For the first time since 2003, the Western Athletic Conference will send two teams to the NCAA Softball Tournament. WAC Tournament champion, Nevada, and WAC regular season champion, Fresno State, will represent the league in postseason play.
Click Here for WAC NCAA Regional Central
Click Here for a PDF of the NCAA Softball NotesClick Here for Information on the Fresno Regional Click Here for Information on the Corvallis RegionalFresno State remains the only team to be selected to all 25 championships. Eight teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Nevada, North Carolina State, Youngstown State, Tulsa, Georgia Southern, Portland State, Southern Utah and Marist.
For the second-straight season, Fresno State will host. In their first game, the Bulldogs will take on in-state rival Cal State Fullerton. Also at the Fresno Regional will be Tulsa and No. 12 Stanford. In its first NCAA Tournament, Nevada will travel to Corvallis, Ore. and face No. 7 seed, Oregon State. Also in the Corvallis Regional is Portland State and Baylor.
This is the second season in which the Regional Tournament will have four teams (originally there were eight teams at each site) and there is the addition of the Super Regional. Tournament format is double elimination with the winner of each regional advancing to the Super Regional - a best of two out of three game series. The eight Super Regional winners advance to the 2006 Women?™s College World Series.
While the Wolf Pack is currently 33-31 on the season, Nevada has been rolling as of late, having won 13 of its last 16 games. The Beavers have a 20-14 overall record in their seven previous trips to the Regional Tournament and have reached the championship game on five occasions (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005) before being eliminated. It is the first time in the program?™s history that OSU has hosted an NCAA Regional.
Hosting their 20th NCAA Regional, the Bulldogs will serve host to the NCAA Region VI, which will feature No. 12 overall seed Stanford (38-15), Big West Conference tournament champion CS Fullerton (36-22) and Conference USA tournament champion Tulsa (34-22).
Fresno State (35-17), which has won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship, also will be making their 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Margie Wright.
Fresno Regional - May 19-21 at Fresno, California Cal State Fullerton (36-22) vs. Fresno State (35-17)
Tulsa (34-22) vs. No. 12 Stanford (38-15)
Corvallis Regional - May 19-21 at Corvallis, Oregon No. 7 Oregon State (38-13) vs. Nevada (33-31)
Portland State (37-18) vs. Baylor (36-20)
MIGHTY MCPHERSON ?“ Nevada sophomore pitcher Jordan McPherson earned MVP honors at the WAC Tournament by pitching every inning of the tournament for the Wolf Pack and not allowing an earned run. McPherson pitched her sixth-straight complete game of the WAC Tournament, throwing 523 pitches in 41 innings since the start of the tournament on May 11. McPherson struck out 17 over the three-game Championship series, bringing her WAC Tournament total to 34. The second-team all-WAC honoree is 22-20 this season with a 2.01 ERA. She has 221 strikouts in 271 innings with seven shutouts.
NEVADA IN THE POSTSEASON ?“ Oregon State holds a 6-3-1 record all-time against Nevada with the Beavers earning an 8-3 victory at the CSUF Worth Tournament when the teams last met on Mar. 6, 2005. The Wolfpack won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament to earn the NCAA automatic bid.
Nevada is 3-14 against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack have wins against Fresno State (two times) and Southern Utah. Nevada has losses to teams the include Arizona State, Texas A&M, Stanford and Washington. Nevada and Oregon State have several common opponents. The Wolf Pack are 9-10 against these teams, while the Beavers are 8-6. Both teams have wins over Utah State, Fresno State and San Diego. Both have losses to teams like Nebraska, Arizona State and Washington.
FRESNO STATE IN THE POSTSEASON ?“ The Bulldogs are 36-30 against Cal State Fullerton. The Titans defeated the Bulldogs in the first game of the season, 5-4. Fresno State is 78-49 (.614) in the NCAA Tournament. It holds a 50-33 record in NCAA Regionals. The Bulldogs are 1-1 against Cal State Fullerton with a win against the Titans in 2000 and a loss in 2002.
The Bulldogs have a 6-10 record against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Fresno State has wins against Kansas, Oklahoma, Nevada, Utah and San Diego State. Fresno State and Fullerton have several common opponents. The Bulldogs are 10-7 against those teams, while the Titans are 13-14. Both teams have wins against teams like Texas Tech, Utah, UC Davis and Pacific. Both teams have losses to teams such as UCLA, Arizona State and Northwestern.
Fresno State?™s other possible opponents are Tulsa, and the regionals top seed, Stanford. Tulsa, a former WAC school, is 5-25 against Fresno State. As the No. 4 seed in NCAA Region VI, Tulsa is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the Conference-USA Softball Championship title with a 3-0 victory over Marshall. Also winning the regular-season crown, TU is under the direction of first-year head coach John Bargfeldt. Stanford has a 9-13 record against the Bulldogs. Overall, the Cardinal is 15-14 in NCAA Regional play.
FRESNO STATE CAPTURES WAC TITLE ?“ Fresno State won its third- straight Western Athletic Conference title this season. It was also theninth in the last 11 years for the Bulldogs. Hawai'i the only other team to win a WAC regular season title since 1998, winning in 2003.
WAC TOURNAMENT NOTES ?“ The final 7-0 win by Nevada was the seventh shutout in 11 games at the WAC Tournament. The five wins and six games by Nevada is a WAC Tournament Record. Hawai?™i improves to 6-4 in two appearances in the WAC Tournament. The Rainbow Wahine also appeared in the 1999 tournament. In the four WAC Tournaments to date, the tournament MVP has come from four different schools (Kelly Brookhart, Creighton, 1999; Janet Womack, Utah, 1992; Amanda Scott, Fresno State, 1999; Jordan McPherson, Nevada, 2006). No. 4 seeded Nevada is the lowest seeded team to ever win the WAC Tournament. All three previous tournament Champions (Utah ?™91 and ?™92, Fresno State ?™99) were number one seeds.
HAWAI'I?™S SMETHURST PERFECT AGAIN ?“ Hawai'i freshman pitcher Justine Smethurst threw her third, solo perfect game in a five-inning, 8-0 win over opening round opponent Louisiana Tech. Smethurst matched her career-high with 11 strike outs, and allowed no ball to reach the outfield. She threw her second solo perfect game of the season against Utah State on May 5. Smethurst, a freshman from Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, shut down the Aggies in the opening game of the three-game series. She struck out six en route to retiring all 21 batters. Smethurst threw 94 pitches, 65 for strikes. She hit the full count mark only three times, including an 11-pitch battle featuring five consecutive foul balls. Smethurst?™s first perfect game came against Longwood on March 16. She also had a combined perfect game with Jessica Morton at Grambling State in which she threw 3.0 innings in the five inning, 25-0 win.
MACKIN MAKING HISTORY ?“ Fresno State freshman pitcher/utility Robin Mackin, who is 10-4 in her last 14 starts and 12-5 in her last 19, had a season-best seven-game win streak in the circle. Averaging 10.81 strikeouts per 7/IP this season, she is among the best of the best Bulldog rookie hurlers who went on to earn All-America honors their first year. Ranked No. 2 in school and WAC single-season history for strikeouts (387), Mackin and is on pace to set a new season record for strikeouts per 7/IP. With 19 ten-strikeout games and two no-hitters to date, Mackin is one double digit strikeout performance away from tying the freshman and single-season record, which is 19 set by four-time All-America hurler Jamie Southern in 2002. Mackin also is the third Bulldog to post a 300-strikeout season -- joining All-American Amanda Scott and Southern -- and the fourth rookie to post a 25-win season.
NEVADA CAPTURES FIRST WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE ?“ Nevada earned its first WAC Tournament title with a, 7-0, win over third-seeded Hawai'i. The Wolf Pack won two of three games to win first the WAC Tournament since 1999. Nevada?™s sophomore pitcher Jordan McPherson earned the tournament MVP by not allowing an earned run in 41.0 innings pitched. McPherson only walked four batters, while striking out 34. The Wolf Pack won the tournament in only their fourth-season after the re-instatement of the program.
Third-seeded Hawai'i captured the first game of the three-game series for the 2006 WAC Tournament title. The Wolf Pack battled back to win the second game 4-2. Sophomore Jordan McPherson pitched every inning of the first two games for Nevada. The Rainbow Wahine defeated fourth-seeded Nevada, 1-0, in game one.
To reach the championship, the Wolf Pack defeated fifth-seeded New Mexico State, 1-0, to advance. Neither Hawai'i nor Nevada had lost a game in the WAC Tournament. Top-seeded Fresno State was eliminated by third-seeded Hawai'i, 6-5. The Bulldogs avoided elimination with a 9-0 five-inning win over sixth-seeded Louisiana Tech. Second-seeded San Jose State became the first team eliminated, losing to fifth-seeded New Mexico State, 5-0.
On day one of the 2006 WAC Softball Tournament, fourth seeded-Nevada upset top-seeded Fresno State, 2-1. Brittany Lorenzen drove in two runs with a single to centerfield in the sixth to give the Wolf Pack the lead. Third-seeded Hawai'i won the first game of the tournament with a 8-0 five-inning win over sixth-seeded Louisiana Tech. All-WAC freshman Justine Smethurst pitched a perfect game with 11 strikeouts. Nevada pitcher Jordan McPherson almost topped Smethurst when she threw a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts as the Wolf Pack topped New Mexico State, 2-0. In the third game of the tournament, Hawai'i won its third game in as many days with a 3-1 come-from-behind win over second-seeded San Jose State. San Jose State?™s Carlie Hill and Hawai'i?™s Tyleen Tausaga both homered.
2006 WAC Softball All-Tournament Team Christina Clark, Sr., SS, Fresno State
Brittany Lorenzen, Sr., SS, Nevada
Kymberly Silagyi, Fr., 2B, Nevada
Tyleen Tausaga, Jr., 1B, Hawai?™i
Kristi Yoshizawa, Jr., C, Hawai?™i
Kaulana Gould, So., OF, Hawai?™i
Brandi Peiler, So., OF, Hawai?™i
Kristi Randall, Fr., OF, New Mexico State
Jordan McPherson, So., P, Nevada
Kate Robinson, So., DP, Hawai?™i
Robin Mackin, Fr., UT, Fresno State
MVP: Jordan McPherson, Nevada
SINGLE-SEASON LEADERS ?“ Fresno State freshman Robin Mackin is rising up the single-season charts. Mackin is already second in the WAC in single-season strikeouts with 387. Fresno State All-American Jamie Southern holds the WAC record for strikeouts in a season with 400. In overall games, Mackin holds the single-season record for strikeouts per seven inning, averaging 10.81. Fresno State senior All-American Christina Clark?™s .500 average in league games is the tied for third. Clark?™s overall batting average of .434 is the 10th best in a single season.