PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsa's Jessie Smith was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
Smith, a senior outfielder from Tuttle, Okla., (Tuttle HS) led the Hurricane to a, 4-1, win over No. 13 Fresno State. Smith hit .500 in six games as the Golden Hurricane went 5-1 on the week, including 3-1 in WAC play. This is Smith's first player of the week honor.
The outfielder had the game-winning hit and run against the Bulldogs, scoring on a bunt single and an error. She ended the week with eight hits, four runs scored and two RBI. The speedy senior also added five stolen bases. Smith has been a hot hitter of late, recording at least one hit in 15 of the last 16 Hurricane games.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Jamie Southern was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. Southern, a freshman from Clovis, Calif., (Clovis HS) earned her seventh pitcher of the week honor by not allowing a run in 25.0 innings pitched. The freshman showed her stamina, pitching all 18 innings of a 3-0 win over Louisiana Tech on the road. Southern allowed no runs and nine hits in two complete-game shutouts.
The right-hander struck out 27 batters in the two games, including 17 in the 18-inning battle with the Lady Techsters. With 330 strikeouts this season, Southern set new school and WAC records. Former Bulldog All-American Amanda Scott previously held the record, fanning 314 batters during the 2000 season.
WAC HEADLINERS Other player of the week nominees included: Leticia Pacheco, Fresno State, Christy Cerecedes, Loyola Marymount, Annie Peccia, Portland State and Veronica Ramos, San Jose State.
Fresno States Leticia Pacheco hit .400 for the Bulldogs in four games. The freshman had six hits with two doubles and one RBI. She was perfect in left field, moving there from shortstop.
Loyola Marymounts Christy Cerecedes hit .500 in four games for the Lions with five hits in 10 at bats. The senior center fielder had one triple and five walks as LMU ended the week with a 3-1 record against non-conference schools San Diego and Santa Clara.
Portland States Annie Peccia hit a two-run home run to lead the Vikings to a 3-0 win over Hawaii at home. She hit .381 last week with a .571 slugging percentage. The sophomore third baseman had eight hits, including the home run and a double.
San Jose States Veronica Ramos hit .353 last week with an .881 slugging percentage. Three of her six hits were home runs, and she ended the week with eight RBI. She hit two three-run home runs in each game against Louisiana Tech.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jennifer Heliotes, Loyola Marymount, Nichole Ivie, Portland State, Carol Forbes, San Jose State and Ami Day Tulsa.
Loyola Marymounts Jennifer Heliotes had a perfect 4-0 week with two complete games and one shutout. The senior allowed only three earned runs in 24.2 innings, striking out 14. She ended the week with a 0.85 ERA.
Portland States Nichole Ivie threw her first shutout of the season against instate rival Oregon. She threw three complete games for a 1-2 record with a 1.05 ERA. The junior allowed only three earned runs in 20.0 innings pitched. For the season, she leads the team in ERA (1.80).
San Jose States Carol Forbes was 2-1, including a complete game win over Santa Clara. Forbes also added her first home run of the season as a designated player in the first game against Louisiana Tech.
Tulsas Ami Day went 3-0 last week, including a, 4-1, win over No. 14 Fresno State. The freshman allowed only four runs in 19.0 innings to lead the Hurricane to a 5-1 record. Day completed all three of her starts.
SOUTHERN BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON STRIKEOUT RECORD Fresno State freshman Jamie Southern broke the WAC single-season record for strikeouts last week throwing her 330th against Louisiana Tech. The right-hander has won 11-straight games, including 10 starts. Southern also broke her own WAC and school record for innings pitched in a game with 18 against Louisiana Tech. Southern moved up to second in WAC single-season history in innings pitched (295.2) and No. 5 in victories (30).
CAREER RECORDS Several WAC players are etching their names into the WAC career recordbook.
Fresno States Lindsay Fossatti moved into first in WAC career walks, passing teammate Angela Cervantez who had 97 walks. Currently, Fossatti has 110 walks. Bulldog freshman pitcher Jamie Southern is 14 strikeouts away from 10th on the all-time strikeout list. She has 340 Ks in her freshman season. With a career-high 22 sacrifices on the season after notching two this past weekend, senior first baseman/second baseman Vanessa Czarnecki became the WACs career record holder in sacrifices with 67. The previous record was 65 by Tyree Woodruff, Hawaii (1997-01).
Portland State junior Morgan Seibert moved into fifth in career strikeouts with 570. She passed Colorado States Nikki Johnson (1995-97). She is also fourth in strikeouts per seven innings with 6.50. Southern leads that category with 8.1 strikeouts per seven innings.
SEIBERT SETS MORE PITCHING RECORDS Junior Morgan Seibert became the first Portland State pitcher to record two 200 strikeout seasons in a career with her third of five strikeouts against Oregon State on Monday, April 29. Seibert, who had 215 Ks as a sophomore, now has 202 on the season and a school record 570 for her career. Deb Fitzhugh (1980-83) struck out a single-season record 250 in 1982. Seibert holds the fifth spot on the WAC career strikeout list. She is 66 strikeouts away from fourth place Susie Bugliarello of Sacramento State (1995-97).
BATTER UP The WAC begins its 14th week of play this season. There are only two more weeks of WAC play before the WAC Champion is crowned.
With a 15-3 WAC record, Fresno State looks to clinch the conference title this week at home. The Bulldogs need to win at least three league games this week in order to capture their fifth consecutive WAC crown and sixth title in the last seven years. The Bulldogs take on Loyola Marymount on May 2 and Portland State on May 4.
Tulsa and Hawaii, currently tied for second place, both have the week off from league play. After spliting games with Oregon, the Wahine take the weekend off. Tulsa Lost to Oklahoma on April 30 and face Oklahoma City on Sunday May 5. The Golden Hurricane and the Wahine will face off against each other in Honolulu May 10-11.
Aside from facing Portland State at home, San Jose State will also take on No. 17 Pacific on the road. Loyola Marymount also faces the Vikings after traveling to Fresno State.
AROUND THE HORN (NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE) FRESNO STATE freshman Leticia Pacheco, who usually plays shortstop, plpayed all four games last week in left field. She played flawless defense while making three diving catches, including a foul ball in which she dived and hit her head into the left field foul fence. Pacheco led all the Bulldogs in hitting .400, while finishing second in doubles (2) ... HAWAII has the four top hitters in WAC games. Kate Judd (.439), Denise Dahlberg (.392), Stacey Porter (.383) and Natalie Gonzales (.361) are the leaders in hitting in league games ... LOUISIANA TECH closed out its first season in the WAC, losing its last six games. The Lady Techsters closed out the season with a 21-27 record, 3-21 in WAC. Louisiana Tech earned its WAC wins against Hawaii (4-1), San Jose State (4-1) and Portland State (2-1) ... LOYOLA MARYMOUNT pitcher Jennifer Heliotes is among the nations leaders in saves with four. She also stands second in career saves in the WAC, only two behind Fresno State All-American Amanda Scott, who ended her career with 10 ... portland state senior Vanessa Applegate batted a team-high .289 (22-for-76) in the month of April, three points higher than Rose Rutledge (14-for-49) and Alayna Petersen (6-for-21), who each hit .286 ... SAN JOSE STATE junior Veronica Ramos leads the league in triples in WAC games with two. She is tied with Hawaiis Stacey Porter ... TULSA is now 44-14 the season. The Hurricane is assured its first winning season in the softball program's history. TUs 44 wins eclipses the number of wins the Hurricane had for the previous two seasons combined. This is also the first season that the Golden Hurricane have been regionally ranked.
THIEVES ON THE PATHS Tulsa has stolen 84 stolen bases this season which is a school record by 41 steals. The Golden Hurricane had 67 stolen bases the first four years of the program combined. Last seasons stolen bases leader, San Jose State had 60 steals.
IMPROVEMENTS Three WAC teams have already surpassed their win total from the 2001 season. With 46 wins in 60 games, Tulsa has exceeded last years win total of 26.
Twenty-two of TUs 44 wins are by shutout. Offensively, the teams 25 home runs are a school record for most in a single season. The 1996 squads school previously held the record for the most with 21 homers.
San Jose State is close to surpassing its 2001 win total of 26. So far this season, the Spartans have 22 wins. The Spartans have topped last seasons WAC win total by two with seven wins so far this season.
Fresno State has also passed seasons win total of 39. The Bulldogs already have 46 wins this season.
SOUTHERN NAMED FINALIST 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.
WEST REGIONAL RANKINGS Three of the seven WAC schools were ranked in the West Regional poll. The remaining four schools are all located in California. This season is the first time that Tulsa has been ranked regionally. This is the first poll in which the teams have been ranked. (As of April 17)
1. *Cal State Fullerton
2. Fresno State
3. *Pacific (California)
4. *Long Beach State
5. Hawaii
6. *Cal State Northridge
7. Tulsa
Others receiving votes: *Cal Poly, Louisiana Tech and Loyola Marymount
Bold = WAC schools
* = WAC opponents
MARIANI REACHES 600 WIN PLATEAU Portland State head coach Teri Mariani reached yet another milestone in her 26-year career as the Vikings' head coach, earned her 600th career win in game one of her team's doubleheader sweep of Louisiana Tech on April 18.
Mariani earned her first coaching win back in 1978. She now has a career record of 601-476 (.558). She has led the Vikings to nine postseason appearances, including a Division II third-place national finish in 1991.
She now joins Fresno State head coach Margie Wright and Louisiana Tech head coach Bill Galloway as WAC coaches with at least 600 career wins. Both Wright and Galloway 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.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 147-112 (.567) in non-conference games. The WAC is 15-56 against teams that have been ranked in the NFCA poll. San Jose State is 1-10 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 8-10 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 Lafayette. The Bulldogs captured a 4-0 win against No. 11 Oklahoma in Oklahoma City on April 16.
Hawaii is 4-8 with two wins over No. 23 San Diego State and a win over No. 14 Oregon State. Last week, the Wahine went 1-3 against Fresno State. Portland State is 0-11 against ranked teams. Loyola Marymount (1-7) captured its first win over a ranked team with a win over No. 10 Fresno State. Tulsa is 1-5 against ranked teams. The Hurricane played their first ranked team with a 14-6 loss to No. 9 Oklahoma. TU gathered its first win against a ranked team with a 4-1 win over No. 13 Fresno State. The Lady Techsters are also 0-4 with four losses to Fresno State. (Ranking on date played).