PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevadas Stacy Mueller was named the Western Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Mueller earned her first honor of the season. Southern earned Pitcher of the Week honors three times last season and Player of the Week once.
Mueller, a senior from Mesa, Ariz. (Central Arizona College) had a strong weekend, leading Nevada to a 6-0 record, hosting their own tourney last weekend. The outfielder was 10-for-19 with an inside the park grand slam against Utah State. She also added six RBI and seven runs scored in the six games. The Wolf Pack improved to 18-10 in only their second season. She ended the tournament hitting .526.
Other player of the week nominees included: Christina Clark, Fresno State and Katie Torres, Tulsa.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno States Jamie Southern was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. Southern earned Pitcher of the Week honors three times last season and Player of the Week once.
Fresno State's Jamie Southern was named the WAC Player of the Week. Southern has been honored twice. Southern earned Pitcher of the Week honors three times last season and Player of the Week once.
Southern, a junior from Clovis, Calif., (Clovis), made six starts and recorded three shutout wins while going 4-2 last week. She went 1-1 against the top 25 as Southern pitched a three-hitter in 6-0 win over No. 23 Oregon State and a two-hitter in 2-1, 9 inning loss to No. 1 UCLA. She became the schools and the WACs all-time career strikeout leader against Virginia on March 9 when she struck out 10. With 54 strikeouts recorded last week, Southern now has 794. She recorded her 70th career win vs. Campbell as she tossed her fifth one-hitter and struck out 15 to tie the schools single-game strikeout mark for a 7 inning game for the second time this year. Southern is 75 strikeouts shy of ranking No. 30 all-time in NCAA Division I history and 96 shy to be the 19th player in Division I history to tally 1,000 career strikeouts.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Marla Pinkston, Louisiana Tech; Judith van Kampen, Nevada and Maren Genow, Tulsa.
BATTER UP This week, the first WAC games will take place when UTEP travels to San Jose State for its first WAC game. The Miners will play their first WAC game against the Spartans on March 21. Fresno State has the tough task of taking on two former national champions in Oklahoma and Arizona at the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Tulsa will travel to the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic, while Nevada will play in the Sacramento State Tournament.
SOUTHERN RE-WRITES RECORD BOOK With 13 strikeouts, Jamie Southern not only eclipsed the 900 career strikeout plateau but she also cracked the NCAA Division I career strikeout list and is ranked No. 30 with 902. Southern, who broke the school's and the WAC all-time strikeout mark last week when she surpassed four-time All-American Amanda Scott, entered the evening with 889. Southern now has her eyes set on becoming the 19th NCAA Division I hurler to total 1,000 career strikeouts.
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC is 7-21 against ranked teams so far this season. Hawaii has one of the wins with a win against Oregon State. The Rainbow Wahine also have a loss to Tennessee. Behind the perfect game of junior Jamie Southern, Fresno State is 6-2 against ranked teams with a win over then-No. 15 Texas A&M. The Bulldogs have also beaten South Carolina, Arizona State and Texas. Fresno State has losses to No. 2 UCLA and No. 18 Pacific. Louisiana Tech is 0-5 with a loss to then-No. 12 Louisiana-Lafayette and another instate rival No. 13 LSU. The Lady Techsters also lost twice to Tennessee. Nevada lost to both No. 3 Arizona and No. 23 Arizona State. The Wolf Pack have also lost a pair of games to Louisiana-Lafayette. San Jose State has played the toughest schedule this season. The Spartans are 0-7 with six losses to teams in the top 10, including Stanford, Alabama and California. Tulsa also has a loss to Alabama. UTEP has lost to UCLA and to Georgia Tech.
ON THE BASEPATHS Fresno State is coming off a 7-3 record last week at home. The Bulldogs swept Campbell and split with Virginia before going 4-2 in their own Clovis Auto Row Softball Classic. In the tournament, the Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 decision to San Diego State before winning the next four over Long Beach State, North Texas, No. 23 Oregon State, and Utah. Fresno State closed out tournament play with a 2-1, nine-inning loss to No. 1 UCLA. Jamie Southern was named to the Clovis Auto Row Softball Classic all-tournament team after posting a tourney-best 29 strikeouts and a 0.24 ERA.
Nevada is coming off six straight wins at their own tournament last weekend as they head to Moraga, Calif., for two games Wednesday (one each against Purdue and St. Mary's) and then take on five opponents in three days at the Capitol Classic in Sacramento. Tiffany Hoeft has the lowest ERA on the club with a 1.38 listing. Stacy Mueller leads the team with a .350 batting average among those playing regularly. Nevada is averaging 4.6 runs per game and allowing 3.1. Mueller leads the team with 28 hits, Jiliane Hartfiel leads in runs (22), triples (4), RBI (21) and total bases (43) and Jamie Waldron leads in home runs (3).
Tulsa has posted 17 home runs this year, nine of which have been with runners on base- seven have been 3-run blasts. Tulsa is off to the second best start in school history, only behind the 2002 team which started 21-2 after 23 games. Tulsa has out hit its opponents in 15 of its 23 games, including 13 wins. TU is averaging 5.26 runs per game. In 2002, TU averaged 4.03 runs per game for a school record. The Hurricane is averaging 7.65 hits per game. In 2002, TU averaged 6.88 hits per game for a school record. The Hurricane is 1-3 against teams that competed in a 2003 NCAA Regional, all three losses have been by one run including two losses to teams ranked in the top-30 nationally. Sophomore Maren Genow broke the school record for strikeouts with 13 against Hofstra.
FRESNO STATE PICKED TO WIN TITLE The WAC softball coaches selected Fresno State to win the 2004 WAC regular season crown. Fresno State has been picked to take the preseason crown eight out of the last nine years. In 2002, Hawaii was chosen to win the title. The coaches also voted on 2004 preseason award winners. Fresno State swept both categories when shortstop Christina Clark was voted preseason Player of the Year and Jamie Southern earned preseason Pitcher of the Year honors. Southern is the first WAC player to earn Pitcher of the Year honors three-straight years. Fresno State edged out Hawaii with 34 points to Hawaiis 33. Tulsa finished in third with 26 points. Second-year WAC team Nevada finished fourth with 18 points after a strong freshman campaign. Louisiana Tech and San Jose State tied for fifth with 15 points. UTEP, playing its first season of softball, was picked to finish seventh with six points.