PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsas Heather Hiar was named the Western Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week. This is Hiars second honor of the season.
Hiar, a senior from Cypress, Calif. (Cypress), posted the game-winning hit in the bottom of the sixth inning to help lead Tulsa over Oklahoma State for only the fourth time in school history in 20 meetings. She recorded two hits in all three of TUs games on the week. The outfielder has posted a hit in 12 of TUs last 13 games. She currently leads the team with 45 hits on the year, second in batting average with a .346 mark.
Other player of the week nominees included: Rachel Donaldson, Fresno State and Bridget Broadnax, Louisiana Tech.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno States Laura Ferreira was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. Fereira is earning her second career pitcher of the week honor.
Ferreira, a sophomore from Sobrante, Calif., (Holy Names), went 2-1 with a shutout last week. She recorded two complete games in three starts and struck out 17 batters in 18.0 innings for a 1.56 ERA. In WAC action, she tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out six against Nevada for her fourth shutout win of the season. In her last 41.0 innings, Ferreira has walked just three batters after opening the year with five walks in the first 13.1 innings. She has struck out 25 batters, including eight against No. 1 Arizona, in the last 25.0 innings.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Maren Genow, Tulsa.
BATTER UP Three WAC teams look for their first league win this week. Nevada, 0-2 in WAC action, looks to break a five-game losing streak, on the road against undefeated Tulsa and winless Louisiana Tech this weekend. While Nevada has already passed last seasons win total, the Wolf Pack have struggled of late, following a six-game winning streak by losing five. Louisiana Tech hopes to win its first league game and break a four-game skid at home this weekend. UTEP travels to the island in hopes of breaking its 12-game skid against Hawaii. Before embarking in WAC play, Tulsa will take part in the Border War, facing Arkansas and Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
SOUTHERN NEARING 1,000 Jamie Southern entered the 2004 season with 740 career strikeouts and, after averaging 361 strikeouts the last two years, is making her shot of tallying 1,000 career strikeouts a reality this season as she is 48 shy of being the 19th NCAA Division I play to post 1,000 career strikeouts. With 212 strikeouts to date, she is averaging nearly nine strikeouts per seven innings (8.72). Southern would become the first Bulldog pitcher and WAC hurler to go down in NCAA Division I history as one of the top strikeout leaders of all-time as well as being the first Fresno State and WAC pitcher to amass 1,000 career strikeouts.
EXTRA FRAMES Hawaii is the only school in the WAC to be undefeated in extra inning games. Hawai'i is a perfect 4-0 in extra frames this season. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Wisconsin 7-5 in nine innings on Feb. 14, then turned around the next day and beat No. 13 DePaul, 8-7, in eight innings. Both of those games were a part of the Rebel Classic at UNLV. The last two extra-inning wins came against the College of Charleston in the Kipa Aloha Malihini Tournament. UH won 5-4 March 4 and 3-2 March 7 as both games went eight innings.
Tulsa is the only school to have not played an extra inning game this season. Nevada is the only other WAC school to have a winning record in extra inning games with a 3-2 record.
LEAGUE LEADERS Fresno State All-Americans Christina Clark and Jamie Southern dominate the WAC leader board. Clark, has showed no sign of the dreaded sophomore slump, as she continues to lead the league in hitting with a .388 batting average. She is also the WAC leader in hits (50), runs scored (31), RBI (33), home runs (12) and total bases (96). Southern is the league leader in wins (19), strikeouts (212) and ERA (0.29). Nevadas Jiliane Hartfiel leads the league in doubles (15) and triples (4).
GAINST THE BEST The WAC is 10-30 against ranked teams so far this season. Last week, the WAC lost four games to No. 12 Stanford alone. Hawaii is 2-6 against ranked teams. Hawaii has two wins with wins against Oregon State and DePaul. The Rainbow Wahine also have a losses to Tennessee, No. 4 California and most recently two road games to the Cardinal. Fresno State is 8-7 against ranked teams with its most recent wins coming against No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 13 Pacific. The Bulldogs also have wins against South Carolina, Arizona State and Texas to name a few. Fresno State has losses against No. 2 UCLA, No. 1 Arizona, No. 4 Florida State and No. 12 Stanford. 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 , Georgia Tech and No. 13 Tennessee.
ON THE BASEPATHS Fresno State Junior All-American pitcher Jamie Southern broke into the NCAA Division I career strikeout list at home on March 16 when she struck out 13 Blackbirds of Long Island University to move to No. 30 all-time (902). As the first Bulldog and WAC pitcher to eclipse the 900 career strikeout plateau, Southern currently has a career total of 952 and shares the No. 21 spot with former UCLA All-America standout Debbie Doom (1982-85). One victory shy of her 80th career win, she is 11 strikeouts shy of breaking into the NCAA Division I career Top 20. Louisiana Tech head coach Sarah Dawson, who pitched for Louisiana-Monroe from 1994-97, is sixth on the all-time strikeout list with 1,280.
Hawaii is the last of the seven WAC teams to open WAC play. This week, the UTEP Miners will make their first trip to the island for a four-game series. Hawaii has hit 14 home runs in 11 games this season. In those games, UH owns a 9-2 record. The only games in which UH hit a home run and lost were against Notre Dame
(Feb. 13) in the Rebel Classic at UNLV and at Loyola Marymount (Feb. 17). Stacey Ritter and Denise Dahlberg share the team lead with four home runs apiece, and UH has won seven of those eight games in which they have homered.
Louisiana Tech is once again in the midst of a four-game losing streak, after the University of Louisiana-Monroe downed Louisiana Tech 8-3. The Lady Techsters have been struggling to find offensive production lately. Louisiana Tech has scored only five runs in its last six games.
Nevada swept UC Santa Barbara, 11-8 and 8-7 in 11 innings, last week before losing 1-0 at Pacific on March 26, 1-0. The Wolf Pack continued its losing streak by dropping the conference openers at Fresno State, 4-2 and 4-0 in Fresno, Calif., on March 27. Nevada, who is one of three schools that stand 0-2 in the league, enter the third week of WAC play. After its non-conference doubleheader with Sacramento State in Reno, the Wolf Pack will travel to the Capitol City for the final non-conference games at Sacramento State Wednesday, April 7. Nevada opens the home WAC slate with San Jose State on April 15 in Reno.
San Jose State had it second best offensive showing of the season with a 7-0 road win against Long Beach State. In the second game of the doubleheader, Elisa Barrios, Lindsey Allen and AJ Hull each had two hits in the shut out victory. The Spartans 12 hits are the second time in five games that SJSU has recorded double-digit hits. On March 23, the Spartans defeated Illinois-Chicago 13-9. In that game, San Jose State scored its 13 runs on 14 hits. The Spartans is now 4-4 in their last eight games and 2-0 in league play.
UTEP freshman Renee DiPuccio was selected to the Lady Vol Classic all-Tournament team, despite the Miners 0-5, fifth-place finish.
DiPuccio tossed 25.2 of 31.2 innings for the Miners with a 2.18 ERA. She opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Tennessee Tech, a game in she allowed just one run on six hits, while striking out seven. DiPuccio followed that performance by giving up two runs on three hits in 5.2 innings against No. 12 Tennessee. DiPuccio hurled the final 3.2 innings without allowing a run and scattering three hits and in the finale she threw the final 3.1 innings giving up just four hits as the Miners fell 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh.
Tulsa defeated Oklahoma State for only the fourth time in school history and the first time since 2001 with a 3-2 win on March 24. Sophomore LeeAnne Pepper hit her third home run of the season in a win against Louisiana Tech. The three-run shot was her second three-run home run of the year. It was also her second pinch hit home run of the year. Of Tulsa's 23 homeruns on the season, 11 have been with runners-on-base. Nine of those have been three-run homers. In 38 games this year, Tulsa has out hit its opponent 24 times, losing only twice in those games.
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.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS The following players have been named to all-tournament teams.
Tyleen Tausaga, UH Paradise Classic
Lori Hoffman, FS Campbell/Cartier
Jamie Southern, FS NFCA Leadoff Classic
Clovis Auto Row SB Classic
Ashley Aycock, LT Louisiana Classic
Jessica Elson, LT MSU Round Robin
Amber Miles, LT MSU Round Robin
Compass Bank Invite
Marla Pinkston, LT Compass Bank Invite
Megan Delgado, SJSU NIST
Jessica Guillen, SJSU NMSU Tournament
Courtney Lewis, SJSU NMSU Tournament
Renee DiPuccio, UTEP Lady Vol Classic
Jennifer Garcia, UTEP NMSU Invitational
Kristin Hardy, UTEP NMSU Invitational
Maren Genow, TU Tulsa Festival
Heather Hiar, TU Tulsa Festival
Katie Torres, TU Tulsa Festival
*Tournament MVP
WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE AND UTAH STATE On Oct. 23, 2003, the WAC issued invitations to New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In softball, Utah State is 4-21 this season. New Mexico State is 9-28. The Aggies have two wins over UTEP and loss to San Jose State.