The seeds for the WAC Tournament are still unclear heading into the final week of the season. First-place Fresno State will travel to second-place San Jose State. The Bulldogs are in search of their ninth WAC regular season title in 11 years. Third-place Hawai'i will host seventh-place Utah State. Fourth-place Nevada will host sixth-place Louisiana Tech. New Mexico State has completed its regular season schedule, ending its first season in the WAC with an 8-9 record.
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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ Louisiana Tech?™s Jessica Elson and Utah State?™s Heather Straight have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first honor for both and the first-ever WAC honor for the Aggies.
Elson, a junior from Plano, Texas, batted .400 for the week, registering two hits in five at bats in Louisiana Tech?™s two games. Elson?™s two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Lady Techsters to a, 2-1, win over No. 22 ranked Fresno State in Ruston. It was the first time Louisiana Tech has defeated Fresno State in 17 meetings. Elson?™s home run, only her second of the season, came three pitches after she had pulled a home run down the left field line that went just foul. The third baseman also scored the tying run in the fourth inning of game two that gave Louisiana Tech a 3-3 tie until Fresno scored two in the top of the seventh to win the second game 5-3.
Straight, a senior from Phoenix, Ariz., helped the Aggies win their first WAC games, as Utah State defeated New Mexico State twice last week. Straight pitched a complete game six-hitter to give the Aggies their first ever WAC win. Utah State had lost its first 11 WAC games. Straight struck out three and did not allow an earned run.
Other hitter of the week nominees included: Robin Mackin of Fresno State hit .714 with five hits with two RBI … Kate Robinson of Hawai'i hit .429 with six hits as the Rainbow Wahine won three games last week … Cindy Elkins of Nevada led the Wolf Pack to a 4-1 record, hitting .467 ... Amy Schaible of Utah State hit .556 with five hits and three RBI.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Justine Smethurst of Hawai'i went 2-1 with a 1.45 with 20 strikeouts … Krissi Oliver of Louisiana Tech was 1-1 last week against Fresno State … Jordan McPherson of Nevada was 3-1 with a 1.25 ERA last week.
SPARTANS TIE HOME RUN RECORD ?“ With Mandy Winkley?™s home run in game two against Santa Clara, San Jose State tied a school record for home runs in a season at 26. The record was set by the 2000 team which is also the season that Kara Kanney set the single season record with 11. This year?™s home runs have come from Winkley (7), Brittany McConnell (5), Sarah Smith (5), Danielle Eakins (3), Jessica Guillen (2), Courtney Lewis, Carlie Hill, Kristy Ballinger and Dannielle Brown.
MACKIN MAKING HISTORY ?“ Freshman right hander Robin Mackin, who is 8-1 in her last nine starts, owns a season-best seven-game winning streak in the circle. Averaging 10.82 strikeouts per 7/IP this season, she is among the best of the best Bulldog rookie pitchers who went on to earn All-America honors their first year. Last week, she moved up to No. 2 in school and WAC single-season history for strikeouts (337) and is on pace to set a new season record for strikeouts per 7/IP. With 16 ten-strikeout games and two nohitters to date, Mackin became the third Bulldog to post a 300-strikeout season, joining All-America freshman hurlers Amanda Scott and Jamie Southern.
LEADERS OF THE WAC ?“ In WAC games, San Jose State?™s Courtney Lewis is first in the league in wins with eight. Freshman Robin Mackin of Fresno State is first in league games in strikeouts with 94. Overall, she is also first with 337 strikeouts. Mackin is the first 20-game winner in the league with a 24-9 record with a 1.38 ERA.
At the plate, reigning WAC Player of the Year, Christina Clark, leads the league in hitting (.445). She is also first in WAC games in hitting (.536). Clark is also first in hits (57) and runs scored (48). In league games, New Mexico State?™s Kristi Randall is first in hits with 22. Her teammate, Stacey Lien, is first in WAC games, in RBI with 14.
UTAH STATE WINS FIRST WAC GAMES ?“ With a 3-1 win against New Mexico State last week, to lengthy losing streaks were gone. The Aggies had lost its first 11 WAC games and 13-straight games overall before taking the first two games in the series with the WAC?™s other Aggies.
RETURN OF THE WAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT ?“ Fresno State will host the 2006 WAC Softball Tournament, May 11-13, at Bulldog Diamond. The three-day double-elimination championship will see the top six teams battle it out to capture the WAC?™s NCAA automatic bid. All-Tournament Tickets and Day Passes are currently on sale through the Bulldog Ticket Office. Tickets can be purchased online at www.gobulldogs.com or by calling (559) 278-3647. This is the second time that the Bulldogs have hosted the tournament. Fresno State hosted the 1999 tournament and won both the 1999 regular-season and tournament titles. Fresno State and Hawai?™i are the two lone current conference schools to have participated in the last WAC Softball Championship. The Bulldogs own a composite record of 3-0 while UH owns a composite record of 2-2 in championship play.
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.
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.
Fresno State Bulldogs (32-14, 10-2 WAC)
Senior Christina Clark, who is ranked in 12 all-time career school categories and 10 all-time WAC career
marks, is looking to hit .400 or better her senior year ... as the lead off batter for the Bulldogs, Clark is batting at a current clip of .445, an average that ranks No. 5 in Fresno State single-season history ... in fact, she will look to post the first .400 season in the last seven years after narrowly missing the magic mark in 2004 (.396) ... Clark is first in the the WAC in hitting in overall (.445) and WAC games (.536).
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (25-19, 7-6 WAC)
Hawai'i looks to bounce back after a rough road trip in which they went 0-5 in conference games ... Tyleen Tausaga continues to lead the team on offense ... in WAC games, she?™s hitting .462 with a team-high 18 hits and five doubles ... overall, Tausaga leads the team with a .374 average ... shortstop Valana Manuma is 17-for-48 for a .358 average ... she has been consistent at the plate and is second on the team with the 17 hits, 8 runs scored, three triples, and has a team-high seven RBI ... on the season, sophomore transfer Brandi Peiler has made an immediate impact in her first season as a Rainbow Wahine.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (17-27, 5-9 WAC)
With Jessica Elson?™s two-out two-run home run, the Lady Techsters captured their first win in 17 tries against No. 22 Fresno State ... Louisiana Tech captured the first game of the doubleheader, 2-1 ... the final game of the series was lost due to inclement weather ... Louisiana Tech is third in WAC games in hitting (.281) ... Emma Barnes is second in the WAC in runs scored with 37 ... Regan Clark is second in RBI with 34 ... the Lady Techsters end the regular season with a three-game series at Nevada.
Nevada Wolf Pack (24-28, 7-7 WAC)
Nevada won the first two games in the series against Hawai'i last week ... the third game was played in protest after a Nevada?™s Katie Stith was thrown out after what was said to be an illegal re-entry ... Nevada won the protest and the game will be made up starting in the fourth inning with the Wolf Pack up 2-1 prior to the WAC Tournament if necessary ... Cindy Elkins is third in the WAC in runs scored with 34 ... sophomore Jordan McPherson is still second in the WAC in strikeouts with 177.
New Mexico State (25-21, 8-9 WAC)
New Mexico State ended the regular season last week, losing two of three to Utah State ... the Aggies lost one game to rain this year against Fresno State ... New Mexico State now awaits the other six teams to finish the regular season to find out where it will be seeded in the upcoming WAC Tournament ... the Aggies could get as high as fourth and fall as low as sixth.
San Jose State Spartans (22-22, 10-4 WAC)
The Spartans enter the week with an seven-game WAC winning streak ... San Jose State has not lost a WAC game since April 7, when the team lost the second game of a doubleheader with Louisiana Tech, 4-1 ... since then, the team won the final game of the series with the Lady Techsters and swept three-game series against Nevada and at Utah State ... with seven home runs this season, Mandy Winkley is tied for second
on the San Jose State single-season list with Anita Connor ... Winkley needs four home runs to tie the single season record of 11, set by Kara Kanney in the 2000 season.
Utah State Aggies (7-36, 2-12 WAC)
Utah State?™s first two WAC softball wins against New Mexico State, helped two Aggies?™ earn honors ... Heather Straight earned WAC Pitcher of the Week honors, while Amy Schaible was tabbed the Utah State Athlete of the Week ... Utah State is third in the WAC in fielding (.959) in WAC games, the Aggies are second in fielding (.972) ... they have only made 12 errors in league games this season ... Amy Schaible is tied for third in triples with four.