PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose States Elisa Barrios was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week. This is the first honor this season for Barrios this season.
Barrios, an outfielder from Mountain View, Calif., led San Jose State to the Spartan Classic title with a 3-0 record. The senior started all five games in left field for the Spartans. She had at least one hit in every game last week, including three multiple- hit games. She had three hits Northern Iowa, two hits against Dartmouth and two hits Colorado State. She ended the week with an .800 slugging pct. and a .625 on-base percentage. The speedster was also a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases.
Other player of the week nominees included: Nichole Willis, Fresno State; Tracie Uchima, Hawaii and Candice Rainwater, Nevada.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno States Jamie Southern was named WAC Pitcher of the Week. This is the second pitcher of the week honor for Southern. She has also earned one player of the week honor this season.
Southern, a senior pitcher from Clovis, Calif., went undefeated last week in the circle, notching two shutouts in three wins. Strinking out 36, she moved up to No. 19 all-time in NCAA Division I strikeouts (1,146). The pair of shutouts also moved her up to No. 11 all-time in NCAA Division I history with 66. She pitched a pair of one-hitters against Rhode Island and CS Fullerton. Southern also threw a pair of 10-strikeout games to move her total to 47 in her career (14 vs. Rhode Island, 11 vs. #14 Washington).
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Melissa Coogan, Hawaii; Jordan McPherson, Nevada and Maren Genow, Tulsa.
RAINY DAYS Nevada had its 10th game cancelled due to rain when UNLV was here for a scheduled non-conference double-header last Saturday. The Pack will try to open at home against Sacramento State next Wednesday, March 30, in a noon double-header at Idlewild Park. Nevada will play Oregon, No. 15 Oregon State and Portland State each twice in a four-day period in Oregon this weekend.
HOME RUN HITTER Hitting the second-highest number of home runs (23) in the nation last spring, it took Fresno States Christina Clark just four innings into the new year to belt her first of the season. Having set a new school and WAC season long ball mark en route to becoming Fresno State's all-time career home run holder last year, the two-time All-American is tied for No. 1 all-time in WAC history for career home runs (46). As the first Bulldog and WAC player to hit 20 home runs in a season, Clark tied the WAC's career mark against No. 14 Washington on March 19 at the Kia Klassic.
AROUND THE BASES FRESNO STATE Ranked in five NCAA Division I career pitching categories, senior Jamie Southern currently ranks No. 11 in career shutouts (66), No. 19 in career strikeouts (1,146), No. T22 in complete games (121), No. T27 in career strikeout ratio (8.4) and No. 33 in career innings pitched (950.2). She currently is one win shy of becoming the 40th hurler to reach the 100 career win plateau. NOTE: Entering the week, only 39 pitcher have recorded 100 career victories and only seven have posted 120 or more Division I wins.
HAWAII Last week, head Coach Bob Coolen picked up his 499th win as the leader of the Hawaii softball program. His record at Hawaii stands at 499-324, and his career totals are 571-417 in 18 years. He was the head coach at Bentley of the Northeast-8 for five years before coming to Hawaii originally as an assistant to then head coach Rayla Allison. He took over the team in 1992 and hasn't looked back, taking the program to all of its NCAA Regional appearance, and winning the Big West Conference title in 1994 and capturing his first WAC title in 2003.
LOUISIANA TECH Louisiana Techs four home runs against Southern Utah on Feb. 11 is tied for first in the league for home runs in a game. Fresno State had four homeruns against LSU on Feb. 26. Kristin Rupps 15 strikeouts against against UMKC last week was the most by a pitcher this season. On the offensive side, Amy Camerons 10 total bases against Jackson State Feb. 12 were the most by any player in the WAC this season.
NEVADA Nevada placed junior infielder Kari Stockstill on the Hawaii all-Tournament team. Freshman Jordan McPherson ranks fourth to senior All-American Jamie Southern of Fresno State in ERA (McPherson has a 1.53) and Candice Rainwater is ranked 11th with a 2.88. Offensively, Jilane Hartfiel is sixth in the WAC with a .373 batting average. Hartifel is fourth with five home runs (one shy of the school mark).
SAN JOSE STATE The Spartans are the first WAC team to win 20 games. San Jose State currently has a record of 21-13 after winning the Spartan Classic last week. This weeks Spartan Invite has lost all of its games to rain the first two days.
UTEP The Miners Deanna Camacho is one of two WAC players with five hits in a game. She shares the spot with All-American Christina Clark of Fresno State. Camachos hit parade came on Feb. 25 against Northern Colorado.
TULSA Tulsa returns to the friendly confines of the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex on March 23. The Golden Hurricane will host No. 9 Oklahoma for a single, non-conference game. The Sooners enter the contest with a 31-5 record on the season, having a 29 game winning streak stopped by No. 1 Arizona last week. While OU owns a 25-2 advantage in the overall series with TU, the Golden Hurricane has taken two of the last three contests. The teams split last season with the home team winning each game.
IN THE POLLS For the first time since 2003, a team outside of the Pac 10 Conference is No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. Michigan, riding an incredible 27-game winning streak, is the top ranked team in the country after knocking off then No. 5 Texas and then No. 1 Arizona in the championship bracket of the KIA Classic. This marks the first time Michigan has held the No. 1 ranking in any softball poll in school history.
Fresno State softball has been no stranger to the national polls. Owning the longest streak for consecutive weeks (178) ranked in NCAA Division I softball history, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 199 of the 211 weeks since the NCAAs first Top 15 poll in 1983. In addition, Fresno State has been in the nations official Top 25 polls for 23 straight years.
AGAINST THE BEST WAC schools are 3-29 (.094) against ranked teams this season. Hawaii is one of two teams to defeat a ranked team when it defeated then-No. 9 Washington. Fresno State earned another win over a ranked team with a win over No. 14 Washington. Fresno State also defeated No. 10 LSU. Top-ranked Arizona is 4-0 against the WAC with wins against Fresno State, Tulsa and UTEP this season.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS The following players have been named to all-tournament teams.
Jamie Southern, FS NFCA Leadoff Classic*
Tara Harbert, UH Spring Fling Tourn.
Ashley Ruff, UH Spring Fling Tourn.
Tyleen Tausaga, UH Spring Fling Tourn.
Amber Miles, LT Birm. So. Tournament
Ashley Cameron, LT Birm. So. Tournament
Linsdey Meadows, LT Mardi Gras Classic
Birm. So. Tournament
Kari Stockstill, UN Spring Fling Tourn.
Brittany Stanley, LT Mardi Gras Classic
Carol Forbes, SJSU Mardi Gras Classic
Elisa Barrios,SJSU Mardi Gras Classic
Carlie Hill, SJSU Mardi Gras Classic
Lindsey Dyer, TU MSU Bulldog Classic
Tulsa Festival
Sarah Dyer, TU Tulsa Festival
Julie Fennell, TU Metrodome Classic
Julie Shafer, TU MSU Bulldog Classic
Linsday Tower, TU Metrodome Classic
Tulsa Festival
Stacey Walkingstick, TU Coca-Cola Classic
Stephanie Sliepen, TU Coca-Cola Classic
*Tournament MVP