LOUISIANA TECH’S DOIRON, HAWAI?I’S RICKETTS EARN WAC HONORS
Louisiana Tech’s Heather Doiron and Hawai?i’s Stephanie Ricketts have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 27-May 2. This is the first-ever honor for Doiron and the second of the season for Ricketts.
Doiron, a sophomore from Slidell, La., hit .462 with home runs in four straight games. The second baseman, who entered the week batting .180 with zero home runs and only three RBI on the year, was 6-of-13 with four home runs, six RBI and six runs scored. She recorded a 1.385 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage. She helped lead Louisiana Tech to a series win over NMSU with three home runs, giving the Lady Techsters the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament and the first winning record in WAC play in program history. Doiron had two career home runs prior to last week.
Ricketts, a freshman from San Jose, Calif., tossed her second no-hitter of the season and posted a 2-0 record with a 0.00 earned run average last week. In the series opener, she had a five-inning no hitter, facing just one batter over the minimum and striking out four. It was her ninth shutout of the season. She then threw a two-hitter in the following game, fanning two. Ricketts did not give up an earned run in the series, holding the Broncos to a .061 batting average. She also earned her 20th and 21st wins of the season, becoming just the fifth pitcher in Hawai?i history to pass the 20-win mark.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Christina Capobianco hit her 11th home run of the season ... Michelle Moses of Fresno State hit .800 with a pair of home runs and a 1.600 slugging percentage on the week ... Hawai?i’s Kanani Pu?u-Warren hit .857 with a 1.286 slugging percentage on the week ... Kym Silagyi of Nevada hit .429 with three runs, a triple and one RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Fresno State’s Morgan Melloh gave up just hits and no runs in 10 innings of work ... Katie Holverson of Nevada went 2-1 with a 0.94 ERA on the week ... San Jose State’s Elyssa Fox went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA last week.
FRESNO STATE, NEVADA SHARE REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Fresno State and Nevada shared the WAC regular-season title, as both teams finished WAC play with identical 15-5 records. This is the 10th WAC title for the Bulldogs and second in a row for the Wolf Pack. Fresno State is the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament by virtue of a 2-1 record vs. Nevada. The tournament is a seven-team double-elimination bracket.
FRESNO STATE TO HOST 2009 WAC TOURNAMENT
Fresno State will host the WAC Softball Tournament for the fourth time in 2009. The top seven teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the Bulldog Diamond from May 6-9.Ticket prices for the tournament are as follows:
All-Tournament
Lower Box Reserved - $40
Upper Reserved - $35
General Admission Adult - $20
General Admission Other* - $10
Single Day
Lower Box Reserved - $20
Upper Reserved - $18
General Admission Adult - $10
General Admission Other* - $5
*Senior citizens (65 and older), students (college students with an ID) and youth (5-17 years of age)
Tickets may be purchased through the following outlets:
Online: www.gobulldogs.com
Over the phone: (559) 278-DOGS (3647)
Walk-Up: Bulldog Ticket Office, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Walk-Up Day of Game: Bulldog Diamond Ticket Booth starting one hour prior to the first game each day. (Cash only accepted at Bulldog Diamond).
All-Tournament tickets are on sale and will be available for purchase through the first day of the tournament. Single day tickets are on sale to the general public online, over the phone and via walk-up.
WAC TO STREAM 2009 TOURNAMENT
The WAC, in conjunction with its Web site partner JumpTV Sports, will stream the 2009 WAC Softball Tournament live from Fresno, Calif. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv. Every game of the tournament can be viewed for a single subscription price of $14.95, which will include on-demand viewing of any of the games the following day. More information and how to subscribe to any of these video streaming events can be found at www.WAC.tv.
RICKETTS TOSSES ANOTHER NO-HITTER
Hawai?i’s Stephanie Ricketts tossed her second no-hitter of the season in an 8-0 win over Boise State last Friday. She faced just 16 batters - one over the minimum - with no walks and four strikeouts in the mercy-rule ended game. She threw just 61 pitches in the game with 41 strikes and retired the final 10 batters in a row.
Boise State Broncos (21-28, 4-16 WAC)
The Broncos went 0-3 last week, dropping all three games of the series at Hawai?i, 0-8, 1-9 and 3-8 ... Christina Capobianco smashed her 11th homer of the season during the series to tie her for the team lead with Kathy Cox. It was the third time she has gone yard in the past two weeks ... Boise State lost 13 straight WAC games to close out conference play ... The Broncos are 13-3 when they out-hit their opponents and 17-1 when leading or tied after the sixth inning ... Boise State scored 10 or more runs in six games this season ... As a team, the Broncos ranks sixth nationally with 0.51 double plays per game ... Cox ranks 10th in the WAC with a .350 batting average ... In their first season of play, the seventh-seeded Broncos play No. 6 San Jose State in the first game of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (33-18, 15-5 WAC)
The Bulldogs went 2-0 last week, sweeping a doubleheader at Utah State, 10-5 and 9-0, to finish WAC play with a 15-5 record and earn a share of the WAC. It is Fresno State’s 10th WAC regular-season title ... Michelle Moses hit .800 with a 1.600 slugging percentage and a .857 on-base percentage over the two games ... With two complete-game shutouts, Morgan Melloh moved to No. 10 on the Bulldog career wins list with 67. She had 12 strikeouts to finish WAC play with 163, good for second place in WAC history ... In WAC games, Melloh led the league in strikeouts (163), saves (2), appearances (19), games started (15) and strikeouts per game (9.67) ... The top-seeded Bulldogs play the winner of the Boise State-San Jose State game in the second round of the WAC Tournament on Thursday.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (29-22, 15-6 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine went 3-0 last week, sweeping the series from Boise State, 8-0, 9-1 and 8-3 ... Kanani Pu?u-Warren hit .857 (6-for-7) with a 1.286 slugging percentage and .875 on-base percentage. She has seven consecutive hits and is on a four-game hitting streak heading into the WAC Tournament ... Stephanie Ricketts tossed her second no-hitter of the season in the series opener, then threw a two-hitter the following game. She posted a 0.00 ERA while holding the Broncos to a .061 batting average ... Ricketts is now 21-9 on the season and is just the fifth pitcher in Hawai?i history to pass the 20-win mark. She also ranks fifth in school history with 173 strikeouts ... The No. 3 Rainbow Wahine face fourth-seeded Louisiana Tech in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Louisiana Tech Techsters (32-21, 12-8 WAC)
The Lady Techsters went 3-2 last week, splitting a twinbill with Ole Miss, 4-5 (eight innings) and 9-1, before going 2-1 at New Mexico State, 9-1, 5-3 and 4-5 ... Tech’s 12-8 WAC record is its first winning record in WAC play in program history ... Heather Doiron hit .462 with four home runs, six RBI and six runs over the five games. She had two career home runs prior to last week ... Amberly Waits leads the WAC with a .471 batting average, which is a Louisiana Tech single-season record. She ranks fourth nationally in slugging percentage (.922), fifth in batting average (.471), eighth in home runs (16), ninth in RBI per game (1.14), 17th in home runs per game (0.31) and 23rd in on-base percentage (.523) ... The fourth-seeded Techsters face No. 3 Hawai?i in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (35-15, 15-5 WAC)
The Wolf Pack went 2-1 at San Jose State last week, 17-0, 5-3 (14 innings) and 0-1 (10 innings) ... Nevada finished with a 15-5 conference record to share the WAC regular-season title with Fresno State. It was the second straight championship for the Wolf Pack ... Katie Holverson picked up both wins to finish WAC play with a 12-2 record. She is 23-8 this year, setting the school’s single-season record for victories ... Kym Silagyi hit .429 over the three games with her WAC-leading eighth triple of the season and 17th of her career. Both are school records ... Brittany Puzey has reached base safely in 29 straight games and in 48 of Nevada’s 50 games this season ... The No. 2 Wolf Pack face fifth-seeded New Mexico State in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
New Mexico State Aggies (32-19, 11-9 WAC)
The Aggies went 2-2 last week, beating instate rival New Mexico 13-8 last Tuesday, before going 1-2 (1-9, 3-5 and 5-4) vs. Louisiana Tech ... Stacey Lien hit an RBI-single in the bottom of the seventh for the win ... NM State leads the nation with a .345 batting average as eight Aggies are hitting above the .300 mark ... Hoku Nohara ranks second in the WAC and 24th nationally with a .428 batting average. She also ranks in the top 30 in on-base percentage (.528, 19th), slugging percentage (.766, 28th) and home runs (14, 30th) ... Tiare Jennings ranks fifth nationally in RBI per game (1.18), sixth in home runs (17), 20th in runs per game (1.02), 21st in slugging percentage (.791) and 40th in batting average (.411) ... The No. 5 Aggies face second-seeded Nevada in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
San Jose State Spartans (19-35, 6-15 WAC)
The Spartans went 1-2 last week, falling 0-17 and 3-5 to Nevada before winning the finale, 1-0 in 10 innings ... Elyssa Fox picked up the complete-game win, throwing a 10-inning shutout ... The Spartans out-hit the Wolf Pack 10-6 ... It was the first time since the 2007 season that SJSU had defeated a nationally ranked opponent ... Alex Stange hit the game-winner, an RBI-single up the middle, scoring Nicole Wells who had singled two batters earlier ... Sarah Taylor (7) and Kelli Fangonilo (5) rank fifth and 15th, respectively, in triples ... Amanda Pridmore ranks 23rd in the nation with three saves this season ... As a team, San Jose State is 18th in triples per game (0.31) and 24th in double plays per game (0.43) ... The No. 6 Spartans face seventh-seeded Boise State in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Utah State Aggies (10-37, 3-17 WAC)
The Aggies dropped a pair of games to Fresno State, 0-10 and 0-9, to close out the season last Friday ... Freshman Jasmine Harris led the team this season in batting average (.296), runs (21), hits (37), doubles (8), home runs (7), RBI (19), slugging percentage (.528) and on-base percentage (.389) ... Lindsey Benson led the team with 112 strikeouts and one save on the year ... The Aggies led the WAC in batters struck out looking (81) and runners picked off (4), were second in stolen bases per game (1.04) and tied for third in stolen bases (49) ... Benson ended her ranked career third all-time in the Aggie record books in strikeouts with 412.