the Chevron Malihini Softball Tournament. Dahlberg hit .500 for the week, earning a spot on the Chevron Malihini All-Tournament Team. The freshman went 11-for-22 with three double and a triple. She also added five RBI, a stolen base and a sacrifice. She also led the Wahine to a win over No. 14 Oregon State.
Other player of the week nominees included: Lori Hoffman, Fresno State; Christy Cerecedes, Loyola Marymount; Veronica Ramos, San Jose State and Chrissy Strimple, Tulsa.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK San Jose State's Carol Forbes, a freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz., (Horizon) went 2-1 in four appearances for the Spartans. The highlight was a 1-0 win over No. 7 Arizona State. The Spartans won the consolation bracket of the National Invitational Softball Tournament in San Jose. Forbes struck out a season-high 10 batters in a loss to Buffalo. She combined for a 2-0 shutout of UNC Greensboro to pickup her first collegiate save. She also added a win over Syracuse, 9-4. She finished the week with a 2-1 record with two complete games and 16 strikeouts.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jamie Southern, Fresno State; Sheri Orononz, Hawai`i; Sami Strinz, Loyola Marymount; Morgan Seibert, Portland State and Jenny Magill, Tulsa.
IN THE POLLS Fresno State is the only WAC team ranked in the fourth USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll. The Bulldogs remain ranked 10th with 432 votes.
FRESNO STATES WRIGHT EARNS 1,000 DIVISION I WIN Notching a 2-1 victory in the night cap over the Tennessee Tech, Fresno State softball head coach Margie Wright became the first NCAA Division I softball coach and the 24th head coach overall, regardless of sport, to amass 1,000 NCAA Division I victories.
Wright, who became the NCAA's all-time winningest coach in 2000, owns a 23-year career record of 1000-329-3 and joins 23 other head baseball coaches in the elite 1,000 win club.
CLIMBING THE LADDER Viking head coach Teri Mariani now has 591 wins, just nine 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.
TULSA REWRITES RECORD BOOK This early in the season, Tulsa has already rewritten several records. The Golden Hurricanes 19-2 start is the best in school history and eclipses last seasons total wins (13). The teams current nine-game winning streak is the most consecutive wins in program history. Nine is a popular number for Tulsa with nine of its 19 wins coming from shutouts.
BULLDOGS TOUGH ON THE MOUND The Fresno State pitching staff has been tough all season. Junior Leslie Poole picked up her sixth consecutive win with a win in relief against Indiana and a win over Boston University. She has allowed only two runs in her last 33.2 innings pitched. As a staff, the Bulldogs have gone 10-1 with seven shutouts and 89 strikeouts. Four of Fresno States losses have come against top 10 teams.
BATTER UP The WAC begins its seventh week of the 2002 season. All seven teams are in action this week. Loyola Marymount and Hawaii concluded their four-game set with the Wahine taking all four games.
Tulsa continues its southern tour at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. Fresno State continues tournament play at the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif. San Jose State will stay in California at the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif. Portland State will play host to instate rival No. 15 Oregon State. The Beavers have already faced Hawaii and LMU this season.
ALL STAR TEAMS Several players earned all-tournament honors last week. Fresno States standout pitcher Jamie Southern was named to the Hedricks Hallowell Chevrolet Classic All-Tournament team.
Four Wahine players were named to the all-tournament team at the Chevron Malihini Softball Tournament: Stacey Porter, Denise Dahlberg, Stacey Hirano and April Crowell. Pitcher Sheri Oronoz earned Most Outstanding Pitcher honors. At the same tournament, LMUs Sami Strinz, Danielle Kaminaka and Christy Cerecedes earned all-tournament honors.
Portland States Monica Martell, Megumi Hackett and Morgan Seibert were selected to the Kansas Holiday Inn Invitational All-Tournament team where the Vikings finished in second place.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 94-65 (.591) in non-conference games. The WAC is 11-20 against teams that are ranked in the NFCA poll. San Jose State is 1-4 with losses to No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 23 San Diego State and No. 3 Arizona. Last week, the Spartans upset No. 7 Arizona State.
Fresno State is 6-4 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. Fresno State also added wins over No. 10 Pacific.
Hawaii is 3-4 with two wins over No. 23 San Diego State and a win over No. 14 Oregon State. Portland State is 0-3 against ranked teams. (Ranking on date played).
PORTLAND STATES SEIBERT CLIMBS WAC LADDER Portland State junior Morgan Seibert moved into seventh place on the WAC career strikeout list. With 17 strikeouts in two starts last week, Seibert now has 436 career strikeouts.
HAWAI`I PICKED TO WIN WAC 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 Cerecedes rounded out the team.