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HAWAII AND FRESNO STATE ADVANCE TO NCAA TOURNAMENT WAC Champion Hawaii and runner-up Fresno State both advanced to the NCAA Softball Championship. The Rainbow Wahine will travel to Austin, Texas, while the Bulldogs will host the No. 2 Regional.
Hawaii earned a No. 5 seed in Region 3 of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Texas is the No. 3 seed overall and host the regional.
The eight brackets were announced May 11, and the Rainbow Wahine open up against the LSU Tigers (49-16) in the first game of Region 3 at 10 a.m. (CST) on Thursday, May 15. Head Coach Bob Coolen's squad is fresh off its first WAC title posting an overall record of 37-18 and 17-3 in the league.
Fresno State (33-20), which finished second to Hawaii in the WAC, is hosting Region 2. The Bulldogs are the No. 4 seed. UCLA is the No. 1 seed in Fresno. Fresno State will take on Long Beach State in its first game on May 15 at 10 a.m. (PST).
The top seeds in the NCAA Tournament are No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Washington, No. 6 Cal State Fullerton, No. 7 DePaul, and No. 8 is Alabama.
This is the first season that the tournament has been expanded to 64 teams. The tournament will consist of eight eight-team regionals.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Christina Clark was named the WAC Player of the Week, respectively. This is the fourth honor for both Clark this season.
Clark, a freshman from Santa Ana, Calif., (Mater Dei), continues to have a strong rookie campaign. She hit .727 (8-11) with six runs, a double and a home run. She also added five RBI and 12 total bases for a 1.091 slugging percentage. Clark hit her first collegiate grand slam against Louisiana Tech. She also had her first four-hit performance after going 4-4 with two runs, RBI, double and a stolen bases against Tulsa in the regular-season finale.
Other player of the week nominees included: Becca Baldridge, San Jose State.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Jamie Southern was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. This is the fourth pitcher honor for Southern this season. Southern also earned a player of the week honor this season.
Southern, a sophomore from Clovis, Calif., (Clovis), went 3-0 with two shutouts and 23 strikeouts in 19.0 innings for a 0.37 ERA in the Bulldogs' 4-0 weekend. Southern pitched both ends of the doubleheader against Louisiana Tech. Throwing two shutout games, she allowed a total of three hits, while walking two and striking out 14. Southern pitched her sixth one-hitter and fourth two-hitter of the year against Louisiana Tech, while picking up her 13th and 14th shutouts of the season. Against Tulsa, she scattered five hits, walked one and struck out nine. With the nine strikeouts against the Golden Hurricane, Southern became just the second Bulldog pitcher to amass 700 or more career strikeouts (701)
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Carol Forbes, San Jose State.
HAWAII CLINCHES FIRST WAC TITLE Hawaii swept both ends of a doubleheader at Louisiana Tech on May 3 by the scores of 6-3 and 7-0 to secure its first-ever WAC title.
Hawai'i wins its first WAC title after finishing second to Fresno State four of the last five years. The Bulldogs have won six of the last eight league titles. This is the first time that Fresno State was not WAC champion since 1997.
Hawaii last went to a NCAA regional in 2001. The Rainbow Wahine lost to Texas Tech and SW Texas State in Tucson, Ariz. This is the sixth appearance for the Rainbow Wahine in the NCAA tournament, third as a member of the WAC.
HAWAII AT NCAA REGIONALS This season, Rainbow Wahine are 7-9 against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Hawaii has wins against defending world series champions California, Fresno State, Washington and Oregon State. The Rainbow Wahine also have a 5-3 win against host, Texas, on March 14 at the Kia Klassic. In that game, WAC Co-Pitcher of the Year, Melissa Coogan, pitched a complete game four-hitter, while WAC Player of the Year, Stacey Porter, went 2-for-2 at the plate.
Hawaii is 8-10 overall in the postseason, 4-4 as a member of the WAC. The Rainbow Wahine have advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times, last appearing in 2001.
The Austin site is the only regional in the nation which will have national televised contests. ESPN2 will broadcast two of the Austin regional games: the Friday, May 16th 2 p.m. winner's bracket game (which will be tape-delayed to air at 5:30 p.m. on Friday), and Game 14 (which may be the regional championship game) on Sunday, May 18 at 1 p.m.
FRESNO STATE AT NCAA REGIONALS Fresno State is making its 22nd-straight appearance and will be hosting its 18th NCAA Regional out of 22 postseason tournaments. The Bulldogs are the only program in the nation to have qualified for each of the 22 NCAA Division I womens softball championships. With 12 NCAA Regional championship titles to its credit, Fresno State owns a 72-43 (.626) record in NCAA Tournament play.
Fresno State is 12-12 this season against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs wins include: Nebraska, Stanford and Pacific. Fresno State also faced Michigan, Texas and DePaul in a grueling early season schedule.
CAREER RECORDS Several WAC players are climbing up the WAC career record list.
Fresno State All-American Jamie Southern moved into third in career strikeouts this season with 701 in only two complete seasons. Former Bulldog All-American Amanda Scott (1997-00) is the career leader with 851 strikeouts. Southern needs 109 strikeouts to take control of second place. Southern is also tied for eighth in wins with 57 and tied for fifth in saves with five. The two-time WAC Pitcher of the Year currently has a career ERA of 0.63 which places her second behind Scotts 0.55 career ERA.
Hawaiis Kate Judd moved into sixth all-time in doubles with 41. Teammate Stacey Porter is second in home runs with 38 after hitting out 17 this season.
San Jose States Courtney Lewis is tied with Southern and two others for fifth in saves with five.
THREE NAMED TO VERIZON DISTRICT TEAM Three WAC softball player were named to the Verizon Academic District teams. Tulsas Brandi McGuire was named to the Verizon Academic All-District VI First Team. San Jose States Tara Hall and Fresno States Mitzi Ing were named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII Team.
McGuire has earned a first-team honors two-straight seasons. McGuire has a 3.92 grade point average in accounting. She lead the team in doubles with 13. Earlier this season, McGuire broke the school record for doubles in a career. As a member of the districts first-team, McGuire is now eligible for the Academic All-American ballot.
Hall is just the third San Jose State softball player to receive this honor. She is a radio, television, film major with a minor in communications. Hall, a native of Tucson, Ariz., carries a 3.48 grade point average. She is a two-time SJSU Scholar Athlete and was named to the SJSU All-Academic team with the highest GPA on the team.
Ing sported the highest GPA of the District VIII selections with a cumulative GPA of 3.92 in business administration. Ing, who along with Hall will also go on for national consideration as a Verizon Academic All-American, receives her first Verizon All-District VIII accolade after recently being honored as a 2003 first team.
To be selected for the Verizon Academic All-District Team the nominee must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials and at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average.
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS Overall WAC schools are 108-118 (.478) in non-conference meetings. WAC schools are 6-18 (.250) 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 0-4 with losses two losses to No. 2 California and two to No. 16 Stanford. Hawaii is 3-5, defeating No. 4 Texas, No. 23 Oregon State and No. 3 California. Tulsa is 1-3 against ranked teams this season, recently defeating No. 5 Oklahoma. (rankings at time of meeting).
HAWAIIS PORTER TIES WAC RECORD Hawaii junior Stacey Porter is having a stellar season at the plate. With four home runs to end the regular season, Porter tied the WAC record for long balls in a season with 17. Porter is now second in career home runs with 38. The first baseman needs only eight more to tie for first with Cal State Northridges Scia Maumausolo (1993-96). Last season, Porter hit 15 home runs which was tied for second for single-season highs. Porter also set the WAC record for home runs in league games with nine. She broke the record of eight set by three people. Her slugging percentage of 1.017 in WAC games is the second-best ever behind UNLVs Kim Rondina (1.033) in 1997.
NEWS AND NOTES Fresno State has won 10 straight and is 26-6 in its last 32. The Bulldogs have 11 one-run losses on the year and 12 losses have come by two runs or less this season. Of the 11 one-run losses, six have come in extra frames. Fresno State has had 19 double-digit hit games this year, including seven in its last 13 games. The pitching staff has been tough in the last 36 games. The Bulldogs sport a 1.08 ERA with 17 shutouts and 243 strikeouts in 245.1 innings
Hawaii head coach Bob Coolen is in his 12th campaign with the Rainbow Wahine and owns a 453-276-1 (.621). Coolen won his first WAC Coach of the Year honor this season. He is Hawaiis all-time leader in softball wins. Prior to Hawaii, Coolen spent five years as the head coach at Bentley (Mass.) College where he compiled a 72-93 record. Coolens overall record is 525-369-1 in 17 seasons. Coolen picked up his 500th career win against UC Riverside March 8. Coolen, who began the season 31st, moved up to 30th on the NCAA Division I Winningest Active Coaching list surpassing Rosemary Holloway of Louisiana-
Monroe (511-582-3).
Louisiana Tech sophomore Brittany Stanley and freshman Mary Cohn were selected as first-team all-WAC performers giving Lady Techsters their first such accolades. Cohn, the only freshman on the team to play in all 58 games, joined the all-WAC squad on the strength of her .283 conference batting average and three doubles. Last season, Louisiana Tech did not post anyone on either the first or second team.
Nevada finished its first season in the WAC with a 22-35 overall mark and a 5-15 record in league games. The Wolf Pack were led by Stacy Mueller, who started all 57 games, the only player to do so. She led the team in batting average (.321) and hits (52).
San Jose State finished the season with a 26-35 overall record and an 8-10 WAC mark. The team finished in third place in the conference, the best for a Spartan team in school history. The Spartans ended the season strong winning five-straight WAC games. San Jose State won one against Hawaii and swept doubleheaders against Tulsa and Louisiana Tech to end the season.
Tulsa senior Crissy Strimple tied her own school record for assists in a single season, with four on the last day of the season. She now has 170 on the year, which matches the number she had last season. Tulsa finished the season 34-29, only the second squad in the programs history to finish above a .500 winning percentage.
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
Melissa Coogan, UH Malhini Tournament*
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
Click Here for Austin Regional Bracket
Click Here for Fresno Regional Bracket