PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevadas Candice Rainwater was named the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. This is Rainwaters first honor of the season and the first for the Wolf Pack.
Rainwater, a junior from Dana Point, Calif., was 5-for-11 with four home runs, including a grand slam in game two against Utah Valley State on April 9 to end the game. She also had 12 RBI in leading Nevada to three wins over Utah Valley State. Rainwater now has a .344 BA with six home runs and a team-leading 25 RBI with a team-best (tie) 42 hits.
Other player of the week nominees included: Denise Dahlberg, Hawaii; Ashley Cameron, Louisiana Tech and Jennifer Davis.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK Hawaiis Melissa Coogan was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week. It is also Coogans first honor of the season. The 2003 WAC Co-Pitcher of the Year has now earned four WAC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Coogan, a senior from West Hills, Calif., picked up three wins on the road last week, as the Rainbow Wahine picked up an impressive six WAC wins last week with sweeps of Tulsa and UTEP. Coogan threw 28 scoreless innings and gave up only three runs in 19.2 innings pitched. She also threw two complete game shutouts. The senior ended the long road trip striking out 10 batters. Hawaii had not swept back-to-back WAC series since 2003 and it had not swept back-to-back away WAC series since 1997 when they swept New Mexico and Tulsa.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Jordan McPherson, Nevada.
IN THE CIRCLE In the fourth complete week of WAC play, Hawaii looks to extend its six-game winning streak at home against Louisiana Tech. San Jose State has the longest winning streak this season at seven games. Louisiana Tech looks to break its seven-game losing streak. Fresno State will host Tulsa. Before the Golden Hurricane take on No. 17 Fresno State, they must take on No. 6 Oklahoma in Norman on April 20. UTEP travels to Nevada. Tulsa has already defeated the Sooners once this season. San Jose State takes on No. 9 Oregon State in a non-conference game on April 21.
WAC CAREER LEADERS Fresno State All-American Jamie Southern is now the career WAC leader in several categories. Southern is now tied for the career lead wins with fellow Bulldog great Amanda Scott with 106. Southern holds the lead alone in ERA (0.53) and innings pitched (1005.2). She is also the WAC leader in strikeouts (1195) and strikeouts per seven innings (8.40). Teammate Christina Clark is the leader in home runs with 48. Tulsas Stacey Walkingstick is the career sacrifice hit leader with 80. Teammate Katie Torres is now third in walks with 96. Southern and Tulsas Maren Genow are tied for second in saves with nine just one behind career leader Scott with 10.
FRESNO STATES CLARK REACHES MILESTONE Junior All-American shortstop Christina Clark became the fifth Bulldog and seventh WAC player to notch 400 or more career total bases last weekend. Clark, who currently ranks in five all-time Top 10 conference marks, achieved the feat against San Jose State on April 16. As the WACs and Fresno States career home run leader (48), she is one of two players in league history to slug better than .750. Clark also hit her fifth double of the season last weekend and took sole possession of tenth place all-time in the schools annals.
SOUTHERN NAMED FINALIST After being named to the preseason USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List for the fourth time of her career, Fresno States Jamie Southern has now been selected a Top 25 finalist for this prestigious award for the fourth consecutive time. Announced by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) on April 6, the Fourth Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, which is likened to the Heisman Trophy, recognizes outstanding athletic achievements by collegiate softball players around the nation. Southern was a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist in 2002 when she was one of the final three chosen. Highlights her senior year include being the first WAC softball player to garner player/pitcher of the week honors in the same week, first Bulldog pitcher to open the season with a no-hitter, MVP of the NFCA Leadoff Classic, sweeping national player of the week awards in the same week, throwing a perfect game out of two no-hitters this season, becoming the 21st NCAA Division I pitcher to post 1,100 career strikeouts
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, with an incredible 44-3 record, is the top ranked for the fourth 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 203 of the 214 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. 20 in the NFCA poll and No. 17 in the USA Softball poll.
AGAINST THE BEST WAC schools are 5-32 (.135) 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.
Fresno State Bulldogs (29-10, 5-1 WAC)All-America pitcher Jamie Southern will be looking to become the WACs and Fresno States outright all-time win leader this week ... in the WAC, she currently shares the record with former Bulldog All-American Amanda Scott (106) while two victories shy of owing the schools all-time win mark held by another Bulldog All-American Terry Carpenter (107, 1989-92) ... Southern became the 16th NCAA Division I pitcher to amass 1,200 career strikeouts on April 15 when she struck out 12 Spartans ... with 1,211 strikeouts to date, Southern also posted her 49th career 10-strikeout game.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (26-20, 7-5 WAC)With six games left in their regular season, the Rainbow Wahine look to finish off strong after sweeping both Tulsa and UTEP on the road ... Louisiana Tech (18-33, 2-4 WAC) will face Hawaii in a three-game series starting on Friday, April 22 ... on Saturday, the two teams will play a doubleheader, with the first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m. ... senior Melissa Coogan, the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week, won three games on the road, defeating Tulsa once and UTEP twice. Coogan (13-9, 4-3 WAC), on the season has a 1.72 ERA in 138.2 innings pitched ... shes thrown 15 complete games with six shutouts ... pitcher Shannon Tabion also posted good numbers on the trip ... she went 2-0, tossing two complete-game shutouts.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (18-35, 2-4 WAC)The Lady Techsters look to get back on track after losing a season-high seven-straight games ... Louisiana Tech will return to WAC play this week traveling to Honolulu to take on the red-hot Rainbow Wahine who have won six-straight WAC games ... Louisiana Techs Ashley Cameron is second in the league in total bases (82) behind San Jose States Elisa Barrios ... Amber Miles leads the league in stolen bases with 22 in 26 attempts ... senior Lindsey Meadows leads the league 224 strikeouts in 224.2 innings pitched ... Cameron also has 29 RBI good for second in the league.
Nevada Wolf Pack (18-21, 4-2 WAC)Nevada swept Utah Valley State last weekend as Candice Rainwater had 12 RBI in going 5-12 with four home runs and picked up a complete-game, one-run victory in the circle Sunday ... She was tabbed Monday as the WAC Player of the Week for her efforts ... Jordan McPherson pitched a 10-0 shutout on April 16 and Tiffany Hoeft picked up the other win ... with 29 runs scored, the Wolf Pack had a lot of help: Brittany Lorenzen was 8-for-9 with three RBI, while Amanda Wise was 4-for-7 with two RBI ... Kristin Stith was 3-for-9 with five RBI, and Cindy Elkins was 5-for-11 with three RBI ... Candice Rainwater has 13 multiple-hit games, including two, three-hit contests ... Jiliane Hartfiel is next with nine multiple-hit games.
San Jose State Spartans (28-20, 4-5 WAC)Spartan senior pitcher Carol Forbes got her first career win against Fresno State and pitched a three-hitter as the San Jose State softball team upset the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, 3-1 ... Forbes is now first in the WAC in wins with 18 ... she is also third in the league in strikeouts with 168 in 213.1 innings pitched ... Elisa Barrios continues to lead the league in RBI with 32 ... Barrios is also second in hits (58) behind teammate Courtney Lewis (60) ... Barrios is also second in runs scored (35).
UTEP Miners (14-28, 3-6 WAC)The Miners look to break a five-game losing streak this week on the road against Nevada in a three-game series ... junior Sarah Ramirez is still first in the league in triples with five ... sophomore Ashley Bennett is first in the WAC in doubles with 17 ... Ramirez is batting .365, while Bennett is hitting .328 ... Bennett is fifth in the nation in double per game (0.40).
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (21-27, 2-4 WAC)Tulsa will continue its See America tour as the Hurricane will travel to Norman, Okla., for its final non-conference contest on Wednesday, April 20 ... Tulsa will then pack its bags for sunny California for a three-game series with Fresno State April 22-23 ... TU recorded one of its biggest victories, if not the biggest, in the programs history on March 23, as it defeated then-No. 7 Oklahoma 4-2 ... the win was TUs third in the last four meetings against the Sooners, who had won the first 24 meetings between the two schools ... Tulsa also defeated Fresno State in its last meeting with the Bulldogs, sweeping Fresno State at Bulldog Diamond last season.