PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State's Veronica Ramos was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
Ramos, a junior from Sylmar, Calif., (Sylmar HS) hit .462 as the Spartans split doubleheaders with Louisiana Tech and Tulsa. In a 6-5 win over the Lady Techsters, the third baseman went 3-5 with two RBI with a double and one run scored.
Overall, Ramos had six hits, two runs scored and three RBI. She ended the week with a .938 slugging percentage in four games. The sophomore had multiple hit games against Louisiana Tech, three hits, and Tulsa, two hits.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Leslie Poole earned pitcher of the week honors. Poole, a junior right-hander from Roostown, Ohio, (St. Vincent-St. Mary's HS) earned her first pitcher of the week honor of the season with a 2-1 record last week. Poole was named pitcher of the week three times last season. The junior's only loss was a 1-0 loss to No. 3 Stanford where she scattered five hits and struck out five.
She ended the week with a 0.39 ERA, allowing only one earned run in 18.0 innings pitched with three complete games and one shutout. Poole went 2-0 in WAC action with a 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts, earning wins over Tulsa and Louisiana Tech. She guided the Bulldogs to a tie for first place in the WAC with Hawaii.
WAC HEADLINERS Other player of the week nominees included: Pam Perez, Fresno State and Danielle Kaminaka, Loyola Marymount.
Perez hit .429 in six games for the Bulldogs last week with nine hits and two runs scored. The sophomore hit .423 against in WAC games last week as the Bulldogs captured a share of first place.
Kaminaka hit .571 in two games for the Lions, as LMU split a doubleheader with UC Riverside. The freshman third baseman had four hits with one run scored in seven at a bats.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Sami Strinz, Loyola Marymount; Morgan Seibert, Portland State and Carol Forbes, San Jose State.
Strinz went 1-0 with a complete game win over UC Riverside last week. The sophomore gave up four runs, three earned, while striking out two. She ended the week with a 3.00 ERA.
Seibert went 2-1, earning victories in both of the Vikings wins. She struck out 31 batters in 25 innings pitched with three complete games, including nine-inning and ten-inning wins. Her only loss was at No. 12 Washington.
Forbes went 2-2, getting a decision in all four of the Spartans games. She finished with a 0.85 ERA allowing only three earned runs in 24.2 innings with 14 strikeouts. Two of her three starts were complete games.
IN THE POLLS Fresno State is the only WAC team ranked in the fourth USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll. The Bulldogs dropped to No. 12 with 366 votes the week of April 4. The NFCA/USA Today poll is released on Wednesdays.
RECORD BREAKERS Two WAC pitchers wrote their names into the WAC record books last week. Fresno State freshman Jamie Southern set a new single-game record for strikeouts with 22 Ks in a 1-0 win over Tulsa. Southern pitched all 17 innings of the epic battle for another record. Tulsas Jenny Magill pitcher 16.2 innings in the loss. The freshman pitcher broke the records Sacramento States Tami Blunt. Blunt had 19 strikeouts against Utah in 1993 and pitched 15 innings against Cal State Northridge in 1995.
Portland State pitcher Morgan Seibert made her way into the record books by becoming the second Viking and fifth WAC player to reach 500 career strikeouts. The senior reached the feat with 13 strikeouts against Santa Clara on April 7. The current WAC career strikeout leader is Fresno State All-American Amanda Scott (1997-00) with 851.
STOLEN BASES (NOTES AROUND THE LEAGUE) FRESNO STATE senior third baseman Lindsay Fossatti already has broken the WACs record in career walks and is three shy of setting a new school career mark. With 104 walks in 240 career games, Fossatti broke the WAC walk record held by All-American Angela Cervantez (97, 1997-2000) and is three shy of surpassing another Bulldog All-American Gina LoPiccolo (106, 1988-91) for the school record ... HAWAII returns to action after a week on hiatus. The Wahine return to the diamond on the road against Louisiana Tech in a four-game set. Hawaii looks to reclaim sole possession of first place after Fresno State tied the Wahines 7-1 WAC record last week ... LOUISIANA TECH freshman Brittany Stanley has been burning up the basepaths. The outfielder has stolen 22-25 bases this season and stands nine short of last seasons leader Anna Trauernicht of LMU who ended the 2001 season with 31 steals ... LOYOLA MARYMOUNT senior Christy Cerecedes is among the offensive leaders in several categories. The outfielder is second in hits (48), behind San Jose States Becca Baldridge (51). She is also tied for second in runs scored (27) and fourth in RBI (24) ... portland state has two pitchers among the league leaders in WAC games. Morgan Seibert and Megan Herscher both have been solid on the mound. Despite a 1-4 record, Seibert still has an ERA under 1.00. The senior has a league ERA of 0.93, while teammate Herscher has an ERA of 0.00, not allowing an earned run in three appearances ... SAN JOSE STATE boasts the leagues leader in hits with Becca Baldridges 51 hits this season. Last season, Baldridge had 30 hits in 67 games. This season, she already has 51 in 44 games ... TULSA has 19 shutouts this season out of its 33 wins, but the team is also having a strong offensive season. Tulsas 20 home runs are second most in school history, only two behind the 1996 squads 21. Tulsa is also regionally ranked for the first time in the programs history.
BATTER UP The WAC begins its 11th week of the 2002 season. With Fresno State and Hawaii tied for first, one team looks to break that tie this week.
The Bulldogs face Cal Poly before hosting San Jose State who handed the Wahine their only WAC loss this season. Hawaii travels to Ruston for a four-game series with Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters look to break a three-game losing streak.
The WACs affiliate members Portland State and Loyola Marymount will meet in Portland on April 13. Tulsa takes the week off of WAC action, facing four non-conference schools: Oklahoma State, Arkansas, SW Missouri State and Centenary.
WEST REGIONAL RANKINGS Five of the seven WAC schools were ranked in the first West Regional poll.
Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton*
Cal State Northridge*
Fresno State
Hawaii
Long Beach State*
Louisiana Tech
Loyola Marymount
Pacific (California)*
Tulsa
Bold = WAC schools
* = WAC opponents
SOUTHERN NAMED FINALST Fresno State freshman Jamie Southern was one of 25 finalists named for the inaugural USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, the Amateur Softball Association announced. Ten finalist will be named May 3, and three finalists will be announced May 31. The winner will be announced June 7 and will be presented the award in November during the ASA National Council Meeting in Reno, Nevada.
PLAYER COLLEGE
Alana Addison ULL
Sarah Beeson Stanford
Kara Brun Arizona State
Jaime Clark Washington
Christina Enea Oklahoma
Jocelyn Forest California
Amanda Freed UCLA
Jennie Finch Arizona
Keira Goerl UCLA
Peaches James Nebraska
Lovie Jung Arizona
Oli Keohohou Brigham Young
Kelsey Kollen Michigan
Leneah Manum Stanford
Nicole Myers Florida Atlantic
Stacey Nuveman UCLA
Gina Oaks CS Fullerton
C. Osterman Texas
Trena Peel LSU
Britni Sneed LSU
Jamie Southern Fresno State
Jenny Topping CS Fullerton
Natasha Watley UCLA
Phelan Wright Arizona State
IMPROVEMENTS Two WAC teams have already surpassed their win total from the 2001 season. With 33 wins in 40 games, Tulsa has exceeded last years win total of 26 by seven wins. So far this season, Tulsa is 6-4 in conference action. In 2001, Tulsa ended the WAC season 5-15.
San Jose State has also surpassed its 2001 win total with 16 wins, compared to last seasons final record of 13-42. The Spartans have also topped last seasons WAC win total by one with four wins so far this season.
CLIMBING THE LADDER Viking head coach Teri Mariani now has 593 wins, just three 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 800 Division I career wins. Wright reached the 1,000 win mark earlier this season. Galloway is nearing the 900 plateau in Division I wins.
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 119-91 (.567) in non-conference games. The WAC is 12-40 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 7-10 with wins over No. 5 California and No. 23 San Diego State and losses to No. 1 UCLA, 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 April, the Bulldogs fell to No. 3 Stanford 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 0-7 against ranked teams. Loyola Marymount (1-5) captured its first win over a ranked team with a win over No. 10 Fresno State. Tulsa is 0-3 against ranked teams. The Hurricane played their first ranked team with a 14-6 loss to No. 9 Oklahoma. The Lady Techsters are also 0-2 with two losses to Fresno State. (Ranking on date played).