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4.15.03.PDF
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Christina Clark has been named the WAC Player of the Week. This is the second honor for Fresno State's Clark this season.
Clark, a freshman from Santa Ana, Calif., (Mater Dei), helped the Bulldogs to a 3-3 road mark last week, which included a 2-2 record against WAC opponents. Clark ended the week with 18 total bases for a .818 slugging percentage on the road. Clark tied the school's freshman record in total bases with 103 (Laura Berg, 1994). In the Bulldogs sweep over Louisiana Tech, the shortstop batted .444 (4-9) with three runs, one double, two home runs, five RBI and 11 total bases. She ended the week with three home runs.
Other player of the week nominees included: Tracie Uchima, Hawai'i; Brittany Stanley, Louisiana Tech; Stacy Mueller, Nevada and Danielle Olsen, Tulsa.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Tulsa's Maren Genow has been named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. This the first honor for Tulsa freshman Genow. She now joins sophomore Ami Day who has earned the honor twice this season.
Genow, a freshman from Moore, Okla., (Moore), struck out four Fresno State batters and allowed only three hits in 10 innings of work. She recorded her sixth shutout of the season with a 1-0 defeat over Fresno State. Genow's only run allowed on the week was an unearned run against San Jose State. She led the Golden Hurricane to their first sweep of Fresno State and a 4-2 WAC record.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jamie Southern, Fresno State; Melissa Coogan, Hawai'i and Marla Pinkston, Louisiana Tech.
CLOSE RACES After two weeks of WAC play, all six teams have at least one win. Behind the strength of a four-game winning streak, Hawaii takes first place with a 6-2 record. Tulsa and Louisiana Tech are tied for second with 4-2 records.
The Rainbow Wahine, who are in the midst of their final home stand of the season, will take on Tulsa in a battle of the two teams with the best overall records in the WAC. Tulsa is 29-17 this season, while Hawaii is 25-16. Before the Hurricane travel to Honolulu, Tulsa will take on No. 19 Oklahoma State on April 15 in a makeup game.
San Jose State will stay in California and face Fresno State in one doubleheader in Fresno on April 19. Louisiana Tech will play its first WAC road games this week in Reno. These are the first WAC home games ever for Nevada who will take on the Lady Techsters in a pair of doubleheaders on April 18 and 19. The Wolf Pack will also take on Saint Marys at home on April 16.
Last season, Fresno State won the title with an 18-6 WAC record. Much-improved Tulsa tied with Hawaii for second with 15-9 records. Former affiliates Loyola Marymount and Portland State finished fourth and fifth, respectively. San Jose State finished sixth (8-16), while Louisiana Tech finished seventh with a 3-21 record.
SOUTHERN WINS 50TH CAREER GAME Fresno State sophomore Jamie Southern collected a pair of shutout victories last week on the road. In the game against Louisiana Tech, she allowed just two hits and struck out a season-high 14. In the process, she won her 50th career game. Southern needs just four more wins to take sole possession of 10th place all-time in WAC in career wins. Utahs Monica Jimenez (1994-97) is currently 10th with 53 wins. The leader is former Bulldog All-American Amanda Scott (1997-00) who earned 106 wins in the circle during her record-setting career at Fresno State.
Another record-setting pitcher is San Jose States Courtney Lewis who already has five saves this season. The freshman is already tied for fifth all-time in the WAC in saves. She need just two more to move into second place which is held by Hawaiis Kelly Gentle (1996-99).
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS Overall WAC schools are 105-112 (488) in non-conference meetings. WAC schools are 5-15 against teams ranked in the top 25. Fresno State is 2-8, including losses to No. 4 Nebraska, No. 12 Texas, No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 4 Michigan. Fresno State has wins against No. 12 Stanford and No. 3 Nebraska. San Jose State is 0-2 with losses two losses to No. 2 California. Hawaii is 3-5, recently defeating No. 4 Texas, No. 23 Oregon State and No. 3 California. (rankings at time of meeting).
HEAVY HITTERS Fresno State freshman Christina Clark continues her power hitting this season, adding three more home runs to her total last week. Clark now has 13 home runs this season, placing her tied for ninth on the WACs single-season top 10 list in home runs in overall games. She needs just four more to tie Cal State Northridges Scia Maumausolo who hit 17 home runs in 1996. If Clark keeps up her home run per game average of 0.30, she will finish among the single-season leaders.
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.
Nevada and Louisiana Tech both welcome new coaches. Nevadas head coach 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.
NEWS AND NOTES Fresno State freshman Christina Clark has led the Bulldogs to 14 wins in their last 20 and has guided them to an 18-8 mark in their last 26. Clark has been solid at the plate. In her last 12 games, Clark is batting .366 (15-41) with 11 runs, two doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI, six walks and 32 total bases for a .780 slugging percentage. She leads the team in 13 offensive categories, including batting (.354), doubles (7), triples (3), home runs (13) and RBI. Clark has earned WAC Player of the Week honors twice in her rookie season.
Hawaii will be one of the most traveled teams in the country by the end of the season. With the Pacific Ocean between the closest Division I softball team, the Rainbow Wahine has accumulated approximately 19,400 miles to various tournaments and league series. By the end of the season, Hawaii will log 25,924 air miles making it one of the most traveled teams in the country. Over the last nine games, Tracie Uchima has been one of UHs hottest hitters. She is in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak . During that time she is batting .438 (14-for-32).
Louisiana Tech has already passed last seasons WAC win total of three. After only six games, the Lady Techsters hold a 4-2 league record under first-year head coach Sarah Dawson. Louisiana Tech reached four wins after sweeping San Jose State at home. Last season, the Lady Techsters were 10-14 at home. They have already reached that win total with a 10-9 home record so far this season. In WAC games, the Lady Techsters are led by Aimee Coleman who leads the league in hitting , batting .500. On the mound, Louisiana Tech is led by Marla Pinkston who is 3-1 with 17 strikeouts in league games.
Nevada freshman Brittany Lorenzen leads the team with a .346 mark among those playing regularly. Stacy Mueller is hitting .328. Judith van Kampen leads the Wolf Pack in innings pitched (114), strikeouts (87) and winning percentage (.461, 6-7), while Robyn Ford-Feitz has the best ERA (2.54). Jamie Waldron had a 10-game hitting streak broken at Hawaii on April 11 in the second game. She went 19-38 (.500) with 13 RBI in that span.
San Jose State has three players among the leaders in hitting in league games. Junior Megan Delgado and freshman Courtney Lewis are tied for sixth. Both are batting .333 in league games. In overall games, Becca Baldridge is fifth in the WAC in runs scored with 22. She is also hitting .314 this season with 43 hits and 22 runs scored. In the circle, the Spartans have two of the WACs top five strikeout leaders. Carol Forbes is second behind All-American Jamie Southern with 126 strikeouts. Junior Kelli McCollister is fourth with 99 strikeouts in 95.2 innings.
Tulsa senior Danielle Olsen posted four hits on the week, including a double in a 4-1 win over Fresno State and a home run in a 3-1 win over San Jose State. Olsen is second on the team with 43 hits on the season. She is also tied for fifth in the WAC for hits this season. Tulsa swept Fresno State in a doubleheader for the first time in school history. After losing to the Bulldogs in the first 18 meetings, the Golden Hurricane have beaten Fresno State the last three times the teams have played. After sweeping four WAC doubleheaders last season, Tulsa has already swept two of its three conference twinbills this season.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS The following players have been named to all-tournament teams.
Lori Hoffman, FS Campbell/Cartier
Jamie Southern, FS Campbell/Cartier
Bridget Broadnax, LT Panther Classic
April Crowell, UH Chevron Classic
UNC Tournament
Stacey Porter, UH Chevron Classic
Hawaii Invitational
Tracie Uchima, UH Chevron Classic
Cindy Elkins, UN Troy Cox Invite
Becca Baldridge, SJSU NMSU Tournament
Ami Day, TU Mardi Gras Classsic*
Hoos Who*
Maren Genow, TU Mardi Gras Classic
Compass Bank Invite
Stephanie Sliepen, TU Compass Bank Invite
Brandi McGuire, TU Metrodome Classic
Danielle Olsen, TU Mardi Gras Classic
Crissy Strimple, TU Metrodome Classic
Mardi Gras Classic
Stacey Walkingstick, TU Mardi Gras Classic
*Tournament MVP