Fresno State Athletics
No. 14 Softball Concludes Regular-Season Schedule
5/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 6, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. -
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Fresno State Concludes Regular-Season Schedule
Fresno State softball concludes regular-season play this week when the Bulldogs close out Western Athletic Conference action at San Jose State on Sat., May 12, 12:00 p.m. With a three-game lead going into the final weekend of WAC play, Fresno State will look to capture the league title outright after already clinching a share of the conference crown.
Bulldogs Earn NCAA Automatic Berth
Fresno State picked up the conference's NCAA automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after clinching a share of the WAC title. The Bulldogs, who has a three-game lead over second-place Tulsa and Hawai'i, earn the automatic berth based on winning the conference tie-breaker as the 'Dogs took three of four from each school. Entering the week with a share of the WAC title, Fresno State has now collected five outright or shared conference crowns and six within the last seven years.
Lunch with Margie
Today is the last date to have "Lunch with Margie" at the Silver Dollar Hofbrau. Beginning at 12:00 p.m., Wright will share her thoughts and do a question and answer session with fans once a month during the season.
Final Bus Trip
One bus trip remains for the year to follow the Bulldogs on the road. The bus tour will stop at San Jose State (May 11). The price is $49 per person and does not include tickets. For more information, phone (559) 225-3164.
NCAA Selection Show
The field for 48 teams for the 2002 NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be announced on a selection show at 9:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, May 12. The softball selection show will appear on ESPNEWS, which is on DirecTV channel 207 and Dish Network channel 142. Fresno State will be making its 21st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship Tournament. The Bulldog softball program is the only program in the country to have appeared in each of the NCAA Tournaments sponsored since 1982.
Southern is Top 10 Finalist for Player of the Year
In April, freshman right-hander Jamie Southern (Clovis) was selected as one of 25 collegiate softball players for the inaugural USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Southern was one of three freshmen to be singled out by The Amateur Softball Association. On May 3, Southern became one of 10 finalists for the national honor. With the recent announcement of an invitation extended to Southern to attend the USA World Championship Team camp this summer, the list will be narrowed a third time as three finalists will be selected by May 31. The winner of the 2002 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be announced June 7.
Head Coach Margie Wright
In her 17th season as head coach of the Fresno State softball program, Margie Wright (Illinois State, 1974) has directed the Bulldogs to a national title (1998) while guiding the program to the NCAA Women's College World Series 10 times in the last 15 years. Entering the year as only the second NCAA Division I coach to amass 900 or more Division I career wins, she owns an impressive 879-260-1 (.772) mark with the Bulldogs and a 23-year career record of 1,026-340-3 (.751). Becoming the NCAA's all-time career win leader on March 23, 2000 with a 2-1 victory over CS Northridge, Wright became the first NCAA Division I coach to accumulate 1,000 Division I wins on March 12, 2002 when the Bulldogs swept Tennessee Tech (4-0, 2-1). The eight-time conference coach of the year has collected 13 outright or shared conference titles, a WAC tournament championship, 10 regional championship crowns and has led Fresno State to 17 straight NCAA postseason appearances. With a NCAA title and three national runner-up trophies to her credit, Wright is the only coach in program history to garner region coach of the year honors (seven times) and is the third head coach overall at Fresno State to garner National Coach of the Year accolades (1998). Boasting a 427-75 (.851) all-time home field record and a 198-28 (.876) mark at the "new" Bulldog Diamond since 1996, Wright has averaged 52 wins a year and has coached 44 All-Americans and 12 Verizon Academic All-Americans. An assistant coach for the 1996 USA Olympic softball gold medal team, Wright also helped the USA Softball National Team to a gold medal at the 1998 ISF World Championships.
Wright Joins 1,000 Win Club
Wright has reached momentous milestones since becoming the program's third head coach in 1986. Recording career victories No. 200 through No. 1,000 at Fresno State, Wright became the NCAA's all-time winningest Division I coach with win No. 914 on March 23, 2000 (2-1 vs. CS Northridge). The 1998 National Coach of the Year entered the 2002 season 22 wins shy of being the first-ever NCAA Division I head coach to record 1,000 NCAA Division I victories. She became the first softball coach and just the 24th head coach on the Division I level, regardless of sport and per records kept by the NCAA, to post 1,000 Division I victories on March 12 with a 2-1 victory over Tennessee Tech. Overall, only three head coaches, regardless of Division, had posted at least 900 fastpitch wins entering the 2002 season: Wright (978-323-3), Sandy Jerstad of Augustana (918-320-2) and Judi Garman of CS Fullerton (913-374-4).
Fresno State Softball Celebrates Silver Anniversary
Celebrating 25 years of winning tradition will ring throughout the 2002 season for the Fresno State softball program. Recognized as a cornerstone of softball excellence since their inception, the Bulldogs boast a heritage that is hard pressed to be found elsewhere. A tradition that is held in high esteem, Fresno State softball demand for excellence has not only delivered the first national title to the university but has produced unparalleled success both on the field and in the classroom.
No Freebies Here
Though the RPI for softball is not released until postseason play is finished, the Bulldogs' strength of schedule certainly has them right among the top eight. Fresno State, which went 8-10 against the Top 25, is 44-15 on the season. Of the 17 losses, 12 have come by two or less runs (nine one-run losses with three of them via extra innings). Fourteen the losses have occurred on the road and of those 14, 10 were against Top 25 with nine coming against the Top 10 and six against the Top Five. Still further, for a squad that is underclassmen dominated, the Bulldogs have not backed down from a schedule that featured 14 games against the Top 10 with 12 of those meetings being on the road. All told, Fresno State played 18 games against the Top 25 in their first 42 games with 14 coming against the Top 10. After all is said and done, Fresno State will have played 40 road games and just 27 home games to round out a 67-game regular-season schedule.
San Jose State (23-42, 7-15)
In the middle of an eight-game homestand, San Jose State is coming off a 1-3 worksheet at home after dropping two to Portland State (10-1 in 6 inn., 6-2) and splitting with No. 17 Pacific (0-1, 1-0). The Spartans, who host No. 8 Stanford on Wednesday, is sixth in the Western Athletic Conference standings with a 7-15 mark. Going 7-7 in its last 14 games, SJSU enters the week with an 8-10 home record. The Spartans, who have gone 2-2 in their last four WAC contests, are being led offensively by a pair of junior infielders Becca Baldridge and Veronica Ramos. Baldridge, a first baseman, is batting a team-best .314 (61-194) and leads the team in hits, runs (20) and stolen bases (10). Ramos, a second team all-WAC selection at third base last season, is hitting .298 (51-171) and leads the team in doubles (14), triples (2), home runs (5) and RBI (28) while second on the team in hits and runs (17). In the circle, freshman right-hander Carol Forbes is 15-21 with five shutouts, one save and 118 strikeouts in 237.0 innings for a 2.63 ERA. Freshman right-hander Brianne Ferguson, who picked up the win over UOP, is 7-18 with two shutouts and 67 strikeouts in 157.0 innings for a 3.12 ERA. The last time the two teams last met, Fresno State notched a pair of 1-0 victories over SJSU on April 13. Southern tossed a perfect game in game one, recorded a save in game two and picked up both game-winning hits in the doubleheader sweep at Bulldog Diamond. In the all-time series, Fresno State owns a 53-3 series leads and has won 18 of the last 19 meetings.
National Rankings
Fresno State softball has been no stranger to the national polls. Nationally ranked every week for 174 consecutive weeks since the NCAA's first Top 15 poll in 1983, the Bulldogs have been in the nation's Top 20 for 20 straight years. In addition, they have been in the Top 10 for 151 weeks. On March 14, 1989, the Bulldogs achieved their first-ever No. 1 national ranking and were ranked No. 1 for two straight weeks in 1997 before finishing as the No. 1 team in the final 1998 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. In 1999, Fresno State opened the year with a No. 1 preseason ranking after winning the national title in 1998. Since March 29, 1988, the 'Dogs have been the top-ranked team five times, ranked second 35 times, ranked third 32 times, and ranked fourth 20 times. The softball program's five No. 1 rankings is the most ever by a Bulldog athletic team.
Southern is ERA Leader
The NCAA released its fourth set of NCAA Division I softball statistics last Wed., May 1. As a team, the Bulldogs ranked No. 3 in fielding percentage (.976) for the fourth straight week and is No. 4 in ERA (0.92). The 'Dogs also checked in at No. 23 in win-loss percentage (.746, 44-15). Individually, Southern leads the nation in ERA (0.43) for the fourth straight week and is No. 2 in victories (30-6) for the third straight week after being ranked No. 3 in week one. In a statistic not totaled until the end of the season, Southern ranks No. 4 in total strikeouts (340) among Division I hurlers.
JSo is SO ...
With a 31-7 record on the year that includes 46 appearances with 37 starts and 36 complete games, Southern has thrown 20 shutouts, two perfect games in three no-hitters, set a single-game school record in strikeouts twice, has three saves, broke the school's freshman record in strikeouts and set a new WAC and Fresno State single-season strikeout record while opponents are batting .137 against her for a 0.41 ERA. Tallying 18 ten-strikeout games, Southern has totaled 361 strikeouts in 310.2 innings (8.15 strikeouts 7/IP). Against the Top 25 in her career, Southern is 5-4 with a save, four shutouts and 94 strikeouts in 82.1 innings (8.01 strikeouts 7/IP). In her career, she owns a 33-7 mark that includes three saves, 21 shutouts with 36 complete games in 39 starts and 49 appearances. She has pitched 321.1 innings and has yielded 148 hits, 29 runs (18 earned), 48 walks and 376 strikeouts (8.20 7/IP) for a 0.39 ERA.
Rookie Lineage
As the second rookie Bulldog pitcher to notch 30 or more wins and the fifth Bulldog pitcher overall, Southern already has broken the freshman record for strikeouts and is now chasing the likes of Terry Carpenter and Marcie Green. Southern has tied Carpenter for the rookie mark in wins (31) as Carpenter owns the best win-loss record (31-6) by a freshman pitcher. Winning 11 straight, Southern's bid to catch Green's mark for consecutive victories (15) was halted last week against Loyola Marymount. Southern owns season-best highs of four consecutive shutout wins (twice), 11 consecutive victories, 92.2 innings without an earned run (No. 3 at Fresno State), 52.1 scoreless innings (20 hits, two walks, 61 strikeouts--No. 3 at Fresno State) and 11.2 hitless innings.
Take 7
Southern has garnered Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors seven times this season. As the first pitcher in WAC history to garner four consecutive pitcher of the week accolades, Southern pitched a pair of no-hitters with a nine-day separation. Against Tennessee Tech on March 12, she recorded the program's 53rd no-hitter. Southern threw a perfect game (10th in school history -- second known perfect game in college softball at the time) against UC Riverside on March 3. She then threw her second career perfect game (11th in school history) against San Jose State on April 13. Southern already has set a single-game school record in strikeouts as she threw all 15 innings and struck out 19 in the Bulldogs' 2-1 victory against No. 10 Pacific. The 19 strikeouts recorded broke a 20-year old record held by All-American Wende Ward (17 in 14 inn. versus Cal Poly, 1983). She then reset her own single-game strikeout record with 22 against Tulsa in a 1-0, 17-inning game. Having broken the school's rookie record for most strikeouts in a season with 226 against Loyola Marymount on March 23, Southern then set the WAC's and Fresno State's single-season strikeout record of 330 against Louisiana Tech on April 25. Overall, Southern is 18-4 with a no-decision in her last 23 starts. In addition, Southern is 21-5 with a no-decision in her last 27 starts while 27-7 with a no-decision in her last 35 starts (the six starting losses are one-run games, four are extra-inning games and four have come against the Top 25). Having opened the year at 8-0, Southern is 19-3 with a no-decision, a win in relief, a relief appearance and a save in her last 26 appearances.
Weekend Recap & Top Performances
Fresno State clinched a share of the WAC title and earned the league's NCAA automatic bid last week ... The Bulldogs will look to capture the title outright this weekend at San Jose State ... Finishing no worse than 17-7, the 'Dogs have already won the tie breaker over second-place Tulsa and Hawai'i as Fresno State took three of four from both schools ... Fresno State will be making its NCAA record-setting 21st consecutive appearance in postseason play ... Fresno State wrapped up its regular-season home schedule with a 24-3 mark and averaged 2,040 fans in 14 home dates ... It marks the seventh straight season in which the softball program has averaged at least 2,000 fans ... The 14 home dates are the fewest home dates played since 1995 ... Freshman right-hander Amanda Wolf (Elgin, Texas) picked up her second win with a 4-2 decision over UC Santa Barbara ... She had gone 1-1 with two no-decisions in her previous four starts ... Junior right-hander Leslie Poole (Rootstown, Ohio) recorded her 15th win and fourth shutout in the Bulldogs' 4-0 victory against LMU ... She picked up her first save as a Bulldog (second in career) after pitching 1.2 innings of relief of Wolf in the 'Dogs victory over UC Santa Barbara... Senior third baseman Lindsay Fossatti (Tustin) hit her sixth home run on the year with a solo shot in the sixth against LMU ... Fresno State is two wins shy of collecting 200 WAC wins in 10 years as a league member (198-46).
Unheralded Play
Sophomore second baseman Pam Perez (Fresno) continues to be the unsung hero for the Bulldogs both offensively and defensively. Last weekend, Perez batted .353 (6-17) and hit her second career triple. Garnering hits in five of six games played last week, Perez is hitting a team-best .324 (24-78) with eight runs, triple, three RBI, seven walks, six sacrifices and 2-2 in stolen bases in 22 games of WAC play, Against UCSB, Perez hit .750 (3-4) The second-year starter at second base has committed just 17 errors in 534 total chances for a career .963 fielding percentage. Starting every game for 123 straight since last season, Fresno State turned three double plays last week - all of which Perez was a part of -- and has turned seven of the team's 19 double plays on the year. This season, she has snared 23 would-be base hits up the middle or to the right side combined. Improving her batting average by nearly 100 points since her freshman year, Perez is second on the team in batting (.306), runs (24) and sacrifices (17), third in hits (60) and walks (15) and fourth in total bases (65). She has 14 multiple-hit games and three multiple RBI games while adding seven two-out RBI games (fourth-best on team). Having posted a season-high seven-game hit streak in which she batted .435 (10-23), Perez has hit safely in 12 of her last 16 games and is batting .314 (17-54) with seven runs, triple, RBI, two walks, two hit by pitch, five sacrifices and 19 total bases.
Miscellaneous Notables
The Bulldogs, who have won 20 of their last 24 games, went 24-3 at home ... Fresno State is 20-8 in its last 28 and 21-9 in last 30 and 23-9 in its last 32 ... The Bulldogs have played nine extra inning games this season and are 6-3 in extra work ... 12 of Fresno State's 17 losses on the year have come by two or less runs (nine one-run losses with three of them via extra innings)... 14 losses have occurred on the road and of those 14, 10 are against Top 25 with nine coming against the Top 10 and six against the Top Five ... Fresno State is 8-10 versus the Top 25 this season ... The Bulldogs played 18 games against the Top 25 in their first 42 games with 14 coming against the Top 10 ... Four teams in the WAC have played at least 60 games to date in Loyola Marymount (66), Fresno State (65), San Jose State (65) and Tulsa (60) ... In WAC play, Southern is 10-2 and is now one of a handful rookie pitchers in conference play to post at least 10 wins as a freshman in league action ... She has seven shutouts and 118 strikeouts for a 0.45 ERA in conference play ... Her 118 strikeouts in WAC games only currently ranks No. 2 (13 shy of Ali Andrus of Utah, 1994, 131) ... Southern has a current streak of 41.0 innings without an earned run ... In the last 16 games played by the Bulldogs, Southern has gone 7-1 with four shutouts and 73 strikeouts in 69.0 innings for a 0.61 ERA and a 7.41 strikeouts per seven innings ... At the plate, Southern has picked up her offense ... In the six-game homestand, she batted .353 (6-17) with a run, two doubles and a RBI ... In her last 16 games, Southern is hitting .382 (21-55) with five runs, five doubles, two walks, five RBI and 26 total bases ... With 361 total strikeouts on the year, Southern will look to become just the third freshman in NCAA Division I history to tally 400 or more strikeouts in a season ... In the 2002 NCAA softball mid-season trends released last week, the WAC ranks second in the country in fielding percentage (.964).
Five Bulldogs Garner Preseason All-WAC Honors
Fresno State had the most preseason all-conference picks (five) as well as boasting the preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year. Jamie Southern was named the preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year and was joined by four other Bulldogs on the preseason all-WAC team in Pam West, Lindsay Fossatti, Tiffany Whipple and Vanessa Czarnecki.
Hawai'i Edges Fresno State in WAC's Preseason Poll
Despite winning the last four consecutive Western Athletic Conference softball championship titles and collecting the most preseason all-WAC picks, Hawai'i edged out Fresno State by one point to capture the 2002 WAC title. The Bulldogs collected 33 points with three first-place votes and three second-place votes. Hawai'i received 34 points with four first-place votes and three second-place votes.
