Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Softball Concludes Record-Setting Season
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 7, 1999
Fresno, Calif. - Fresno State Is Nation's Best In ERA & Doubles While Breaking Own NCAA Season Attendance Mark-- Fresno State boasted the best pitching staff in the country with a 0.51 ERA as well having the collegiate's best pitcher in junior Amanda Scott (Clovis) with a 0.24 ERA and the nation's top hitter in doubles by junior first baseman Angela Cervantez (Madera) with 26. Returning for the Bulldogs and contributing to the best pitching staff nationally was freshman southpaw Kristen Hunter (Portland, Ore.) who finished third nationally in ERA (0.61). In addition, the Bulldogs recorded the second-highest number of wins (65) in the nation -- second to Illinois-Chicago's 67 -- and was only one of three schools to record 60 wins this season (UIC, 67; Fresno State, 65; UCLA, 63). And, Fresno State broke its own NCAA single-season attendance mark it set two years ago (51,133) with nearly 56,000 fans in 1999 (55,746). #4 Seed Fresno State Made 12th NCAA Women's College World Series Showing-- Making its 18th straight NCAA appearance and 22nd postseason showing overall, Fresno State appeared in its 12th NCAA Women's College World Series out of 18 postseason championships since 1982. As the No. 4 seed, the Bulldogs finished in a tie for fifth place with Arizona after posting a 1-2 WCWS mark. The 'Dogs opened championship play with a 1-0 win over #5 seed Southern Mississippi before being shutout in their final two games by the scores of 1-0 to top seed UCLA and #7 seed California.
Fresno State In the NCAA Tournament-- Fresno State is the only program to have qualified for each of the 18 NCAA Division 1 Women's Softball Championships. The Bulldogs captured their 12th regional championship title after sweeping through ree/nal action at home. In the NCAA Tournament, Fresno State owns a 67-37 (.644) postseason record: 37-14 (.725) in NCAA Regional action and 30-23 (.566) in NCAA Women's College World Series play. The 1999 NCAA Women's College World Series was held at the Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium, May 27-31, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Bulldogs Finish Fifth In Final USA Today/NFCA Top 25-- After opening the 1999 season with a No. 1 preseason ranking and ranking second in the country in the last five weeks of the regular season, Fresno State finished fifth in the final coaches' poll released on June 2. UCLA, which won its first national title since 1992, captured all 25 first-place votes and was followed in the poll by Washington (51-18), DePaul (54-14), California (51-22) and Fresno State (65-10).
Listen To The Bulldogs Live Via Radio & Internet-- With all the Fresno State home softball games being heard live via the world wide web for the second straight year (www.broadcast.com/radio/sports/KCBL), Fresno State softball was broadcast live from the 18th NCAA Women's College World Series from Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium on KCBL 1340 AM and KVBL 1400 AM. KCBL has been the official station of Fresno State's women's sports for the last six years.
Head Coach Margie Wright-- After 14 seasons as head coach of the Fresno State softball program, Margie Wright (Illinois State '74) has directed the Bulldogs to a national title (1998) while guiding the program to NCAA Women's College World Series in 10 of the last 13 years. She owns an impressive 738-210-1 (.778) mark with the Bulldogs and a 20-year career record of 887-290-3 (.753). As the second all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 history, Wright captured her 700th win at Fresno State against San Diego State on March 20. Having directed the Bulldogs to the WCWS 10 times since 1986, Wright has collected 10 outright or shared conference titles, a WAC tournament championship, 10 regional championship crowns, and 14 straight NCAA postseason appearances. With a NCAA title and three national runner-up trophies to her credit, Wright is the only coach in school history to garner region coach of the year honors (seven times) and is the third head coach overall at Fresno State to capture National Coach of the Year honors (1998). An assistant coach for the 1996 USA Olympic softball gold medal team and leading the USA Softball National Team to a gold medal at the 1998 ISF World Championships, Wright has averaged 53 wins a year and has coached 42 All-Americans and eight GTE Academic All-Americans.
Wright Is NCAA's All-Time Second Winningest Coach-- Entering the 1999 season as the NCAA's third all-time winningest coach by victories, Wright concluded the year as the second all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 history (by wins). With a doubleheader sweep over then No. 5 Oklahoma on March 16, Wright snagged second place to herself in the Bulldogs' 8-0 win over then No. 12 Oregon State in the tournament opener at the Kia Klassic. Wright, who has posted 50 or more wins 12 times and has notched 60 or more wins twice with seven WCWS appearances in the 1990's, is gaining ground on CS Fullerton's Judi Garman who opened the year as the NCAA's all-time win leader (877-345-4 in 19 years).
Scott & Jung Garner All-College World Series Honors; Scott Collects GTE Academic All-America Accolades-- Both garnering All-America status, Scott and Lovieanne Jung (Westminster) were selected to the 1999 NCAA All-College World Series Team. Scott posted a 1-1 mark with a shutout and a 0.00 ERA (second straight WCWS appearance with a perfect ERA). Jung, who ended the season with a five-game hit streak and batted .429 (9-21) with two runs, walk, home run and a stolen base in seven games of postseason play, shined defensively and hit .500 (4-8) in three games of WCWS play. Academically, Scott became the tenth Fresno State softball player and eighth under Wright to garner GTE Academic All-America honors (23rd Fresno State student-athlete overall). Scott also became the program's second three-time First Team NCAA All-American.
'Dogs Perfect In WAC Regular Season & Tournament-- As the first team in Western Athletic Conference history to go undefeated with a 24-0 regular-season mark, Fresno State iced the accomplishment by posting an unblemished worksheet (3-0) in the WAC Championship Tournament to finish WAC play at 27-0. Fresno State, which placed a school-record seven Bulldogs on the All-WAC teams, snagged its first WAC tournament championship title in its very first try.
Fresno State's National Rankings-- Fresno State has been no stranger to the national polls for the last 18 years. Nationally ranked every week since 1983, the Bulldogs have been in the nation's Top 20 for 18 straight years. The Bulldogs entered the 1999 season with a No. 1 ranking -- giving the program its first ever No. 1 preseason showing as well as the University's second varsity sport to ever hold down a No. 1 preseason ranking. Fresno State finished the 1999 season ranked in the top five. The 'Dogs have been ranked No. 1 five times and have been second 35 times in school history.
No. 1 Pitching Staff Set Single-Season "K" Mark-- Ranked No. 1 in the country in ERA since the first release of the NCAA statistics on April 7, the Fresno State pitching staff posted a team ERA of 0.51 with a single-season school-record 545 strikeouts and 38 shutouts in 75 games. The Bulldog pitching trio threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game, and 19 one-hitters while averaging 7.51 strikeouts per seven innings.
Bulldogs Boast Five All-Americans & They All Return-- After setting 14 teams records, including wins, consecutive wins (21), and home wins (36), Fresno State can point to five All-Americans who contributed to a record-setting year and, yes, all will return next season. First Team selections included Scott and junior first baseman Angela Cervantez (Madera), Second Team accolades went to Hunter, while Third Team picks were Jung and sophomore centerfielder Becky Witt (Reseda). The five All-America selections in 1999 made it the third time in the program's history (1999, '94 and '90) that five 'Dogs earned All-America status.
Anywhere You Looked, They Made Their Mark-- Cervantez led the nation in doubles (26) while being nationally-ranked in batting average and RBI. She ranked as the team's leader in batting average (.394), hits (87), doubles, RBI (73), walks (34), total bases (146) and slugging percentage (.661). Cervantez is the sixth player in school history to post 100 or more total bases while recording the third-highest number of total bases in a year ... Witt led the team in runs (62) and hits (88). She had at least one hit in 52 of 72 games played and notched 30 multiple hit games-- best on the team -- while scoring at least one run in 46 games ... Jung made a name for herself all year at the plate and in the field with her defense. One of two Bulldogs to have played and started all 75 games, Jung finished second to Cervantez in doubles (12), RBI (50), and total bases (119). Sharing team honors in triples (6), she also was third on the team in hits (77) and home runs (6) and fourth in runs (41). Jung became the first freshman in school history to post 100 total bases while recording at least one hit in 53 games ... Hunter is only the third freshman in school history to record 20 wins in a rookie campaign and posted the second-highest number of wins by a rookie pitcher (26). With two no-hitters, she threw seven one-hitters while notching 10 ten-strikeout games, including a school-record 15 versus then No. 6 DePaul (March 6) and CS Fullerton (April 28). Hunter, who went 6-4 against the Top 25, was nationally ranked every week in ERA and finished third (0.61). With 216 strikeouts, Hunter fanned more batters than any freshman pitcher in the program's history, was the seventh Bulldog pitcher to record 200 strikeouts in a year, and set a single-game school record in consecutive strikeouts (9) against CS Fullerton ... Scott led the country in ERA (0.24) all season an was nationally ranked in wins (29) and saves (4). Posting a career-high in strikeouts (231), she was the sixth Bulldog pitcher to fan 200 or more in a year and broke school's single-season strikeout record. With more than half of her 29 wins via shutout (18), Scott set a school-record in innings pitched without an earned run (126.0) while tossing seven one-hitters. In addition, she became the seventh pitcher in school history to post at least 500 career strikeouts (537).
Fresno State No. 1 in National Preseason Poll-- In the 1999 USA Today/NFCA Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll released on Jan. 27, Fresno State was voted the No. 1 team in the nation by 25 Division 1 coaches from across the country. The Bulldogs, who received 20 of 25 first-place votes by the coaches, captured the 1998 NCAA Women's College World Series title -- giving Fresno State its first national title by any team sport.
Bulldogs In the WAC-- Fresno State has led the conference in batting average the last five years -- 1999 (.308), 1998 (.340), 1997 (.326), 1996 (.323) and 1995 (.317) ... For the last four straight years, Fresno State has had the WAC Freshman of the Year (Kristen Hunter, 1999; Becky Witt, 1998; Amanda Scott, 1997; and Lindsay Parker, 1996) ... Fresno State has finished among the top three since competing in the WAC since 1993 and has captured three WAC crowns (1999-98 and '96) ... Four different programs which are or were members of the WAC have won the conference title and the league's NCAA automatic bid: (Utah, 1991-92), CS Northridge (1993-94-95), Colorado State (1997) and Fresno State ... The 1999 Bulldogs are only the second program ever to win three WAC softball titles and the third to repeat as league champions.
Wright Featured in Amy Love's Real Sports Magazine-- Just recently released, head coach Margie Wright was featured in Amy Love's Real Sports Magazine Spring '99 issue. Wright, who was interviewed about her coaching philosophy, stated "The things we teach them have to apply to life in general: commitment, respect and self-discipline. If a player comes back and thanks you later, that's more rewarding than wins and losses. Seeing them be successful in life is the most rewarding thing about coaching." In addition, Wright was also interviewed by Sports Illustrated for Women. Sports Illustrated released its 10 top teams in softball in its Spring '99 issue that hit the newsstands in March.
Fresno State Makes NCAA Tournament History-- Fresno State is the only program in the country to have qualified for each of the 18 Division 1 Women's Softball Championships. Fresno State captured its first NCAA softball title, its 12th regional title overall and made its 12th trip to NCAA Women's College World Series out of 18 postseason championships since 1982. In the NCAA Tournament, Fresno State owns a 67-37 (.644) total postseason record: 37-14 (.725) in NCAA Regional action and 30-23 (.566) in WCWS play.
Bulldogs Are Top Draw-- In 1999, Fresno State drew its largest single-season attendance with nearly 56,000 fans while resetting its own NCAA record. With the NCAA officially keeping total and average attendance marks since 1991, the Bulldogs have led the country in both categories in six of the last eight seasons (unofficially in 11 of last 13) entering the '99 season. Fresno State, which holds four NCAA attendance records including total (51,133) and average (2,557) in a season, has drawn more than 175,000 fans and has averaged nearly 2,300 per home date since the new Bulldog Diamond was built in 1996. The 'Dogs are 118-13 mark in its new facility since 1996.
Fresno State Hosts 1999 WAC Championship and 1999 USA Softball Women's National Team Festival-- Boasting one of the finest softball facilities in the country, Bulldog Diamond will be the site of the 1999 WAC Softball Championship Tournament in mid-May (13-15) and the 1999 USA Coca-Cola USA Softball National Team Festival in mid-June (10-13). The 1999 WAC Softball Championship will be only the third softball tournament ever in the league's history. On the national scene, Fresno State was one of the stops USA Softball made during its 1997 Coca-Cola USA Softball American Challenge Series tour.
Jung Named to 1999 USA Junior World Team-- Jung was selected to the 17-member 1999 USA Junior World National Team last November. The USA Junior World Team will look to defend its ISF world title this summer (June 17-27) in Taipei. Other Bulldogs who were members of the USA Junior World Team were Nina Lindenberg and Amanda Scott (gold, 1995), Maureen Brady (silver, 1991), Julie Smith (gold, 1987) and Martha Noffsinger-O'Kelley (bronze, 1985).
In the WAC ... Great Scott! Scott is 24-0 with six saves and 12 shutouts in WAC play since Feb. 27, 1998. Since her freshman year, she is 35-1, 231.0 IP, six saves, 19 shutouts, 136 hits, 31 runs, 16 earned runs, 11 multiple hits, 39 walks, 211 strikeouts, 0.48 ERA and a 6.39 strikeouts per seven innings. Her only loss was at then No. 25 Colorado State on April 28, 1997 (1-0). With a final ERA of 0.24, Scott broke the WAC's single-season record in ERA held by Amy Windmiller of CS Northridge (0.36, 1994). With six saves in her career -- all in the WAC -- Scott owns second place on the WAC's career save chart.
Consistent Offensive Punch-- While the pitching staff dominated its opponents this past year, Fresno State's offense was consistent. The Bulldogs, who have recorded 10 or more hits in a game 28 different times, outscored their opponents 358-69 and held them to under a run a game (0.92). The 'Dogs also boasted 136 multiple hits to their opponent's 30 while outslugging them .410 to .184 and knocking in 315 runners to their 57.
'Dogs No-No In 1999 With four no-hitters thrown, the 'Dogs tied the 1990 and '89 staff for the second-highest number of no-hitters thrown in a season: Carrie Dever threw two in '89 and '90, Terry Carpenter threw two in '89 and '90, and Marcie Green had two in '90. The most no-hitters thrown in a season is five by the 1986 and '84 pitching staffs.
D K's In Roman Times-- The 1999 Bulldog pitching staff set a new single-season school record in strikeouts (545) and were the first to fan 500 batters in a year. Scott (231), Hunter (216) and Parker (98) were the culprits. The most strikeouts in a season by a Bulldog pitching staff was 404 in 1992, which was spearheaded by Carpenter with 209 strikeouts.
1999: A Record-Setting Year-- Fresno State, which will bring a 26 consecutive conference win streak and a 12 straight WAC road win streak into next season, set/tied 18 team records and seven individual marks in 1999:
Team set Bulldog Diamond attendance (55,746) set best win-loss record (65-10, .867) set best conference win-loss record (24-0) set best away record [neutral and road] (29-7, .806) set consecutive win streak (21, March 24-April 20) set most wins in a season (65) set most home wins (36) set consecutive home wins (36, May 16, 1997 - March 5, 1999) set most road wins (29) set consecutive road wins (13) tied fewest conference losses (24-0) tied fewest conference home losses (12-0 in '99, 14-0 in '98, 4-0 in '85 and '83) set consecutive conference home wins (26, March 10 , 1998 - present) tied fewest conference road losses (12-0 in '99 and '96) set walks (191) set strikeouts by a pitching staff (545) set fewest walks allowed by a pitching staff (61) set most strikeouts in a game by a pitching staff (18 vs. Tulsa, April 10)
Individual Pitching - Season set most strikeouts in 7 innings (15, Kristen Hunter vs. DePaul and CS Fullerton) set consecutive strikeouts (9, Kristen Hunter vs. CS Fullerton) set consecutive wins (18, Amanda Scott) set strikeouts in a season (231, Amanda Scott) set lowest ERA (0.24, Amanda Scott)
Fielding - Season tied fielding percentage (1.000, 577 total chances, Jennifer Slaney)
Batting - Game tied runs in a game (4, Amanda Scott vs. San Jose State, April 16)
1999 Fresno State Softball Schedule Record: 65-10 WAC: 24-0 F 13 at UC Santa Barbara 12-5, 13-2 F 14 at Cal Poly 3-0 (9), 8-0 (5) F 22 #17 HAWAI'I* 1-0 F 23 #17 HAWAI'I* 7-4, 12-0 (5) F 26-28 at NFCA Leadoff Classic F 26 FS vs. Boston College 3-2 FS vs. Southern Illinois 1-0 F 27 FS vs. South Carolina 0-1 FS vs. Southern Illinois 4-0 F 28 FS vs. Missouri 7-2 FS vs. #18 Arizona State 4-0 M 4-7 FRESNO STATE CLASSIC M 4 FS vs. LONG BEACH ST. 3-0 M 5 FS vs. MISSOURI 10-1 (5) FS vs. CREIGHTON 6-0 M 6 FS vs. #19 OREGON ST. 0-1 (8) FS vs. #6 DEPAUL 6-0 M 7 FS vs. #1 UCLA 1-2 M 9 COLORADO ST. * 8-0 (5) M 10 COLORADO ST.* 3-1, 8-0 (6) M 12-14 at Florida State Tournament M 12 FS vs. Miami-Ohio 10-0 (5) FS vs. Mississippi 5-2 M 13 FS vs. Virginia 4-1 (8) FS vs. Northern Iowa 4-0 M 14 FS vs. #22 UMass 0-1 (9) M 16 #5 OKLAHOMA 1-0, 4-0 M 18-21 at Kia Klassic M 18 FS vs. #12 Oregon State 8-0 (6) FS vs. #11 Texas 1-2 M 19 FS vs. #7 Southwestern La. 2-3 M 20 FS vs. San Diego State 2-0 FS vs. UNLV 7-2 M 21 FS vs. #6 Arizona State 2-3 M 24 PORTLAND ST. 2-0, 9-0 (5) M 26 at #22 New Mexico* 6-1 M 27 at #22 New Mexico* 5-1, 4-1 M 30 HARVARD 9-0 (6), 6-1 M 31 SAINT MARY'S 6-0, 4-0 A 2 UNLV* 10-1 (5) A 3 UNLV* 2-0, 8-0 (6) A 9 at Tulsa* 2-1 A 10 at Tulsa* 2-1, 8-3 (8) A 16 SAN JOSE ST.* 8-0 (6) A 17 SAN JOSE ST.* 4-1, 4-1 A 18 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 6-0, 7-0 A 20 PACIFIC 1-0, 1-2 A 24 at San Diego St.* 4-0, 4-0 A 25 at San Diego St.* 6-3 A 28 CS FULLERTON 5-0, 4-0 M 1 at Utah* 9-4, 6-3 M 2 at Utah* 4-3 M 13-15 WAC TOURNAMENT M 13 UTAH 2-1 M 14 SAN DIEGO ST. 3-2 M 15 UTAH 8-0 (5) M 20-23 NCAA REGIONALS M 20 FLORIDA A&M+ 5-0 M 21 #15 STANFORD+ 5-2 M 22 TEXAS TECH+ 3-1 M 23 TEXAS TECH+ 5-0 M 27-31 NCAA Women's College World Series at Oklahoma City, Okla. M 27 #8 Southern Mississippi& 1-0 M 28 #1 UCLA& 0-1 M 29 #17 California& 0-1 *WAC WAC Championship +NCAA Region ( ) Inning % NCAA WCWS Games DH unless noted otherwise
