Fresno State Athletics
Seizing the Moment
3/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 8, 2000
Seizing the Moment
by Jan Winslow
The 1999 season proved to be a successful year for Fresno State statistically but the feeling of a mission not accomplished has lingered on. The Bulldogs not only have five All-Americans and the NCAA's all-time winningest active coach returning from a record-setting 65-10 team, the 'Dogs have all their starters back but two and the top pitching staff in the country from a year ago has remained in tact.
Fresno State will have speed, power, youth and experience to lead the program into the new millennium. Fresno State will have the leadership from four players who were a part of the National Championship team directing a group of 11 veterans and a crop of nine new faces. Fresno State will have the same goal as always - to be No. 1.
With a 20-game home slate on tap, Fresno State's schedule is highlighted with the Hallowell Chevrolet Classic, a four-day seven-team nationally-ranked field, as well as non-conference doubleheaders against UCLA and Arizona. In the Western Athletic Conference, two new softball programs have been added to the conference slate in Loyola Marymount and Portland State.
"There are no easy games and we are counting on a tough season to challenge us on into the postseason," said 15th year head coach Margie Wright, who enters the 2000 campaign as the NCAA's all-time winningest active coach and 27 wins shy of being the NCAA's all-time career win leader. "We have a solid group of returnees and a mix of newcomers who have all the ingredients to be the best."
With the best pitching staff in the country last season, Fresno State returns the top two pitchers in the nation in senior right-hander Amanda Scott and sophomore left-hander Kristen Hunter. They both were a part of a staff that set a new single-season school record in strikeouts (545) last year.
Scott, a three-time First Team All-American and a GTE Academic All-American, was the nation's best collegiate pitcher after recording a 0.24 ERA in addition to setting a new school single-season strikeout record. This Honda Awards Softball finalist became the seventh pitcher in the program's history to post at least 500-career strikeouts in addition to establishing a new record in consecutive wins.
Hunter's freshman campaign proved to be the best. The southpaw finished third nationally in ERA and became only the third player in school history to notch 20 wins in a rookie campaign. Posting the second-highest number of wins by a freshman, Hunter threw two no-hitters and had 10 ten-strikeout games. The WAC Freshman of the Year fanned more batters than any rookie pitcher in the program's history.
Senior All-America first baseman Angela Cervantez will lead a veteran infield that will showcase sophomore All-America second baseman Lovieanne Jung, junior All-WAC shortstop Alicia Dowland, and sophomore All-West Region third baseman Lindsay Fossatti.
Leading the nation in doubles (26) last year Cervantez was nationally ranked in batting average and RBI. She was named the WAC Player of the Year en route to her first All-America honor. Returning as the team's top hitter and RBI producer she totaled the sixth-highest number of total bases in a season .
Jung, who was one of two Bulldogs to have played and started all 75 games, garnered All-College World Series accolades and was the first freshman in school history to post 100 total bases in a season.
Getting the attention from the league coaches, Dowland captured her first all-conference recognition and ended the year with a personal-best .286 batting average. Finishing among the team's top five offensively and know for her stellar defense, Fossatti is back at the hot corner after garnering All-WAC and All-West Region honors. And sophomore catcher Kaci Pennington will be vying for a starting position behind the plate.
Though two-time junior All-America centerfielder Becky Witt will serve as general, she, along with sophomore right fielder Vanessa Czarnecki will patrol the vast real estate in the outfield. In addition, sophomores Alejandra Roncancio and Kelley Cook will look to get a starting bid when Scott is pitching.
As the team's top returning hit and run leader, Witt captured her first GTE Academic All-District honor while repeating as a NCAA All-Regional selection. As the table setter, Czarnecki had at least one hit in 32 games and scored at least a run in 30 while being the top batter in sacrifice hits. Roncancio and Cook both appeared as pinch runners for the Bulldogs last season and is back to bolster the 'Dogs speed.
Fresno State greets nine fresh faces in 2000 with five true freshmen, one sophomore and a trio of juniors. The freshmen class brings the Bulldogs a pair of catchers in Pam West and Caitlin Haworth-Yasger as well as a pitcher in Lindsay Foster, an infielder in Dana Duran, and an outfielder in Amanda Hinton. Fresno State Softball 2000 - it's a new millennium with the same intent.
