WAC RECORD SHATTERED ? Hawai?i has broken the WAC record for home runs in a season with 59 home runs in only 45 games. The record was 50 set by Fresno State in 2004. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine hit a school-record 42 in 54 games. Hawai?i has 239 RBI thus far this season. Six of the homers were grand slams, two by Brandi Peiler and one each by Kaulana Gould, Alana Power, Valana Manuma, and Tyleen Tausaga. Kate Robinson is closing in on former Fresno State All-American Christina Clark’s single-season home run record. Robinson currently has 14 home runs. Clark had 23 long balls in 2004.
NFCA Top 25 Poll
USA Softball Top 25 Poll
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ? Fresno State’s Haley Perkins and Nevada’s Jordan McPherson have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first honor of the season for both.
Perkins, a sophomore from Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West), helped lead the Bulldogs to a perfect 3-0 record in WAC play last week. Perkins hit .857 in three games, going 6 for 7 with a .909 on base percentage. The Bulldogs’ leadoff hitter scored seven runs, walked twice, was hit by a pitch twice and had a perfect fielding percentage at shortstop.
McPherson, a sophomore from Simi Valley, Calif. (Royal), went 3-0 in three appearances for the Pack. The sophomore threw two complete games and did not allow a homerun last week. She allowed just one hit in four innings in Nevada’s 8-2 win over St. Mary’s on April 1. McPherson recorded eight strikeouts in two games (vs. Sac State and Utah) and faced just 13 batters in 4.0 innings against St. Mary’s. She recorded a 0.78 ERA as she led the team in innings pitched with 18.0.
Other hitter of the week nominees included: Clare Warwick, Hawai?i; Regan Clark, Louisiana Tech and Kelsey Starr, Nevada.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Robin Mackin, Fresno State; Kate Robinson, Hawai?i; Krissi Oliver, Louisiana Tech and Roxanne Bejarano, San Jose State.
ON DECK ? In week eight of WAC softball, Hawai?i looks to extend its 1.5 game lead over second-place Fresno State. The Rainbow Wahine boast a 37-8 record and a stellar 8-1 conference record. Last week, San Jose State handed Hawai?i its first WAC loss.This week, the Rainbow Wahine remain on the road, traveling to Las Cruces, N.M. for a three-game set with New Mexico State. Utah State will host it first conference games of the season with a series against Nevada. The Wolf Pack will also face Utah Valley State in Orem. San Jose State will travel to Louisiana Tech in the final WAC series of the week.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP ? Fresno State sophomore Robin Mackin has shown no signs of a sophomore slump. She leads the WAC in pitching with a 1.23 earned run and a 22-7 record. She is the first WAC pitcher to reach the 20-win plateau. Mackin has recorded 249 strikeouts in 199.2 innings pitched. Fellow sophomore Haley Perkins is also have a solid second season. Perkins is hitting .359. The infielder is also first in the WAC in runs scored with 43.
NEW MEXICO STATE’S RODOLPH COACHES IN MILESTONE GAME ? Friday’s game against Hawai’i will be the 500th career game that head coach Kathy Rodolph has coached in. Rodolph started her collegiate coaching career in 1999 at El Paso Community College where she compiled a 124-61 record. In 2002 she left EPCC to start the Angelo State program and found immediate success. In her second season she led the Rambelles to a 50-9 record and the Lone Star Conference Championship. In 2004, Rodolph was named the 11th New Mexico State head coach. Rodolph has compiled a 287-212 (.575) career record and is 91-120 (.431) at NMSU.
TWO WAC TEAMS EARN RANKINGS ? Hawai?i i remains in the polls this week, moving up to No. 18 ranking in both the USA Today/NFCA Poll and No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The Rainbow Wahine are now one of two teams ranked in the WAC. The Fresno State softball team returned to the Top 25 rankings this week, earning the No. 25 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll announced Tuesday morning. After a five week hiatus from the top 25 rankings, Fresno State (30-13) worked its way back into the poll with a three-game conference sweep of Utah State.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES ? The Utah State Aggies are now 10-21 overall, reaching double-digits in the win column for the first time in three years, topping last season’s 8-38 record. The 10-21 ledger matches USU’s best record through 31 games of the 2000’s, tying the 2005 and 2000 squad.
WOLFPACK ROOKIE BREAKS RECORD ? Freshman Sam Bias, who has hit seven homeruns this season, set a record for most home runs by a Pack freshman, passing Lindsey Hall (2003-06) who hit five home runs as a freshman in 2003. The program record for most homeruns in a season is nine set by Jiliane Hartfiel in 2005.
Nevada Freshman Home Runs by Year
2006: 8, Candice Rainwater and Brittany Lorenzen
2005: 9, Jiliane Hartfiel
2004: 6, Cindy Elkins and Carrie Mackey
2003: 6, Carrie Mackey
THE RAINBOW WAHINE OFFENSE BREAKS RECORDS ? After suffering its conference loss against San Jose State, Hawai?i broke through with a 20-0 win in five innings. The 20-0 game broke the WAC record for largest winning margin a conference game, beating the previous record of 19 when Cal State Northridge defeated Southern Utah 19-0 in 1994. The game also broke the conference record for RBI in a game with 19 and hits in a conference game with 24. The previous record was 21 by three teams, most recently by Cal State Northridge and Colorado State in 1996.
NEW HOME FOR WOLFPACK ? Christina Hixson Softball Complex was named after the benefactor whose donation allowed Nevada to purchase the land for the softball complex. The land for the facility was purchased from Bishop Manogue Catholic High School and is located adjacent to campus. The 23-acre site is also home to the field events for Wolf Pack women’s track and field. The softball facility has 168 permanent chair backs behind home plate. The facility can hold up to 1,000 fans comfortably with room for lawn chairs on the burms behind the first and third base lines.
WAC LEADERS ? Hawai?i’s Clare Warwick leads the WAC in hits with 63. Her teammate, Kate Robinson, leads the conference in RBI with 47. New Mexico State’s Stephanie Herrera currently leads the WAC in hitting, batting .419. Hawai?i’s Warwick is second, hitting .414.
In the circle, Fresno State’s Robin Mackin leads the conference with a 22-7 record. Mackin already has 249 strikeouts. Last season, Mackin set a WAC record with 400 strikeouts during her rookie campaign. The Bulldog All-America also leads the conference in ERA (1.23) and saves (4).
FRESNO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2007 WAC TITLE ? The Western Athletic Conference softball coaches selected Fresno State to win the 2007 WAC regular season crown. Fresno State has been picked to take the preseason crown 11 out of the last 12 years. In 2002, Hawai?i was chosen to win the title. The coaches also voted on 2007 preseason award winners. For the second-straight season Robin Mackin earned preseason Pitcher of the Year honors. Hawai?i first baseman Tyleen Tausaga earned preseason Player of the Year honors. The last Rainbow Wahine player to earn preseason Player of the Year honors was shortstop Kate Judd who earned the award before the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Fresno State edged out Hawai?i with 35 points to the Rainbow Wahine’s 30. Defending WAC Tournament Champions Nevada was picked to finish third with 28 points. This is the second-straight year that Wolf Pack have been picked third in the preseason. The Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack were the only WAC teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament last season. Fresno State is the only team in the nation to play in all 25 NCAA Tournaments. New Mexico State finished fourth with 21 points followed by San Jose State with 14 points. Louisiana Tech was picked to finish sixth with 10 points, while Utah State was picked to finish seventh with nine points.
Fresno State Bulldogs (30-13, 5-1 WAC)
Fresno State sophomores Haley Perkins and Robin Mackin. Perkins helped lead the Bulldogs to a perfect 3-0 record in WAC play last week ... Perkins was unbelievable at the leadoff spot for Fresno State ... the sophomore hit .857 in three games, going 6 for 7 with a .909 on base percentage. Perkins scored seven runs, walked twice, was hit by a pitch twice and had a perfect fielding percentage at shortstop ... Mackin went 2-0 last week and didn’t allow a run in 10 innings pitched ... the Bulldogs split a pair of games at Pacific yesterday.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (37-8, 8-1 WAC)
After losing the first game to the Spartans 2-1 in extra innings, it was Kate Robinson who helped right the ship, throwing her seventh complete game shut-out of the season, winning 20-0 ... she held San Jose State to two hits while walking none and striking out five in the mercy-rule game ... the 20-0 game broke the WAC record for largest winning margin a conference game, beating the previous record of 19 when Cal State Northridge defeated Southern Utah 19-0 in 1994 ... the game also broke the conference record for RBI in a game with 19 and hits in a conference game with 24.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (18-20 2-4 WAC)
Louisiana Tech ranks fourth in the WAC with a 2-4 conference record ... the Lady Techsters are heading into this weekend’s series following a 2-1 series with New Mexico State. In the rubber match of the series, Rochelle Sandberg hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Lady Techsters to a 7-5 victory ... Emma Barnes is Louisiana’s top slugger. The sophomore is batting .316 with 37 hits in 117 at-bats ... following closely behind Barnes is Ashley Cameron. Cameron is batting .289 with a team-high seven home runs.
Nevada Wolf Pack (8-24, 1-5 WAC)
Michelle Gardner is one win away from 130 career wins ... Nevada has four starters batting at least .300 ... the Pack is 6-0 when the team scores at least seven runs a game ... Kym Silagyi saw her program-high 15 game hit streak come to an end in Nevada’s second game of a doubleheader with Sacramento State ... the longest win streak in program history is nine games set in the 2004 season from March 12-19.
New Mexico State (22-17, 4-2 WAC)
New Mexico State softball team lost, 7-5, to Louisiana Tech on a two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday ... the loss pushes the Aggies record back to 22-17 and 4-2 in WAC play. La Tech improves to 18-20 on the year and 2-4 against conference opponents ... junior Stephanie Herrera leads the WAC in batting average, hitting .419 ... she is one of two players hitting over .400 in the conference ... junior Colleen Kimbro went 2-for-6 at the plate to extend her hitting streak to 14 games ... Ashley Rozkos leads the conference with 15 doubles.
San Jose State Spartans (16-18, 1-5 WAC)
San Jose State is heading into the Louisiana Tech series on a two-game slide ... the Spartans fell to WAC foe, No. 21 Hawai’i, in the final two games of the series over the weekend ... San Jose State took the first game of the series, 2-1, in eight innings ... junior Roxanne Bejarano pitched all eight inning of the game ... the right-hander allowed just three hits and one run in the game while fanning seven Wahine ... the win marked the first of the season in the conference for the Spartans.
Utah State Aggies (10-21, 0-3 WAC)
USU sophomore pitcher Lindsey Benson logged a career-high 11 strikeouts in game one, but also yielded 11 runs off 10 hits. Utah State rapped out 12 hits in the second game, one shy of the Aggies’ season-high and tied a season-high for most runs in an inning by hanging a five-spot on the board in the fourth frame of game two ... Jamie Fife leads the Aggies with seven multiple hit games ... Amy Schaible has six multiple RBI games to lead Utah State