FERGUSON, RICKETTS NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Tina Ferguson and Hawai`i’s Stephanie Ricketts have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 19-25. This is the first-ever honor for Ferguson and the third honor of the season and fifth of her career for Ricketts.
Ferguson, a freshman second baseman from Payson, Utah, hit .643 with two triples, three home runs and 12 RBI as the Aggies went 4-1 on the week. Ferguson entered the week with 13 RBI on the season. Ferguson was 9-for-14 at the plate with a 1.571 slugging percentage and .667 on-base percentage. In a 12-2 win over Utah Valley, she went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI and two triples. In the nightcap, she hit the walk-off home run to cap an outstanding game, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored, five RBI and two home runs. In the Aggies’ 4-2 win over San Jose State, Ferguson hit a walk-off three-run home run, and in the series finale, she had the game-winning hit that led USU to another seventh-inning come-from-behind win. During the week, Ferguson ran her hitting streak to eight games, USU’s longest of the year.
Ricketts, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif., went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA last week as she fired her first career perfect game. In the five-inning gem at Nevada, she got six fly outs, seven ground outs and two strikeouts. She threw just 53 pitches in the game and faced the minimum 15 batters. It was her fourth shutout of the year and her third career no-hitter. With the win, Ricketts also became just the third pitcher in Hawai`i history to win at least 20 games in two seasons.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Vanessa Alvarez hit .429 with four RBI last week … Haley Gilleland of Fresno State hit .556 with three stolen bases on the week … Hawai`i’s Jenna Rodriguez hit .600 with two homers and six RBI in three games last week … Amberly Waits of Louisiana Tech reached base nine out of 10 times last week and posted a WAC-best .857 batting average … New Mexico State’s Hoku Nohara hit .429 with four home runs and 11 RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Allie Crump went 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA and 17 strikeouts last week … Michelle Moses of Fresno State went 1-0 on the week with a 1.05 ERA and 17 strikeouts … Louisiana Tech’s Janna Frandrup recorded the first win of her career, pitching a complete-game win over Boise State … Kate Greenough of Utah State went 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 20 strikeouts last week.
HAWAI`I’S RICKETTS THROWS PERFECT GAME
Hawai`i sophomore pitcher Stephanie Ricketts fired her first career perfect game in the first half of a doubleheader at Nevada Saturday as the Rainbow Wahine picked up a 20-0 five-inning win, their 16th straight. Ricketts (20-6, 11-0 WAC) was efficient on the mound, getting six fly outs, seven ground outs and two strikeouts. She threw just 53 pitches in the game and faced the minimum 15 batters. Ricketts became just the third pitcher in UH history to win at least 20 games twice. Kelly Gentle holds the record with three 20-win years (24 in 1997, 22 in 1998 and 20 in 1999), while Brooke Wilkins won 29 games in both 1994 and 1995. Last season, Ricketts went 22-11 as a freshman.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2010 TOURNAMENT
New Mexico State will host the WAC Softball Tournament for the first time ever in 2010. The top six teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the NM State Softball Complex from May 12-15. It is the first time the Aggies have hosted the event.
Top-seeded Fresno State defeated No. 2-seed Nevada 3-2 in eight innings to claim its third WAC Tournament title last season in Fresno and earn the WAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
WAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE
All-session tournament tickets for the 2010 WAC Softball Tournament are available for purchase. The top six teams in the conference will advance to the double elimination tournament, which will be held May 12-15 at the NM State Softball Complex in Las Cruces, N.M.
Ticket prices for the 2010 WAC Softball Tournament, all of which are general admission, are as follows:
All-Session Single Day
Adult $25 $12
Senior (65 years and above) $20 $10
Youth (18 years and under) $10 $5
WAC Students (w/ valid ID) $10 $5
Tickets can be purchased either online at ticketmaster.com or through the Pan American Center Ticket Office by calling (575) 646-1420. On the Ticketmaster site, search WAC Softball Tournament to find the sales site and make your purchase. There is a $2.75 per ticket service charge applied for online sales.
WAC TO STREAM SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
The WAC, in conjunction with its Web site partner JumpTV Sports, will stream the 2010 WAC Softball Tournament live from Las Cruces, N.M. 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.
SAN JOSE STATE BREAKS SCHOOL HOME RUN RECORD
Breanna Lopez hit her second home run of the season to help San Jose State break the school single-season team home run record last Friday vs. Utah State. With Lopez’s home run, the Spartans have now hit 31 home runs this year, breaking the previous record of 30 set by the 2006 team.
BOISE STATE BRONCOS (22-28, 9-6 WAC)
The Broncos dropped a doubleheader at Idaho State last Tuesday (3-5, 5-7), then won their second straight and third WAC series of the year as they went 2-1 at Louisiana Tech last weekend (4-2, 3-2 and 3-4) ... Vanessa Alvarez set the school record for walks in a season with 26 ... Alvarez is currently riding a career-high six game hit streak ... Allie Crump set the school record for wins in a season with 14. She has won five of her last six decisions, including four consecutive conference wins ... Boise State clinched a spot in the WAC Tournament for the second consecutive year ... The Broncos have more than doubled their WAC win total from 2009 and have equaled their overall win total from 2009 with 22 wins ... As a team, Boise State ranks 43rd nationally in double plays per game (0.36) and 47th in home runs per game (0.90) ... Kathy Cox ranks fifth nationally in home runs (17) and 20th in home runs per game (0.34) ... The Broncos host San Jose State for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (33-14, 12-3 WAC)
The Bulldogs swept the series vs. New Mexico State last weekend, 4-3 (8), 7-6 and 3-1 ... Haley Gilleland broke Fresno State’s career stolen base record in the first inning of game one vs. NM State. She was a perfect 3-for-3 on the week and now has 55 in her career ... Michelle Moses went 1-0 on the week with a 1.05 ERA in a team-high 13.1 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts. Moses is a perfect 5-0 in WAC play in the circle ... Fresno State has won all of its WAC series this season ... As a team, the Bulldogs rank 36th nationally in ERA (2.06) and slugging percentage (.468), and 41st in batting average (.300) and winning percentage (.702) ... Michelle Moses ranks 10th in the nation in home runs (16), 18th in home runs per game (0.34), 31st in RBI per game (1.04) and 45th in saves (2) ... The Bulldogs travel to league-leader Hawai`i for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
HAWAI`I RAINBOW WAHINE (39-11, 17-0 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine swept Nevada last weekend, 6-2, 20-0 (5) and 11-2 (5) ... Jenna Rodriguez posted a .600 batting average with six RBI ... Stephanie Ricketts fired her first career perfect game at Nevada, getting six fly outs, seven ground outs and two strikeouts. She threw just 53 pitches in the game and faced the minimum 15 batters ... With a 20-6 mark, Ricketts is just the third pitcher in UH history to win 20 or more games in two seasons ... Ricketts has won 11 straight games, the longest streak of her young career ... The Rainbow Wahine have launched 123 home runs in chase of Arizona’s record mark of 134 set last season in 63 games ... All nine offensive starters have hit at least six home runs apiece ... Jessica Iwata broke UH’s single-season record for doubles last week and has 20. The former record of 18 was set by Stacey Porter in 2003 ... The Rainbow Wahine host second-place Fresno State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
LOUISIANA TECH TECHSTERS (22-17, 7-8 WAC)
The Lady Techsters went 1-2 last week vs. Boise State last weekend, falling 2-4 and 2-3 before winning the finale, 4-3 ... Amberly Waits reached base nine out of 10 times last weekend against Boise State and recorded six of the Lady Techsters’ 15 hits in the series ... Janna Frandrup recorded the first collegiate victory of her career, pitching a complete-game win over Boise State. She allowed only one earned run while scattering six hits and no walks ... Waits ranks 23rd nationally in batting average (.429), 33rd in slugging percentage (.768) and on-base percentage (.519), and 48th in runs per game (0.92) ... Meghan Krieg ranks 31st in the nation in strikeouts (225), 42nd in hits per seven innings (4.91) and 49th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3) ... Jessica Kirby ranks 26th nationally in sacrifice flies (3) ... The Techsters host Nevada for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (16-23, 3-11 WAC)
The Wolf Pack dropped all three games of the series vs. Hawai`i last weekend, 2-6, 0-20 (5) and 2-11 (5) ... Nevada was out-hit 40-12 by the Rainbow Wahine over the three games ... As a team, the Wolf Pack rank 36th nationally with 1.46 doubles per game, while Kelsey Starr ranks 15th with 0.36 doubles per game ... Nevada travels to Louisiana Tech for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (22-25, 2-13 WAC)
The Aggies defeated instate rival New Mexico 12-3 last Tuesday, then were swept by Fresno State over the weekend, 3-4 (8), 6-7 and 1-3 ... Hoku Nohara tied the NM State single-game record of seven RBI against New Mexico when she hit a pair of home runs ... The Aggies swept the season series against New Mexico for the second-straight season ... Nohara hit two out of the park again in game two of the series at Fresno State ... NM State turned four double plays against Fresno State to maintain their top-10 ranking nationally in the category ... On Monday, NM State split a doubleheader at Cal State Bakersfield, 1-7 and 5-1 ... Ashley Maroda hit a solo homer in the first game to account for the Aggies’ only run ... Nohara is three home runs shy of the single-season home run record of 17 set by teammate Tiare Jennings last season ... NM State hosts Utah State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (30-18, 6-9 WAC)
The Spartans went 1-2 vs. Utah State last weekend, dropping the first game 2-4, winning the second game 2-1 and losing the finale 1-2 ... Kelli Fangonilo was 5-for-10 with two doubles over the three games ... Jaclyn Imhof picked up the win, throwing a complete-game seven-hitter and striking out six ... On Tuesday, the Spartans fell 4-1 at No. 14 Stanford ... Julianne Aiello was 2-for-2 and drove in the Spartans’ only run ... As a team, San Jose State ranks sixth nationally in double plays per game (0.48), 19th in doubles per game (1.56), 44th in stolen bases per game (1.48) and 49th in scoring (5.21) ... Brittany McConnell ranks 12th in the nation in sacrifice flies (4) and 50th in RBI per game (0.96) ... The Spartans travel to Boise State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (18-26, 5-11 WAC)
The Aggies went 4-1 last week, sweeping a doubleheader vs. Utah Valley (12-2 and 8-6), then winning the series against San Jose State, 4-2, 1-2 and 2-1 ... Tina Ferguson hit .643 with two triples, three home runs and 12 RBI in five games ... Kate Greenough went 3-0 in three starts last week. She allowed only three earned runs in two wins against San Jose State. For the week, she was 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched ... On Monday, the Aggies dropped a doubleheader at Utah, 7-8 and 3-8 ... Ferguson hit two homers in the two games ... On Tuesday, Utah State swept a doubleheader against Weber State, 11-1 (5) and 9-3 ... Shasta Tyteca had four hits and drove in four runs over the two games ... Ferguson’s 10-game hitting streak came to an end in the first game vs. the Wildcats ... The Aggies travel to New Mexico State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.