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4.22.03.PDF
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Hawaii's Stacey Porter was named the WAC Player of the Week. This is the first honor this season for Porter who was also honored once in 2001 and once in 2002.
Porter, a junior from Tamworth, Australia (Peel Technology), hit .818, leading the Rainbow Wahine to their second-straight four-game WAC sweep. Hawai'i took four from Tulsa to move to 10-2 in the league this season. The two-time first team all-WAC member was 9-for-11 at the plate with a .857 on-base percentage. Porter ended the week with nine hits, including a double, a triple and a home run. Porter now leads the league in hits (57), batting average (.456) and doubles (13).
Other player of the week nominees included: Christina Clark, Fresno State; Casey Reiff, Louisiana Tech and Candice Rainwater, Nevada.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Hawaii's Melissa Coogan was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. Coogan earned pitcher of the week honors the week of Feb. 24
Coogan, a sophomore from West Hills, Calif., (El Camino), was just as solid in the circle. The right-hander pitched two shutouts, her ninth and 10th of the season. In the second game of the first doubleheader, she pitched 10 innings to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 4-3 win over the Golden Hurricane. She ended the week 4-0 with three starts and a 0.88 ERA, allowing only three earned runs in 24.0 innings pitched.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jamie Southern, Fresno State and Candice Rainwater, Nevada.
CLOSE RACES With three weeks of WAC play remaining, teams will be looking to gain ground on first place Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak and close out its home schedule against San Jose State on April 24 and 26. The Rainbow Wahine will play four against the Spartans who look to snap a seven-game losing streak. Fresno State looks to gain ground on the Rainbow Wahine with four games at Nevada. This is the first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack since 1988. In the other WAC matchup, Louisiana Tech travels to Tulsa for one doubleheader on Apr. 26.
The Rainbow Wahine are looking for their first WAC title after four runner-up finishes, including the last three seasons. The Bulldogs have won six of the last seven WAC regular season titles.
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.
QUICK INNING Hawaii turned its second triple play of the season against Tulsa. The Hurricanes Stacey Walkingstick lined a ball to second baseman Ashley Ruff for one out, who flipped to Stacey Porter at first for out two, who then fired to shortstop Kate Judd to turn UH's second triple play of the season. Hawaii turned in a triple play earlier this season. It happened in the very first game of the season against Louisville at the Chevron Paradise Classic. The Rainbow Wahine are third in the WAC in fielding with a .962 fielding percentage.
The softball triple is not an easy feat, but the San Jose Spartans also turned a triple play this season. Against Dartmouth on March 22 San Jose achieved a rare softball feat with a triple play. It was the first triple play in San Jose State history. The tough defense led the Spartans to a 2-0 win.
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS Overall WAC schools are 106-114 (481) 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).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS Hawaii junior Stacey Porter is climbing the WAC career home run charts. With 10 long balls already this season, Porter moves to fifth. She is tied with Fresno State great Amanda Scott (1997-00). The first baseman needs only five more to move into a tie for third with Fresno States Nina Lindenberg (1995-98). Last season, Porter hit 15 home runs which was tied for second for single-season highs.
Fresno States freshman slugger Christina Clark is already on the single-season high list with her 13 home runs this season. Clark is currently tied for ninth. Cal State Northridges Scia Maumausolo holds the all-time record with 17 in 1996.
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 leads the league in pitching and fielding while second in batting. Freshman Christina Clark and sophomore Jamie Southern have been pacing the WAC at the plate and on the mound. Clark leads the WAC in runs (40), RBI (37), home runs (13) and total bases (113) and is second in hits (56), batting (.368). Southern is fifth in hitting (.336) but leads the league in pitching in ERA (0.65) and strikeouts (238) while second in wins (17). In WAC games, Southern has the unique honor of leading the league in batting average (.444) and ERA (0.40). At the plate she has 16 hits with six RBI, while in the circle she has five wins and 61 strikeouts.
Hawaii expanded its lead in the WAC to three games over Fresno State and Louisiana Tech with its second four-game sweep in as many weeks. The Rainbow Wahine won back-to-back doubleheaders against Nevada and Tulsa. During that eight-game winning streak, the Rainbow Wahine have been led by Stacey Porter and Trisha Ramos. Porter has hit .571 in Hawaiis last eight games with 12 hits, including two doubles, two triples and two home runs. Ramos has nine hits with four RBI. Melissa Coogan is 7-0 during that span, earning all but one of the wins and starting six games.
Louisiana Tech has now doubled last seasons WAC win total with six wins. The Lady Techsters share second place with a 6-4 league record under first-year head coach Sarah Dawson. Louisiana Tech reached six wins after splitting four games with Nevada on the road last week. Part of the change in the Lady Techsters is due to pitcher Marla Pinkston who only pitched in six games last season. In WAC games this season, Pinkston is 4-2 with 25 strikeouts in league games. Overall this season, Pinkston has 10 wins with 131 strikeouts.
Nevada split six games last week at home. The Wolf Pack took one of two against Saint Mary's on April 16. Against WAC rival Louisiana Tech, Nevada won twice on April 18 and lost twice April 19. Nevada scored 24 runs in the six games but allowed 28. The Wolf Pack had three-straight home runs in the opening game of the doubleheader against Louisiana Tech, including a grand slam by Lindsey Hall. Candice Rainwater was 6-for-19 batting and went 2-1 as a pitcher last week to highlight Nevada's efforts.
San Jose State looks to break its season-high seven game losing streak this week. The Spartans will make the long voyage to Hawaii to play a four-game set with the first place Rainbow Wahine. The Spartans have not won since beating Nevada on April 5. San Jose State will also be looking for its first road WAC win. The Spartans are currently 0-6 on the road in league games this season, while 2-11 overall this season away from San Jose. The Spartans will look for more run production this week. With 116 runs scored, the Spartans have scored the fewest runs in the WAC this season.
Tulsa looks to break its season-high five-game losing streak this week. Before facing Louisiana Tech at home in WAC action, the Golden Hurricane will take on tough instate rival Oklahoma. The No. 6 ranked Sooners will host the Golden Hurricane on Apr. 22 in Norman in a doubleheader. Despite the recent skid, the Hurricane are tied with Nevada in the most runs scored this season. Both the Hurricane and the Wolf Pack have scored 170 runs this season. Tulsa is also a strong finishing team, leading the WAC in seventh inning runs with 23.
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 Classic*
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