Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal State Northridge<BR>(NCAA Regionals)
Softball Ends NCAA Tournament Run
5/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 18, 2001
LOS ANGELES - Fresno State (39-19) concluded its 2001 season in NCAA Tournament play after dropping a 3-1 decision to CS Northridge (32-23) in an elimination game.
The Bulldogs jumped out quickly after scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Becky Witt led the inning off with an infield single. Vanessa Czarnecki then advanced Witt to second on a ground out. Tiffany Whipple grounded out to the right side to advance Witt to third. Lindsay Fossatti picked up a RBI single to left field for the Bulldogs lone run.
CS Northridge came back with a run in the fourth, one in the fifth and one in the seventh to move on to the 3:00 p.m. game against UCLA. The Matadors would drop a 9-0 decision to the Bruins and finish tournament play 1-2. Fresno State also concluded regional play with a 1-2 record.
Lori Hoffman took the loss for Fresno State and finished her season with an 11-10 record. Sarah Farnworth was the winning pitching and improved to 25-15 with the victory over Fresno State.
The Bulldogs lose two seniors in All-America center fielder Becky Witt and all-Western Athletic Conference shortstop Alicia Dowland. These two Bulldogs helped Fresno State to its first national title by any team sport in school history when the 'Dogs claimed a 1-0 victory at the 1998 NCAA Women's College World Series.
Witt concludes her stellar career ranked in three Top 10 NCAA all-time marks in career runs(No. 8, 224), career hits (No. 9, 331) and career at bats (No. 10, 866). With eight games rained out this season, Witt just missed ranking in NCAA's Top 25 in career games played. Having played in 261 games as a Bulldog, the No. 25 spot was 263.
Fresno State, despite the loss of a starting pitcher and nine new faces, did claim its fourth consecutive WAC title and fifth in the last six years. The Bulldogs are the only program in WAC history to win four straight titles and the only program to win five titles in softball. They also extened their NCAA streak in NCAA Division I Women's Softball Championship appearances to 20 straight championship tournament showings. Fresno State is the only softball program in the country to appear in all 20 NCAA softball championships.
