In week five of the WAC season, Fresno State will host first-place Hawai'i. The Bulldogs, 6-1, are a half a game behind the Rainbow Wahine, 7-1. Fresno State and Hawai'i are the only two teams to have won a WAC title since 1998. In other WAC matchups, Utah State will looks for its first WAC win at home against San Jose State. New Mexico State will host Nevada in a battle between two teams that are 3.5 games out of first place.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ Louisiana Tech?™s Rochelle Sandberg and Krissi Oliver have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first honor this season for both players.
Sandberg, a sophomore from Santee, Calif., batted .545 for the week, registering six hits in 11 at bats in four games. Sandberg scored five runs and drove in six runs leading Louisiana Tech to a 4-0 record last week. She had three doubles and one triple in her six hits. She also posted a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .615 on base percentage. The second baseman had three two-RBI games and scored two runs in another game. The Lady Techsters swept Utah State and also defeated Southeastern Louisiana. This season, Sandberg is hitting .358 with 14 RBI.
Oliver, a freshman from Glendale, Ariz., went 4-0 last week with a 0.37 earned run average. Oliver registered all four of Louisiana Tech?™s wins, pitching 19.0 innings. She allowed only 15 hits, one walk and one earned run. Oliver registered a 9-1 win over Southeastern Louisiana, and 5-0 and 9-1 complete game victories over Utah State. She also came on in relief to pick up the win and pitched two innings in a 6-4 win over Utah State.
Other hitter of the week nominees included: Christina Clark of Fresno State had two home runs and five RBI in four Bulldog wins … Sarah Taylor of San Jose State had three hits in six at bats last week as the Spartan swept Nevada... Quela Leonhardt of Utah State hit .500 with eight hits and one RBI.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Robin Mackin of Fresno State went 2-0 last week with 20 strikeouts … Kelly Harrison of San Jose State was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA throwing a complete game two-hitter against Nevada.
HAWAI'I HOT ON THE MOUND ?“ Hawai'i freshman Justine Smethurst (11-8, 4-1 WAC) has seen the bulk of the innings, pitching a team-high 118.1 innings, and leads the staff with 99 strikeouts. She has a 1.77 ERA on the season, and in conference play, she has a stingy 0.20 ERA in 35.0 innings pitched. Fellow freshman Courtney Baughman has a 7-3 record with a 2.77 ERA. In Hawai'i?™s last game, sophomore Kate Robinson fired a perfect game against conference opponent New Mexico State in her first start of the season. Robinson, normally used as a reliever, struck out 14 out of 18 batters faced that day and including the last six Aggies in a row.
The Rainbow Wahine pitching staff has thrown an amazing three perfect games thus far this season. The first came in a 6-0 win over Longwood by Justine Smethurst on May 16th. The second was a combined, five-inning effort that saw Smethurst and Jessica Morton shut-out Grambling State, 25-0 on May 27 in Louisiana. Catcher Kristi Yoshizawa has caught and called all but one inning of all three perfect games. She took a foul ball of her throwing hand late in the Grambling State game and finished as the game?™s designated player.
ANOTHER BULLDOG ACE ?“ Freshman right hander Robin Mackin went undefeated in the circle last week and has won her last five-straight starts. Mackin went 2-0 after recording a 3-1 win over Saint Mary?™s and a 6-2 WAC victory over New Mexico State. Holding opponents to a .118 batting average last week, she recorded her 20th and 21st win of the season and, in the process, became the sixth Bulldog freshman hurler to post a 20-win season. In her last 17 starts Mackin has gone 13-4 with six shutouts, one save and 158 strikeouts in 104.2 innings for a 1.27 ERA. While she needs two more strikeouts to become just the third Bulldog tally 300 or more strikeouts in a season at Fresno State, Mackin already has set the fifth-best single-season strikeout mark (298) while recording a pair of no-hitters and setting a new single-game strikeout mark for a 7-inning game (17) and tying the school?™s single-game strikeout mark for a 5-inning game (9) this season. Mackin is on pace to set a new strikeout standard at Fresno State and in WAC history as the single-season mark is 9.72 by Jamie Southern in 2005.
LEADERS OF THE WAC ?“ In WAC games, San Jose State?™s Courtney Lewis is first in the league in wins with six. Freshman Robin Mackin of Fresno State is first in league games in strikeouts with 55, overall she is also first with 298 strikeouts. Mackin is the first 20-game winner in the league with a 21-8 record with a 1.45 ERA.
At the plate, reigning WAC Player of the Year, Christina Clark, leads the league in hitting (.430). She is also first in WAC games in hitting (.500). Clark is also first in hits (49) and runs scored (41). In league games, Louisiana Tech?™s Emma Barnes is first in hits with 16. She is also first in runs scored with 11 and total bases 23.
FRESNO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2006 WAC TITLE ?“ The Western Athletic Conference softball coaches selected Fresno State to win the 2006 WAC regular season crown. Fresno State has been picked to take the preseason crown 10 out of the last 11 years. In 2002, Hawai'i was chosen to win the title. The coaches also voted on 2006 preseason award winners. Fresno State swept both categories when shortstop Christina Clark was voted preseason Player of the Year and Robin Mackin earned preseason Pitcher of the Year honors. This is Clark?™s third-straight Preseason Player of the Year honor. This is the first Preseason Pitcher of the Year honor for Mackin.
TWO BULLDOGS NAMED TO NCAA 25TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM ?“ The NCAA announced its Division I Softball 25th Anniversary Team and Fresno State was honored with two selections on the ten-player squad in former Bulldog All-Americans Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) and Amanda Scott (Clovis, Calif.).
Based on their outstanding achievements during NCAA championship competition, Berg was one of two outfielders selected while Scott was one of four four-time NCAA First Team All-Americans and one of six pitchers voted to the prestigious list.
In their collegiate career, Berg and Scott both participated in the NCAA Women?™s College World Series three times with the 1998 season seeing the Fresno State softball program reach the pinnacle of success with the university?™s first and only NCAA Division I team championship title.
Berg, who also helped the 1994 Bulldogs squad to a fifth place showing, batted .471 (8-17) with three runs, two RBI, a stolen base and eight total bases as the lead off batter in the 1998 WCWS. She would go on to be a three-time USA Softball Olympic gold medalist as well as currently serving as a Bulldog assistant coach. In her collegiate career, Berg finished with a .414 batting average and ranks No. 2 all-time in NCAA Division I history with 396 career hits.
Scott, who also was part of the 1999 Bulldogs team that placed fifth at the WCWS, garnered WCWS MVP honors after pitching a three-hit shutout victory over two-time NCAA defending champion Arizona in the 1998 title game. At the WCWS that year she would 3-1 with a pair of shutout and 16 strikeouts in 23.2 innings for a perfect 0.00 ERA. In her collegiate career, Scott would end up being the university?™s first NCAA Top VIII Award winner, a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and a two-time Honda Awards Softball finalist.
Also named to NCAA Division I Softball 25th Anniversary Team were pitcher Shawn Andaya (Texas A&M), catcher Leah Braatz (Arizona), pitcher Debbie Doom (UCLA), third baseman/pitcher Lisa Fernandez (UCLA), pitcher Jennie Finch (Arizona), pitcher Lisa Longaker (UCLA), outfielder Leah O?™Brien (Arizona) and shortstop Natasha Watley (UCLA). In addition, Arizona head coach Mike Candrea was selected as the coach of the anniversary team.
The DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY ?“ The 2006 season marks the 30th year of Utah State softball. The first Aggies team took the field in 1976 and finished with a 14-11 record... This season also marks the 25th anniversary of the Utah State 1981 AIAW National Championship team that went 34-12 and defeated Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.
Fresno State Bulldogs (28-13, 6-1 WAC)
Fresno State wraps up its regular-season home schedule this week when the Bulldogs host Hawai?™i in a three-game WAC series ... the Bulldogs, who are 17-1 at home, are coming off a 4-0 home record after sweeping Saint Mary?™s (3-1, 11-2 in 5 innings) and New Mexico State (6-2, 9-1 in 6 innings) ... Christina Clark hit a pair of two-run home runs last week to increase her career total to 59 ... Having become the school and WAC career home run leader last season, she is one long ball away from becoming the 12th NCAA Division I player to hit 60 or more career dingers.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (23-14, 7-1 WAC)
Hawai'i swept Chaminade (10-27, 5-7 Pac West-DII) in a pair of exhibition games ... UH downed the Silverswords 8-1 in the first game and then won the second game 17-0 ... Hawai'i is led by first baseman Tyleen Tausaga, who is hitting a team-high .374 ... she also leads the team in hits (40), home runs (7) and RBI (29) ... sophomore Brandi Peiler is right behind Tausaga with a .363 average ... in WAC play, shortstop Valana Manuma and centerfielder/catcher Kaulana Gould have both caught fire ... Manuma is hitting a healthy .433 by going 13-for-30 with two doubles, a home run, seven RBI, and seven runs scored.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-25, 4-8 WAC)
The Lady Techsters got back on track after getting swept by Nicholls State with a sweep of Grambling State ... Louisiana Tech has the week off from WAC play ... the Lady Techsters will take on Grambling State on April 19 ... Emma Barnes leads the WAC in triples with seven ... Ashley Cameron is tied for the lead in home runs with eight ... Barnes is second in the WAC in stolen bases going 9-for-10.
Nevada Wolf Pack (19-26, 4-5 WAC)
After a sweep of Utah State, the Wolf Pack were in turn swept by San Jose State last week ... this week, the Wolf Pack look to get back on track in Las Cruces against New Mexico State ... Brittany Puzey is second in the WAC in RBI with 32 ... Kymberly Silyagi is fifth in the WAC in triples with three.
New Mexico State (22-15, 5-4 WAC)
Malei Hilva and Kristi Randall are the two Aggies to play every inning of every game at one position this season: first base and left field, respectively ... Randall has also batted leadoff every game while Hilva has been batted fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth by head coach Kathy Rodolph ... ... the second inning has been good to the Crimson and White this season ... the Aggies have outscored their opponents 35-14 in the second inning of games; the +21 scoring margin easily outpaces their next best frame, the fourth (+8).
San Jose State Spartans (15-20, 4-4 WAC)
Six Spartan players rank among WAC leaders this week ... Courtney Lewis is fifth in hits (42), tied for third in doubles (10), second in triples (5), fifth in batting average (.362) and in strikeouts (67) and seventh in ERA (2.77) ... Brittany McConnell is tied for third in doubles (10), while Sarah Taylor is second in stolen bases (9) ... Kelly Harrison is fourth in ERA (2.64), Regina Farfan is ninth in ERA (3.78) and Nicole Luna-Pickens is 12th in ERA (4.13) ... as a team, the Spartans are fifth in batting (.268), fourth in pitching (3.28 ERA) and third in fielding (.956 fielding percentage).
Utah State Aggies (5-32, 0-8 WAC)
Amy Schaible currently ranks third in the WAC in triples with four, and averages 0.13 triples per game which is second in the conference... Sara Fleming has been hit by a pitch six times this season which is second most in the conference... Quela Leonhardt has walked 15 times this season, which is fifth-most in the conference... Heather Straight leads the WAC in runners picked off with two, and she is ninth in the league in strike outs with 44.