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OPENING DAY The 2003 WAC softball season began with San Jose State playing at the Cal Tournament. The Spartans 1-3, splitting with Tennessee and losing twice to world series champs California.
This week, five of the six WAC teams will be in action with the Spartans taking the week off. Hawaii will host the Chevron Paradise Classic on Feb. 6-7. Tulsa travels to Minneapolis, Minn., for the Metrodome Softball Classic, Feb. 6-8. Fresno State will also take part in tournament play at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Arizona. Nevada opens its first season at the Cal Poly SLO Tournament, while Louisiana Tech faces instate rival Centenary.
PRESEASON PICKS The Western Athletic Conference softball coaches selected Fresno State to win the 2003 WAC regular season crown. Last season was the first time in seven years that the Bulldogs were not picked to win the crown after Hawaii was chosen. The coaches also voted on 2003 preseason award winners. Hawaii shortstop Kate Judd was voted preseason Player of the Year, while Fresno States Jamie Southern earned preseason Pitcher of the Year honors. Last season, Judd and Southern earned these awards in both the preseason and postseason.
Fresno State had a strong showing with 25 points. Both Hawaii and Tulsa finished with 19 points. The Rainbow Wahine and the Golden Hurricane finished last season tied for second. The Bulldogs were the only WAC team to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Fresno State is the only team in the nation to play in all 21 NCAA Tournaments.
San Jose State finished fourth with 13 points. WAC newcomer Nevada, playing its first season of softball, was picked to finish fifth with eight points. Louisiana Tech was picked to finish sixth, earning six points.
The preseason all-WAC team was evenly distributed between Fresno State, Hawaii and Tulsa with each getting three on the team. The final spot was taken by San Jose State.
Fresno States Pam West, Southern and Christina Clark earned honors. West a senior catcher and Southern a sophomore pitcher both earned preseason honors last season. Southern had one of the strongest freshman campaigns in WAC history, leading the nation in ERA (0.44) and ending the season with 400 strikeouts,
Hawaiis three players on the preseason all-WAC team were 2002 WAC Player of the Year Kate Judd, first baseman Stacey Porter and outfielder Denise Dahlberg. Judd, who is a two-time WAC Player of the Year, earned the preseason honor after leading the league in hitting (.354). Porter led the league in home runs last season with 15.
Tulsa placed second baseman Danielle Olsen, third baseman Crissy Strimple and outfielder Heather Hiar on the team. Olsen was second in the league in RBI last season (40), while Strimple was third in the WAC in on base percentage (.414).
San Jose State outfielder Becca Baldridge rounds out the team.
IN THE POLLS Fresno State is the only WAC team ranked in the preseason USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll. The Bulldogs are ranked 15th with 241 votes.
LINEUP CHANGE The WAC will be without affiliate members. Portland State and Loyola Marymount are leaving the league this season, the WAC welcomes Nevada. This is the first season of softball for the Wolf Pack since 1989. LMU and Portland State had both been in the league for three years.
NEW ADDITIONS Nevada and Louisiana Tech both welcome new coaches. Nevadas head coach is Michelle Gardner a former Big Ten Player of the Year at Michigan. She comes from Arizona State where she was an assistant for four years. This is her first season as a head coach.
Also making her head coaching debut is Louisiana Techs Sarah Dawson, a former All-American pitcher at Louisiana-Monroe. Dawson replaces Hall of Fame head coach Bill Galloway who retired after the 2002 season. Both Galloway and Fresno State head coach Margie Wright have more than 800 Division I career wins. Wright reached the 1,000 win mark during the 2002 season.
ON DECK This season should be one of the most competitive in the WAC.
Fresno State welcomes back All-American pitcher Jamie Southern. Southern also became the first player to earn WAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season. Fresno State returns seven starters as the Bulldogs look to earn their seventh WAC title.
Hawaii and head coach Bob Coolen return five starters from last years squad that tied for second with Tulsa. The Rainbow Wahine return two-time WAC Player of the Year and preseason Player of the Year Kate Judd. Judd and fellow Aussie Stacey Porter lead the offensive charge for the Rainbow Wahine. Last season, Porter broke the school record for home runs with 15.
Louisiana Tech begins a new era with new head coach Sarah Dawson. The former All-American pitcher returns five starters from last seasons team. The Lady Techsters welcome back pitcher Marla Pinkston, who missed most of last season due to an ankle injury. As Louisiana Tech begins its second season in the WAC, the Lady Techsters look to improve upon a 21-27 record from 2002.
Nevada begins its first season of softball in the WAC and its first season of softball since 1989. The Wolf Pack will be coached by Michelle Gardner a former Big Ten Player of the Year, and start the season with a tough schedule, playing the first five weeks on the road.
San Jose State and head coach Dee Dee Enabenter-Omidji saw improvement last season. In 2002, the Spartans won games against three ranked teams to end the season, splitting doubleheaders with Stanford, Pacific and Fresno State. San Jose State brings back eight starters from that team.
Tulsa had one of the nations best turnarounds last season with a 48-16 record. The great season earned head coach James Pinkerton his first WAC Coach of the Year honor. The Golden Hurricane return all-Midwest Region honoree Danielle Olsen back.
TOUGH COMPETITION WAC schools will play some of the toughest teams in the nation in non-conference play. WAC schools will play at least 17 teams that advanced to the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Fresno State, who also advanced to the NCAA Tournament, will face the most as it matches up with at least eight NCAA teams, including four of the eight schools that advanced to the Womens College World Series: Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma and UCLA. Hawaii will face at least seven schools that advanced to postseason last year. The Rainbow Wahine take on UCLA along with Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Pacific, Texas and Ohio State.
First-year program Nevada, Tulsa and San Jose State will all face at least three teams that advanced to postseason last year, while Louisiana Tech will face one.
NEWS AND NOTES Fresno State head coach Margie Wright, who begins her 18th season, is approaching another milestone. With more than 1,000 Division I career wins, the NCAAs all-time winningest softball coach enters the 2003 season 19 victories shy of collecting her 900th Fresno State win as she boasts an 881-263-1 (.770) school record in 17 years. Two years ago, Wright became the NCAAs all-time winningest coach in Division I softball with 914 career victories.
Nevada begins its first season of softball since dropping the sport after the 1989 season. They had the sport for 17 seasons, 1973-1989. The Wolf Pack has 18 players on the roster, six freshmen, five sophomores and seven juniors. Seven come from Nevada, five from California, four from Arizona, one is from Idaho and one is from The Netherlands. After the first six weeks of playing on the road, Nevada opens at home Sunday, March 23, for a non-conference doubleheader against former WAC affiliate Portland State.
San Jose State began the 2003 season against the defending national champion California Bears. Despite going 0-2 against the Bears, the Spartans hung in with Cal in the first game, losing 3-1.
REWIND: THE 2002 SEASON SEVEN NAMED TO ALL-REGION TEAMS Seven WAC softball players were named to Louisville Slugger West, Pacific and Midwest Region Teams. From the West Region, Fresno State's Jamie Southern and Lindsay Fossatti as well as Hawai`i's Kate Judd and Stacey Porter earned first team honors. Loyola Marymount's Christy Cerecedes earned first team honors in the Pacific Region. From the Midwest Region, Tulsa's Jessie Smith and Danielle Olsen earned second team honors.
Fresno State's Southern and Fossatti both earned first team honors. Southern, the WAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, led the nation in ERA. Fossatti and Southern both also earned first team all-WAC honors.
Kate Judd was also named WAC Player of the Year. Judd, a junior shortstop, led the Rainbow Wahine and the WAC in batting posting a .354 overall average while collecting 13 doubles, 11 home runs, and 35 RBI. Porter, a sophomore first baseman, finished the season with a .322 overall batting average leading the WAC with 15 home runs.
Senior centerfielder Jessie Smith and junior second baseman Danielle Olsen earned spots on the 2002 Midwest All-Region second team. Smith led the Golden Hurricane in batting average (.347) and stolen bases (29). It was the third consecutive season that Tulsa has had a player selected to the first team. Olsen led the team in hits with 61, the second most in school history. Starting every game at second, she hit .300 with nine doubles, two triples and six home runs for a .453 slugging percentage.
LMU outfielder Christy Cerecedes achieved the tough feat of earning first team honors in the Pacific Region which is the region shared by the always-tough Pac-10. Cerecedes is the only member of the Pacific Region not from the Pac-10.
The teams are sponsored by Louisville Slugger, Speedline and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and voted on by the head coaches of the region.
CAREER RECORDS Several WAC players etched 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. Fossatti ended the season with 111. Bulldog freshman pitcher Jamie Southern moved into eighth on the all-time strikeout list with 418. Southern moves into a tie with for eighth place with Lindsay Parker (Fresno State, 1996-99). With a career-high 27 sacrifices, senior first baseman/second baseman Vanessa Czarnecki became the WACs career record holder with 72. The previous record was 65 by Tyree Woodruff, Hawaii (1997-01).
Portland State junior Morgan Seibert moved into fifth in career strikeouts with 585. She passed Colorado States Nikki Johnson (1995-97). She is also fifth in strikeouts per seven innings with 6.45 strikeouts per game. Southern is second in that category with 7.97 strikeouts per seven innings.