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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsas Stephanie Sliepen was named the WAC Player of the Week. This is the first honor this season for Sliepen.
Sliepen, an outfielder from St. Charles, Mo., recorded a pair of hits in addition to getting hit once helping Tulsa defeat No. 7 ranked Oklahoma, 4-2. She nearly hit for the cycle in Tulsa's comeback bid the next evening against Oklahoma State, just missing a home run in her final at-bat. Sliepen also recorded her fifth stolen base in five attempts on the season, against OSU. Tulsa's victory over seventh-ranked Oklahoma is the highest ranked opponent the Hurricane has ever defeated. Tulsa's victory over Oklahoma is the highest ranked opponent a WAC team has ever this season.
Other player of the week nominees included: Jamie Southern, Fresno State; Tyleen Tausaga, Hawai'i and Courtney Lewis, San Jose State.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Fresno States Jamie Southern was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. This is the third for Southern as a pitcher. Southern has also earned one player of the week honor this season.
Southern, a senior pitcher from Clovis, Calif., made her 100th career win memorable. As the 40th NCAA Division I pitcher to reach the 100-win plateau, she tossed her fourth career perfect game and sixth career no-hitter against Dartmouth on March 25. Striking out six in Fresno State's 8-0, 5 inning win over the Big Green, Southern threw the program's 13th perfect game and 57th no-hitter overall. Of the 13 perfect games recorded, eight have come at home. Of those eight, Southern has thrown three of her four at Bulldog Diamond. In addition, she became just the second WAC hurler to post 100 or more career victories. The other pitcher is former Bulldog All-America standout Amanda Scott, who is the WAC record holder with 106 victories.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Kate Robinson, Hawai'i; Courtney Lewis, San Jose State and Maren Genow, Tulsa.
LETS GET IT STARTED Nevada and Hawaii are the only two teams to have played a WAC series so far this season. The rest of the league joins the Wolf Pack and the Rainbow Wahine in league play this week. The action gets started with defending champion Fresno State traveling to Honolulu to face 2003 WAC Champion, Hawaii. San Jose State, the team with the most wins this season, hosts Tulsa. Louisiana Tech travels to UTEP, where both teams look to get back on track. Nevada takes the week off from league action. All WAC series will be three games this year. The teams will play one doubleheader and one single game.
FRESNO STATES SOUTHERN WINS 100TH GAME All-American pitcher Jamie Southern made her 100th career win memorable. As the 40th NCAA Division I pitcher to reach the 100-win plateau, she threw her fourth career perfect game and sixth career no-hitter against Dartmouth on March 25. Striking out six in Fresno States 8-0, five-inning win over the Big Green, Southern threw the program's 13th perfect game and 57 no-hitter overall. The senior also became just the second WAC hurler to post 100 or more career victories. The other pitcher is former Bulldog All-American standout Amanda Scott, who is the WAC record holder with 106 victories.
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 30-game winning streak, is the top ranked for the second week in a row
Fresno State softball has been no stranger to the national polls. Owning the longest streak for consecutive weeks (179) ranked in NCAA Division I softball history, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 200 of the 212 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. This week, the Bulldogs are No. 21 in the NFCA poll and No. 18 in the USA Softball poll.
AGAINST THE BEST WAC schools are 5-31(.139) against ranked teams this season. Hawaii is one of three 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. 5 Stanford. Fresno State also defeated No. 10 LSU and No. 14 Washington. Tulsa picked up its first win over a ranked team, beating No. 7 Oklahoma. It was the highest team a Golden Hurricane squad had ever defeated. No. 2 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
Fresno State Bulldogs (21-8, 0-0 WAC)The Bulldogs won their third game against a ranked team with a 4-1 win over No. 5 Stanford ... senior Jamie Southern threw a three-hitter and added two RBI ... Southern handed the Cardinal just its fifth loss of the year as she improved to 11-2 overall ... walking one and striking out seven, Southern won her sixth-straight start as she moved up in the NCAA Division I career strikeout and victory list ... entering the evening with 1,152 strikeouts and 100 wins, she moved up to No.15 in career strikeouts (1,159) and No. 35 in victories (101).
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (20-17, 1-2 WAC) The Rainbow Wahine will face defending WAC champion, No. 18 Fresno State this weekend ... Hawaii is returning from the Stanford Classic in which they picked up their 20th win of the season and notched a 2-3 tournament record ... UH got wins over Illinois and Saint Marys and took No. 5 Stanford to extra innings, before falling 4-2 ... Tyleen Tausaga continues to lead the Rainbow Wahine offense with an average of .412 ... she also leads the squad in hits (40), doubles (9), home runs (3), RBI (20), and walks (15) ... senior pitcher Melissa Coogan (10-7, 1-1 WAC) enters this week with a 1.90 ERA ... She has 19 appearances, starting 18 games ... Coogan has 12 complete games and four shut outs on the year.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (16-20, 0-0 WAC)Lady Techster pitcher Lindsey Meadows is the WAC leader in several pitching categories ... Meadows is the leader in strikeouts (155) and batters struck out looking (34) ... the senior is also the WAC leader in innings pitcher with 159.2 ... Meadows has also pitched the most innings in a game this season, pitching nine innings in a, 1-0, loss to McNeese State on March 23.
Nevada Wolf Pack (10-16, 2-1 WAC)For the second time in three days and the 14th time this season, Nevada had games rained out ... the Wolf Pack had games against Portland State and 15th-ranked Oregon State canceled due to rain in the Pacific Northwest on March 28 ... Nevada is scheduled to open at home March 30 against Sacramento State in a non-conference doubleheader ... the Wolf Packs original home opener last week against UNLV was called after a few innings in game one due to rain.
San Jose State Spartans (24-14, 0-0 WAC)Spartan pitcher Carol Forbes is have a stellar senior campaign ... she is first in the league in wins with 14 ... Forbes is first in the WAC in saves with four ... she is also a very active pitcher with 20 starts this season and 153.1 innings pitched (second in the WAC) ... offensively, the Spartans are having a strong season ... Courtney Lewis is second in the league in hitting (.402), while Elisa Barrios is first in the WAC in RBI with 27 ... Lewis is also first in hits with 51 just ahead of Barrioss 49.
UTEP Miners (9-22, 0-0 WAC)The Miners look to get back on track this week as they begin their second season in the WAC ... UTEP has lost two-straight games ... the Miners host Louisiana Tech this week, as UTEP looks to reach double-digits in wins ... Ashley Bennett is sixth in the league in RBI with 21 ... Sarah Ramirez is tied with two other players for first in the league in triples with four ... Ramirez is also first on the team in multiple-hit games with 10, including two four-hit games ...she is in the midst of a six-game hitting streak.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (19-21, 0-0 WAC)Tulsas victory over No. 7-ranked Oklahoma is the highest ranked opponent the Hurricane has ever defeated ... the win was the second-highest ranked opponent a WAC team has defeated this season. Fresno defeated No. 5 Stanford ... Tulsa has 15 contests decided by one-run under its belt ... Tulsa is 7-8 in games decided by one run ... the difference between a Tulsa win or loss has been decided in the last half inning of over seventy-percent of the Hurricanes contests (27 of 38) ... the Hurricane has won 13 of those games ... of TUs 40 games in 2005, 31 have been decided by three runs or less and 24 have been decided by two runs or less.