Fresno State Athletics
Softball Travels to Nevada
4/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 21, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. -
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Bulldogs Travels to Nevada
The Fresno State softball team is on the road this week for a four-game Western Athletic Conference series at Nevada. Both doubleheaders will start at 2:00 p.m. at Idlewild Park, in the city of Reno, Nev. Fresno State and Nevada will be meeting for the first time since 1988. The Bulldogs, who hold a 12-2 series advantage, have won the last 10 meetings versus the Wolf Pack after opening the series in 1978 at 2-2. This weekend's contests will be the first in conference play against one another. Fresno State is coming off a home WAC doubleheader sweep (5-0, 5-2) over San Jose State last Saturday.
Welcome Back
After sponsoring the sport of softball for 17 seasons (1973-89), Nevada softball is back after posting a 15-year program record of 242-247-3 (records unavailable for 1973-74). Nevada has been a member of the Northern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1973-79), the Big Sky Conference (1980-84) and the West Coast Athletic Conference (1985-89).
The WAC Race Is On
With three weeks left in the WAC race, Hawai'i (10-2) holds a three-game lead over Fresno State (6-4) and Louisiana Tech (6-4). UH, which has played two more league games than the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, closes out its conference schedule with San Jose State at home on April 24 & 26 before wrapping up league play at Louisiana Tech on May 2 & 3. Fresno State, which has 10 WAC games remaining, is on the road at Nevada on April 25 & 26 and at San Jose State on May 3 before closing out at home with Louisiana Tech on May 8 and Tulsa on May 10.
Under the Radar
If the weekly USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 poll and the ESPN.COM/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is to reflect success during the year, Fresno State should be turning some heads for national attention. Erasing a 5-12 start, the Bulldogs are 20-8 in their last 28 contests, which includes two Top 15 wins over No. 3 Nebraska (7-3) and No. 12 Stanford (1-0). Yet Fresno State continues to slip under the national radar screen while holding a 13-5 mark against regional opponents. In addition, the preseason Top 25 schedule for the Bulldogs is one of the toughest in the nation. The 'Dogs have dropped five one-run decisions against Top 25 opponents, with one via the international tie breaker rule.
In Memoriam
Fresno State softball head coach Margie Wright suffered a terrible loss to her family on April 11 when the team was in Tulsa, Okla. Wright lost her sister, Betty Jane Wright Lewis, whom the estranged husband murdered. The funeral will be held in Decatur, Ill., on Tue., April 15, 2:00 p.m., at the Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes. Her sister will be laid to rest, next to their mother, at Pleasant Valley Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Wright has set up two funds for battered women in memory of her sister. Those who wish to express their sympathy may make a donation in her sister's name at the Marjaree Mason Center in Fresno, Calif., (1600 M Street, Fresno, CA, 93721, phone: 559.237.4706).
Head Coach Margie Wright
As the all-time winningest NCAA Division I softball coach, head coach Margie Wright (Illinois State, 1974) is in her 18th season at the helm of the Fresno State softball program. Wright, who became the first Division I softball coach and 24th Division I head coach overall to record 1,000 Division I victories last year, tallied her 900th school win on April 6 with a 7-0 win over Hawai'i. She owns an 18-year school mark of 906-283-1 (.762). The 1998 NCAA National Coach of the Year boasts a 24-year career record of 1,053-363-3 (.743). With 10 NCAA Women's College World Series trips under her belt, the eight-time conference coach of the year has collected 13 outright or shared conference titles, a Western Athletic Conference tournament championship, 10 regional championship crowns and 17 straight NCAA postseason appearances at Fresno State. Wright is the only coach in the program's 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. Owning a 451-85 (.841) all-time mark at Bulldog Diamond, Wright has recorded 13 50-win campaigns and has averaged 52 wins a season while coaching 45 All-Americans, 13 Verizon Academic All-Americans, four NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners and one NCAA Top VIII awardee. In the postseason, Wright is 59-30 with a NCAA title, three national runner-up finishes, three third-place showings and three fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Women's College World Series. Having served on the national level as a USA assistant head coach that won gold in the 1996 Olympic Games and at the ISF World Championships as well as a head coach for the USA Junior Women's National Team that won gold in 1995, Wright has made Fresno State one of just three programs in Division I softball to make eight or more trips to the Women's College World Series.
Lunch with Margie
There is one date left to have lunch with head coach Margie Wright. The luncheon, which starts at 11:30 a.m. and occur once a month at the Silver Dollar Hofbrau, will be hosted for the final time in 2003 on May 12.
Softball TV/Radio Package
Fresno State softball will have 29 of its 30 home games broadcast live on television and/or radio as well as on the internet this season. Comcast (ch. 14), The Big Dawg 1430 AM and KFSR 90.7 FM have teamed up to bring live coverage of Bulldog softball.
Awards Dinner
The annual softball awards dinner will be held in May at TorNino's. Time, date and ticket cost will be announced at a later date. Tickets will be available to purchase at the final two home games.
Diamond Club's Annual Bar-b-que
The Diamond Club will host its annual end-of-the-season bar-b-que on Sat., May 10, in front of the North Gym immediately following the Tulsa doubleheader. Tickets will be available for $10 at the final two home games as fans will be treated to bar-b-que tri-tip/chicken, salad, pilaf and garlic bread. In addition, May 10 is the last day to purchase a $5 ticket for a chance to win a Toyota Tacoma pickup. The truck has been donated by Bingham Toyota and the camper shell has been donated by Mike Nobile Distributing. Tickets are available at the Dog Shed at Bulldog Diamond as well as at Bingham Toyota.
Wall of Honor
A permanent Wall of Honor soon will be installed near the entrance of Bulldog Diamond. The Wall of Honor is in memory and recognition of those individuals and/or businesses who have donated their time and/or services to the success of the Fresno State softball program. Several memorials have been set up, in honor of Bulldog softball, on the behalf of Mabel "Max" Bennett and Ginny Busick. For more information, please contact Diamond Club board member Jeanne Contel (559) 299-5854 or coach Wright.
Four 'Dogs Selected to USA Women's National Team Camp
This afternoon, USA Softball announced its list of 45 players that have been invited to the Women's National Team Camp, June 4-8, at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. These players will compete for positions on two teams that will represent the USA in international competition this summer. The two teams selected, following the team camp, will represent the USA at the U.S. Cup in Honolulu (June 19-22), the Canada Cup in Surrey, B.C., Canada (July 4-13) and the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo (Aug. 5-14). Those selected to the USA Softball Elite Team will compete in the Canada Cup as well as the Japan Cup in Yokohama, Japan (July 18-20). Four Bulldogs have been selected in former standouts Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) and Nina Lindenberg (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) along with two current standouts in Jamie Southern (Clovis, Calif.) and Christina Clark (Santa Ana, Calif.).
Nevada (20-27, 3-9 WAC)
With a 3-2 mark in its last five and 4-8 worksheet in its last 12, Nevada is at home for the second straight week. Making a side step out of WAC play with a trip to Oregon on Tue., April 22, the Wolf Pack hosts Fresno State this weekend as they wrap up a 10-game homestand. Nevada went 3-3 last week as it split with St. Mary's (1-4, 5-2) and Louisiana Tech (11-2, 6-4, 0-7, 1-9). Without the services of sophomore designated player/outfielder Kristy Stevens due to a broken hand suffered on March 31 (..282, 40-142, 19 runs, nine doubles, two home runs, nine walks, 17 RBI), the Wolf Pack is being paced by junior left fielder Stacy Mueller. Mueller is batting .336 (46-137) with 24 runs, five doubles, five triples, home run, 12 walks, 10 sacrifices, 3-6 stolen bases, 16 RBI and 64 total bases for a .467 slugging percentage. Junior second baseman Jamie Waldron is the only other hitter with at least a .300 batting average. Hitting .304 (41-135), she has 15 runs, seven doubles, four triples, seven walks, 5-7 stolen bases, and a team-high 20 RBI. In the circle, the Wolf Pack have been using three pitchers with all three posting at least six wins. However, Nevada are down to two hurlers after Judith van Kampen, a junior right-hander out of Amsterdam, Netherlands (6-8, 93 strikeouts, two shutouts, 120.1 innings, 2.68 ERA), broke her right hand last weekend against Louisiana Tech. van Kampen was named WAC Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 10. Freshmen right-handers Candice Rainwater and Robyn Ford-Feitz each have seven wins. Rainwater is 7-9 with 49 strikeouts in 91.0 innings for a 2.77 ERA while Ford-Feitz is 7-10 with 25 strikeouts in 92.1 innings for a 2.81 ERA. Nevada has set a new single-season record in home runs with 26 (old record was 10, 1981). While stealing 13 bases on the year, the Wolf Pack has allowed its opponent to snag a base 58 times in 68 tries.
In the NCAA Stats
The NCAA released its first set of NCAA statistics last week. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 27 in ERA (1.49). Clark was ranked No. 14 in home runs per game (13, 0.30) and Southern checked in at No. 3 in ERA (0.62) and No. 18 in strikeouts per 7/IP (9.14).
Team Notables
Fresno State is 18-6 in its last 24 and 20-8 in its last 28 ... The Bulldogs have 11 one-run losses on year and 12 losses have come by two runs or less this season ... Of the 11 one-run losses, six have come in extra innings ... As the second Bulldog freshman to reach the 100 total base plateau in school history, freshman shortstop Christina Clark (Santa Ana, Calif.) set a new rookie mark in total bases (113) ... The mark of 113 total bases currently ranks eighth-best in single-season school history ... In addition, her current slugging percentage of .743 ranks third-best at Fresno State ... With 13 home runs on the season, Clark is three shy of setting a new single-season school record and five from a new WAC single-season home run record ... Clark currently is tied for ninth in the WAC's single-season list with 13 home runs ... In the school's career charts, she is tied for seventh in career home runs with Wende Ward ... As a team, the Bulldog pitching staff ranks No. 27 in ERA (1.49) in the first set of NCAA statistics released ... The pitching staff has been tough in the last 28 games ... The Bulldogs own a 1.08 ERA with 12 shutouts and 190 strikeouts to 23 walks as opponents are batting .202 against ... In the last 24 games, the pitching staff owns a 0.84 ERA with 11 shutouts and 160 strikeouts to 20 walks while opponents are hitting .200 against ... Fresno State notched its 450th win at Bulldog Diamond under Wright in its 5-0 victory over San Jose State while recording No. 590 in the program's history.
National Rankings
Fresno State softball has been no stranger to the national polls. Owning the longest streak for consecutive weeks (178) ranked in NCAA Division I softball history, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 178 of 186 weeks since the NCAA's first Top 15 poll in 1983. In addition Fresno State has been in the nation's Top 25 polls for 21 straight years. Appearing in the Top 10 for 151 weeks, the 'Dogs achieved their first No. 1 national ranking on March 14, 1989. They 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. The softball program's five No. 1 rankings is the most ever by a Bulldog athletic team.
Not on My Watch
Senior catcher Pam West (Corona, Calif.) has been one of the best kept secrets around the nation at the catching position since first arriving at Fresno State. Leading the nation in runners thrown out as a sophomore, West owns a career .992 fielding percentage in 1,631 career total chances. In the last three years, she has thrown out 51 would-be basestealers for a 60% accuracy (34-85) while, in her career, she has thrown out 63 and owns a 50% accuracy (62-125).
Southern Comfort
At Fresno State, Southern reached the 500-career strikeout plateau against Cal Poly on March 6 when she struck out seven. She became the eighth Bulldog pitcher and the sixth WAC hurler to tally 500-career strikeouts. In addition, Southern became the quickest Bulldog pitcher to post 500 career strikeouts as she accomplished the feat in 64 appearances. In addition, she became just the fourth Bulldog hurler to tally 600 or more career strikeouts. In 547.1 career innings pitched, she is averaging 8.39 strikeouts per seven innings and has given up 39 earned runs for a 0.50 ERA while being 52-20 overall with 34 shutouts in her Bulldog career. Southern recorded her 50th career win against Louisiana Tech on April 10.
J Cracks Top Three
As the first Bulldog pitcher to throw back-to-back 200 strikeout seasons, Southern has tallied 238 strikeouts (9.09 per 7/IP) in 183.2 innings with 13 ten-strikeout games for a 0.65 ERA as she is 17-10 overall with 11 shutouts. Last week, she notched a pair of victories, including a shutout win, in the WAC doubleheader sweep over San Jose State. Southern moved up to No. 3 in career strikeouts (656) at Fresno State and in WAC history after tallying 17 strikeouts in the twin bill. In addition, she moved into the No. 10 spot for career innings pitched (547.1) in WAC history. Southern enters the week one victory shy of ranking No. 10 in the WAC annals for career wins (53, Monica Jimenez, 1994-97). Southern recorded her 11th shutout win on the year and tossed her fourth one-hitter on the season. She also struck out 10 for her 13th 10-strikeout game in the 5-0 victory. In game two, Southern scattered five hits, walked three and struck out seven while giving up two runs (both earned) for her 17th win of the year. In league play, she improved to 5-2 and notched her fourth shutout victory. In 52.1 innings, she has struck out 61 while giving up just four runs (three earned) and five walks. At the plate last week, Southern was just as successful. She hit .714 (5-7) with a run, double, home run, RBI and nine total bases for a 1.286 slugging percentage. Southern hit her fifth home run on the year with a solo shot to right center in game two versus San Jose State. With multiple-hit games in both games of the doubleheader, she is second on the team with 13 multiple-hit games on the year. In addition, she has tied her season-high in consecutive games with a hit. With a current streak of five straight, Southern is batting .500(9-18) with two runs, three RBI, double, home run and 13 total bases for a .722 slugging percentage.
Nearly Untouchable
Southern virtually has been untouchable the past 14 games as she sports a 0.32 ERA while going 7-2. With nine starts, six wins have come via shutouts as she has allowed 33 hits, four runs (three earned), 10 walks and has struck out 80 (8.47 strikeouts per 7/IP) in 66.1 innings. In her last 99.1 innings in which she has gone 12-2 with nine shutouts, Southern has allowed just 52 hits, seven runs (five earned), 13 walks and has struck out 121 (8.55 strikeouts per 7/IP) for a 0.35 ERA. In her last 152.2 innings of work, Southern has yielded 13 earned runs, 23 walks and has struck out 200 (9.20 strikeouts/7 IP) for a 0.60 ERA. On the year she has season-best streaks of 68.1 innings without an earned run and 28.2 scoreless innings.
Getting the Job Done at the Plate
At the plate, Southern has been solid over the past 14 games as well. Hitting .404 (19-47), she has scored four runs and has been walked three times while picking up four doubles, a home run, seven RBI and 26 total bases for a .553 slugging percentage. In her last 28 games, Southern is hitting .368 (32-87) with 12 runs, six doubles, triple, five home runs, 18 RBI, eight walks, hit by pitch and 55 total bases for a .632 slugging percentage. On the year, she leads the team in walks (12), second in batting (.336), hits (46), doubles (7), home runs (5) and total bases (70) while third in RBI (19). Garnering her first WAC Player of the Week pick this season, Southern is the first Bulldog to collect a multi home-run performance since Nina Lindenberg (4 times in 1997). Southern batted .385 (5-13) and hit four home runs with eight RBI while totaling 17 total bases for a 1.308 slugging percentage at the Kia Klassic. Hitting four home runs in a span of two days, she hit a three-run shot against No. 3 Nebraska and a two-run home run versus Hawai'i while collecting a pair of solo shots against No. 13 DePaul. In the Bulldogs' nine-game win streak, she batted .360 (9-25) with four runs, double, triple, two home runs, four walks, hit by pitch, eight RBI and 18 total bases for a .720 slugging percentage.
Clark Sizzling
Spearheading the Bulldogs to 16 wins in their last 22 and guiding them to a 20-8 mark in their last 28, Clark has been sizzling at the plate. Having set a new freshman record for total bases (113) last week versus San Jose State, Clark is batting .408 (20-49) with 14 runs, five doubles, triple, five home runs, 18 RBI, six walks, 1-1 stolen base and 42 total bases for an .857 slugging percentage in her last 14 games. Her bat has been so potent over the last 24 games that she has been held hitless only three times and has reached base in 23 of the her last 24 games. In this 24-game span, Clark is hitting .451 (37-82) with 25 runs, eight doubles, three triples, nine home runs, seven walks, two hit by pitch, 2-2 stolen bases, 26 RBI and 78 total bases for a .951 slugging percentage. In her last 28 games, Clark has been held hitless in five games but has reached base in 24 of the 28. She is batting .421 (40-95) with 27 runs, eight doubles, four triples, nine home runs, seven walks, three hit by pitch, sacrifice fly, 2-2 stolen bases, 27 RBI and 83 total bases for an .874 slugging percentage in this 28-game span. In WAC games only, Clark has hit safely in eight of the 10 games and reached base in nine of those 10 while hitting .361 (13-36) with 11 runs, 13 RBI, four doubles, triple, three home runs, three walks, 1-1 stolen base, hit by pitch and 28 total bases for a .778 slugging percentage. She has a current three-game hitting streak and is batting .545 (6-11) with four runs, five RBI, three doubles, triple, home run, walk, 1-1 stolen bases and 14 total bases for a 1.273 slugging percentage. Ranked No. 14 in the first release of the NCAA statistics in home runs per game (13, 0.30), Clark leads the Bulldogs in 14 offensive categories: batting (.368), at bats (152), runs (40), hits (56), doubles (10), triples (4), home runs (13), RBI (37), total bases (113), slugging percentage (.743), sacrifice flies (2), multiple-hit games (15) and multiple-RBI games (9). In WAC games only, she leads the conference in five categories: runs (11), doubles (4), RBI (13), home runs (3) and total bases (28).
Clark & Southern Pacing the WAC
In the WAC stats released on April 21, Fresno State leads the league in pitching and fielding while second in batting. In the overall individual statistics, Clark leads the WAC in runs (40), RBI (37), home runs (13) and total bases (113), is second in hits (56), batting (.368) and triples (4) while fourth in doubles (10). Southern is fifth in hitting (.336) but leads the league in pitching in ERA (0.65), fewest earned runs (17) and strikeouts (238) while second in wins (17). In WAC games only, Clark leads the league in runs (11), RBI (13), doubles (4) and home runs (3) while second in total bases (28) and fourth in hits (13). At the plate, Southern is second in hits (16) and third in total bases (22) while leading the WAC in strikeouts (61) and ERA (0.40) while second in wins (5).
