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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Fresno States Christina Clark and Jamie Southern were named the Western Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Both Clark and Sothern have been honored this season. Southern has earned player and pitcher honors.
Clark, a junior from Santa Ana, Calif., hit .667 (8-12) with seven runs, a pair of doubles and home runs, to go along with five RBI and 16 total bases for a 1.333 slugging percentage. Clark also had multiple-hit games in all three games played. In the finale, she was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with four runs and three RBI. She also was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in the final game as she collected a season single-game high of eight total bases. Clark became the fourth Bulldog to score four runs in a game as she tied Fresno States single-game record with Jamie Southern (vs. Nevada, 5/15/04), Amanda Scott (vs. San Jose State, 4/10/99) and Kim Muratore (vs. Santa Clara, 4/16/83). She also became the seventh WAC player to score four runs in a conference contest.
Southern, a senior from Clovis, Calif., went undefeated in the circle and posted a 0.00 ERA for the third straight week. Southern led the Bulldogs to their second-straight WAC title and eighth overall. She helped Fresno State go undefeated on the road in WAC play (9-0) as well as helping the Bulldogs to a 12-0 mark in away games. At Nevada, Southern went 2-0 while picking up a save as she collected a shutout, yielded one run (unearned), walked two and struck out 18. Not allowing an earned run in 10 consecutive games (50.1 IP), she has won her last six starts (five shutouts), while being 8-0 with two saves in her last 10 appearances. With a season-high 46.0 scoreless innings, a mark that ranks sixth-best all-time in school history, her streak came to a halt on a Bulldog error in the finale against Nevada.
Other player of the week nominees included: Tara Harbert, Hawaii and Sara Dyer, Tulsa
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Melissa Coogan, Hawaii and Maren Genow, Tulsa.
IN THE CIRCLE In the final week of the regular season, No. 15 Fresno State has already clinched its second-straight WAC title. The Bulldogs host UTEP in the final three-game set of the season. Louisiana Tech looks to break its 18-game losing streak on the road against San Jose State. In the last series, Tulsa will host Nevada. The Golden Hurricane and the Wolf Pack have identical 8-7 league records. Hawaii has completed the regular season.
SOUTHERN NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTThe Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today the 10 finalists for the 4th Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. The initial list of 25 finalists was announced on April 6. This award is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. The 10 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, listed in alphabetical order, are:
Monica Abbott (Tennessee); Sophomore, Pitcher
Caitlin Lowe (Arizona); Sophomore, Outfield
Jessica Merchant (Michigan); Senior, Shortstop
Cat Osterman (Texas); Junior, Pitcher
Jennie Ritter (Michigan); Junior, Pitcher
Kristen Rivera (Washington); Senior, Catcher
Heather Scaglione (Oklahoma); Senior, Catcher
Amanda Scarborough (Texas A&M); Freshman, Pitcher
Jamie Southern (Fresno State); Senior; Pitcher/UT
Kristin Vesely (Oklahoma); Junior, Outfield
On May 31 the list will be cut to three and those final three players will travel to Oklahoma City for the announcement of the winner at the 2005 NCAA Womens College World Series.
FRESNO STATE CAPTURES WAC TITLE After being picked to capture the WAC title for the ninth time in 10 years in the coaches preseason poll, Fresno State did just that when it won its second-straight and eighth in the last 10 years. The Bulldogs claimed the crown and the leagues NCAA automatic bid last week when they swept Nevada. Fresno State will be making its 24th straight NCAA Softball Championship appearance. The program is the only school in the country to have qualified for all 24 NCAA tournaments.
TULSA TIES WAC RECORD Tulsas 11 runs in the first inning against Louisiana Tech last week was a school record for runs in an inning, as well as the 12 hits the Hurricane posted. The 11 runs ties a WAC record. Hawaii also scored 11 against UNLV in 1997.
IN THE TOP 10 There are several WAC players who rank in the top 10 in this weeks NCAA statistics. All-America Jamie Southern is second in the nation in ERA (0.44) behind fellow All-America Cat Osterman of Texas (0.39). Tulsas Stacey Walkingstick is fourth in sacrifice hits per game (0.41) Walkingstick has 68 career sacrifice just four behind WAC all-time leader Vanessa Czarnecki of Fresno State. Fresno States Christina Clark is fourth in runs per game (1.02 rpg).
SOUTHERN BECOMES WAC CAREER LEADER IN WINS On April 23, Southern made WAC history. While helping Fresno State to a sweep over WAC opponent Tulsa, she became the leagues and the schools all-time career win leader on the same day. Coming into the week with 106 career victories, Southern opened the three-game series against the Golden Hurricane with a two-hit shutout. While walking one and striking out 13, she posted her 17th win of the year to become the WACs all-time career win leader with 107 wins, surpassing former Bulldog All-American Amanda Scott (1997-2000). In the second game, she made her third relief appearance of the season and picked up her second win in as many games. After becoming the WACs outright win leader, Southern came right back on the same day to become Fresno States all-time career win leader with victory No. 108. Breaking a 13-year old record, she surpassed former Bulldog All-American Terry Carpenter (1989-92).
SAN JOSE STATE GUARANTEED WINNING SEASON Winning one of three games last week, the Spartans are now 33-25 overall and 7-8 in the WAC. San Jose State is now guaranteed its first winning season since 1992 when that team finished 33-24 and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 33 wins are the most for a Spartan team since 1994 when that team won 32 games. It is just the sixth time in school history that a Spartan softball team has won 30 or more games in a season.
WAC CAREER LEADERS Fresno State All-American Jamie Southern is the career WAC leader in several categories. Southern is first in career wins with 114. Southern aslo holds the lead in ERA (0.51) and innings pitched (1051.2). She is also the WAC leader in strikeouts (1275) and strikeouts per seven innings (8.50). Teammate Christina Clark is the leader in home runs with 52. Tulsas Stacey Walkingstick is second in sacrifice hits with 68. In saves, Southern is tied with career leader Scott with 10. Tulsas Maren Genow is second in saves with nine.
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. 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 (52), she is one of two players in league history to slugging percentage better than .750.
NCAA SELECTION SUNDAY The field of 64 teams for the 2005 NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be announced live between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., EDT on ESPNews, which is on DirecTV (ch. 207) and Dish Network (ch. 142). The regional pairings and sites will be announced. In addition, the ESPNews audio signal is available on the ESPNews channel on XM Radio and SIRIUS Radio. A printable bracket will be posted on www.NCAAsports.com immediately after the selection announcement. Fresno State will be looking to host its 19th NCAA regional championships since 1982. The format for this years postseason showcases 16 four-team regional sites before being paired down to eight super regional sites where the winner must win two of three games before advancing to the 2005 NCAA Womens College World Series in Oklahoma City.
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 52-4 record, remains on the top of the polls
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 206 of the 217 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. 15 in both polls
AGAINST THE BEST WAC schools are 6-36 (.143) 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 has two wins over No. 10 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 (38-10, 14-1 WAC)Head coach Margie Wright recorded her 1,000th school win on May 6 when the Bulldogs won the night cap, 5-3 with 1,164 career wins and 1,001 Fresno State victories, Wright was the first Division I coach to record 1,000 Division I victories in 2002 last weekend, she became the fourth head coach to collect 1,000 wins at one school as she joined Sandy Jerstad (Augustana), JoAnne Graf (Florida State) and Mike Candrea (Arizona) in addition, Wright captured her 15th outright or shared conference title as well as qualifying the Bulldogs for their 20th-straight NCAA appearance under her tutelage and the programs 24th consecutive NCAA appearance.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (31-21, 12-6 WAC)Hawaii won 10-straight games before losing one of three games to San Jose State ... the Rainbow Wahine sweept three consecutive conference series (Tulsa, UTEP, Louisiana Tech) for the first time in the 21-year history of the program ... although UH has a 2-12 record against Top 25 opponents, 10 of those losses were by two runs or less and three of them went to extra innings ... lost to then No.1 Arizona 2-1 in eight innings at Tuscon ... lost to then No.5 Stanford at Stanford 2-4 in eight innings ... lost to conference rival then No.18 Fresno State 3-5 in nine innings.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (18-46, 2-13 WAC)Louisiana Tech looks to break an 18-game losing streak in the final week of the regular season ... the Lady Techsters last win was a 4-3 win against Nevada on April 8 ... the Lady Techsters are looking for their first win of May ... Louisiana Tech has been in a lot of close games ... the Lady Techsters are 7-9 in one-run games ... they are also 4-2 in extra inning affairs, but are only 6-15 when a team throws a shutout.
Nevada Wolf Pack (22-28, 8-7 WAC)Amanda Wise has the longest hitting streak of the season for the Pack with an eight-game string ... currently, Candice Rainwater has the longest active string with a seven-game streak ... Rainwater has 16 multiple-hit games, including two, three-hit contests. Brittany Lorenzen is next with 14 multiple-hit contests ... Rainwater has seven multiple-RBI games. Lorenzen and Kristin Stith are next with six each ... Lorenzen has five, two-RBI games to lead the team.
San Jose State Spartans (33-25, 7-8 WAC)Senior pitcher Carol Forbes is second in league games in strikeouts with 66 ... Forbes has 214 strikeouts overall ... Forbes is one of two WAC pitchers with at least 20 wins along with All-American Jamie Southern ... Forbes has 22 wins this seaso with a 1.67 ERA ... Courtney Lewis and Elisa Barrios continue to have stellar offensive seasons .. Lewis is first in the WAC in hits with 72, while Barrios is first in the WAC in RBI with 38 ... Barrios is also first in total bases with 113.
UTEP Miners (16-35, 3-12 WAC)Two weeks ago, UTEP dropped their final home game on Senior Day to Tulsa, 11-1, to end the series on at Helen of Troy Field ... the Miners sink to 19-35, 3-12 in the WAC as the Golden Hurricane swept the Miners, 3-0, in the homestand ... departing seniors Gracie Borjas, Denise Emmons, Jennifer Garcia, Sierra Hannum and Kristin Hardy were honored as the first signing class to depart from the softball program ... the Miners return to action this week in their final series of the season against 15th-ranked Fresno State, May 13-14 ... the May 13th game is scheduled to be televised on College Sports Television at 5:00 p.m.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (28-30, 8-7 WAC)Tulsa has 19 contests decided by one-run under its belt ... Tulsa is 9-10 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 ... the Hurricane has won 18 of those games. of Tulsas 58 games in 2005, 42 have been decided by three runs or less and 32 have been decided by two runs or less ... however, three of TUs last four games have been run-rule victories (11-1 over UTEP: 8-0 and 11-3 over LTU) ... junior Katie Torres, who already owns the No. 1 and 10 spots for walks in single season, has 30 walks in 2005 that ranks second on TUs single season chart.