WAC Softball NotebookPLAYER OF THE WEEK Loyola Marymount's Trisha Gomes was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week
Gomes, a sophomore from Lodi, Calif., (Lodi HS) hit .350 as the Lions ended the week with a 4-3 record, including a 1-0 nine-inning win over No. 10 Fresno State. Gomes had seven hits, scored five runs and drove in four runs. The sophomore hit home runs in wins over San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara. She hit safely in six of the seven Loyola Marymount games, scoring runs in four of the seven. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Gomes.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Tulsa's Ami Day a freshman right-hander from Catoosa, Okla., (Catoosa) extended Tulsa's program-high winning streak to 19 with a complete game shutout win over Louisiana Tech on the road. Day allowed no runs in seven innings, allowing only one infield single. Day struck out four, while walking one. She took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Day is the first Hurricane this season to earn Pitcher of the Week honors. Chrissy Strimple and Danielle Olsen have earned Player of the week honors this season.
WAC HEADLINERS Others nominated for player of the week: Fresno States Leticia Pacheco hit .385 in four games as the Bulldogs went 3-1 in the first week of league play. The freshman shortstop had five hits, including one double.
Others nominated for pitcher of the week: Jamie Southern, Fresno State, Sami Strinz, Loyola Marymount and Morgan Seibert, Portland State.
Southern went 2-1 in four appearances for the Bulldogs. The loss was a 1-0 nine-inning battle with Loyola Marymount. The freshman allowed two earned runs in 23.1 innings, striking out 24 batters.
Loyola Marymounts Sami Strinz went 2-1 in three starts for the Lions, including a win over No. 10 Fresno State. The sophomore allowed four earned runs in 26.0 innings with six strikeouts and one shutout.
Portland States Morgan Seibert allowed only one earned runs in four appearances with a 1-3 record. The junior struck out 29 batters in 24.0 innings with an ERA of 0.29.
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 409 votes.
CLIMBING THE LADDER Viking head coach Teri Mariani now has 593 wins, just seven 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. Wright reached the 1,000 win mark earlier this season.
TULSA EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO 19 The Hurricane remained on the road and continued to win, sweeping Louisiana Tech in the WAC opener for both teams. Only three runs were scored in the doubleheader, as Tulsa won 1-0 in nine innings and 2-0. With the pair of wins, the Hurricane extends their winning streak to a program-high 19 games. Tulsas .935 winning percentage is tops in the country. The 19-game winning streak is third in the nation behind No. 4 Nebraska (22) and No. 7 Cal State Fullerton (21). The Hurricane have had success this season behind a tough pitching staff that currently has a 1.00 team ERA, lowest in school history. This season, 18 of Tulsas 29 wins have been shutouts.
SOUTHERN SETS NEW RECORD Freshman right-handed pitcher Jamie Southern set a new single-season school record for strikeouts by a freshman pitcher with 229 in 192.2 innings.
In her career, Southern is 21-5 with two saves and 13 shutouts with 24 complete games in 26 starts and 33 appearances. This season, she has been the Bulldogs leader on the mound, allowing only eight earned runs in 24 starts. Opponents are batting .128 against the freshman. She owns a career-best 11.2 hitless innings, a career-best 28.0 scoreless innings and a career-best 92.2 innings without an earned run.
TOP COMPETITION Fresno State has played 14 teams ranked in the NFCA Top 25 in its first 39 games. The Bulldogs have recorded 16 shutout victories in 28 wins on the year. Nine of Fresno State's 11 losses this season have come by two or less runs, including seven one-run losses. Fresno State is 9-7 in one-run decision games with 6-2 record in two-run decision games. This trend continued on March 25 when the Bulldogs dropped the opening game of a road doubleheader to No. 1 UCLA, 1-0.
BATTER UP The WAC begins its ninth week of the 2002 season. In the second week of WAC action Hawaii (4-0) travels to California for a four-game set with San Jose State. The only other undefeated team, Tulsa (2-0), hosts No. 9 Oklahoma, before hosting WAC foes Loyola Marymount and Portland State.
The Lady Techsters will look for their first WAC win against Portland State and Loyola Marymount, while Fresno State takes the weekend off.
ALL STAR TEAMS Several players earned all-tournament honors the last few weeks. 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.
San Jose States Shannon Anderson earned all-tournament honors at the Capital Classic.
Last week at the Chevron Invitational in Hawaii, junior Kate Judd earned all-tournament honors along with senior Stacie Hirano.
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.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 114-83 (.579) in non-conference games. The WAC is 12-29 against teams that have been ranked in the NFCA poll. San Jose State is 1-8 with losses to No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 23 San Diego State and No. 3 Arizona. The Spartans have upset No. 7 Arizona State, but fell to Oregon State on March 25.
Fresno State is 7-8 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 and No. 18 Louisiana Layfayette. On March 25, the Bulldogs fell to No. 1 UCLA in a doubleheader.
Hawaii is 3-5 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. Loyola Marymount (1-5) captured its first win over a ranked team with a win over No. 10 Fresno State. (Ranking on date played).
UH PICKED TO TAKE SOFTBALL 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.