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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Techs Amber Miles was named the Western Athletic Conference Player Week. This is the first honor for Miles and only the second ever for Louisiana Tech.
Miles, a sophomore from DeSoto, Texas, (Bishop Dunne), gathered eight hits, including a double and a triple. The centerfielder led the Lady Techsters to four wins with five runs scored and two RBI. Miles added four stolen bases to increase her WAC-leading total to 16. For the week, she hit .296. Miles was especially clutch in Louisiana Tech's first conference game when she drove in the tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Miles error free defensive performance helped the Lady Techsters take first place in the league with a 2-0 conference mark. After one week of WAC play, Louisiana Tech is the only team without a loss.
Other player of the week nominees included: Christina Clark, Fresno State; April Crowell, Hawaii and Tara Hall, San Jose State.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK San Jose States Carol Forbes was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. This is the second honor this season for Forbes and her third career honor.
Forbes, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz., (Horizon), went 4-0 record for the week with a 0.65 ERA. She also pitched her first career no-hitter against Menlo College. She faced the minimum 18 batters in the game, walking the first batter, who was picked off later in the inning. The no-hitter was the first for San Jose State since February of 1994. For the week, she had two shutouts. The first was the 9-0 no-hitter against Menlo, and the second was a 1-0 conference win against Nevada.
She allowed only two earned runs in 21.2 innings pitched. Forbes pitched three complete game victories and earned one victory in relief. The second-year pitcher tied her career high with 10 strikeouts against Nevada.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jamie Southern, Fresno State and Marla Pinkston, Louisiana Tech.
CLOSE RACES After one week of WAC play, four teams have at least two WAC wins, while Tulsa still looks for its first league win. For the first time since entering the WAC, Louisiana Tech enters the second week of play as the only undefeated team with a 2-0 record. The Lady Techsters need only one more WAC win to match last seasons final WAC total. San Jose State is 3-1 with three wins last week against Nevada.
This week, the Golden Hurricane look for their first WAC win at home with doubleheaders against San Jose State and Fresno State. Hawaii (2-2) will play a four-game set with Nevada (1-3) in Honolulu.
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.
MORE MILESTONES Wright, who became the first Division I softball coach and 24th Division I head coach overall to record 1,000 Division I victories last year, tallied her 900th school win on April 6 with a 7-0 win over Hawaii. She owns an 18-year school mark of 901-280-1 (.763). The 1998 NCAA National Coach of the Year boasts a 24-year career record of 1,048-360-3 (.744).
With the two victories on April 2, San Jose State head coach Dee Dee Enabenter-Omidiji passes the 500-career victory mark. She won her 500th in game one and 501 in game two. Her current record is 501-280-3.
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 This season, the WAC is really demonstrating its power. Fresno State freshman Christina Clark is leading the WAC in home runs with 10. Clark is also leading the WAC in hits (46) and runs scored (33). At this point last season only two players had at least seven home runs. This year, four players have at least seven. Tulsas Crissy Strimple and Hawaiis April Crowell both have nine. Hawaii shortstop Stacey Porter is also among the leaders in home runs with eight.
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 senior right-handed pitcher Leslie Poole has been providing the one-two punch with All-American Jamie Southern in the circle. The last three weeks she has gone the distance in six of seven starts. With a 5-2 record, that includes two shutouts and 17 strikeouts to just two walks, Poole has given up seven runs (all earned) for a 1.40 ERA in the last 35.1 innings. In fact, she has given up just two walks in her last 48.0 innings, while striking out 26. In Pooles last 46.2 innings, she also has given up just two walks to 26 strikeouts and has yielded 11 runs (seven earned) for a 1.06 ERA.
Hawaii's sweep at Fresno State on April 5 was the first-ever sweep of doubleheader against the Bulldogs in the history of Rainbow Wahine softball. Stacey Porter's two-run homer in the top of the first inning in game two on April 5 gave her the Hawaii career home run record, surpassing the old record of 28 hit by Dana Degan.
Louisiana Tech will do something no other previous LadyTechster team has done before when they take the field on Thursday night. The Lady Techster softball squad will be hosting Fresno State as the first place team in the WAC
Louisiana Tech is 12-27 on the season, but a two-game sweep of a talented team Tulsa on April 5 put the Lady Techsters at 2-0 in WAC play and the only team in conference play without a loss. The Lady Techsters' recent improved play (4-3 in their last seven games) can be directly attributed to the one-two punch of left fielder Brittany Stanley and center fielder Amber Miles. The two are hitting .346 and .333, respectively, over their last 15 games and have combined to tally 36 hits, 11 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and five RBI during that span.
Nevada went 1-3 in its opening WAC contests, losing three one-run games at San Jose State before winning game two of Saturdays double-header, 8-3. Jamie Waldron was 6-15 with four RBI to lead the hitting brigade and Robyn Ford-Feitz allowed two earned runs in the lone victory last week to lead the pitching corps. Nevada lost 3-2, 7-6 in eight innings, and 1-0, before taking Saturdays second game, 8-3.
San Jose State is off to a quick WAC start with a 3-2 record. The Spartans have been led by the offense of Veronica Ramos and Becca Baldridge. Ramos is hitting .500 through the first four league games, while Baldridge is hitting .455. On the mound, Carol Forbes has been solid for San Jose State all season. Forbes is second in the league behind fellow sophomore sensation Jamie Southern with an ERA of 1.09. Forbes has struck out 114 batters in 134.2 innings. Forbes holds a record of 15-9 this season, 3-0 in WAC play.
Tulsa had its Border War with Arkansas and Oklahoma State cancelled due to inclement weather. Tulsa and Oklahoma State will play a single-game on Tuesday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex in Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane look to get back on track in WAC playing, after dropping their first two league games of the season to Louisiana Tech on the road. Both losses were by 2-1 scores and were settled in extra frames. This week, the Golden Hurricane takes on San Jose State and Fresno State at home.
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