Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Tulsa
Softball Blanks Tulsa, 8-0, in Nightcap
5/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 10, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - Senior catcher Pam West made sure that her "senior day" at Bulldog Diamond went out with a blast. And indeed, West did her part when she hit an opposite field two-run home run and led the Fresno State softball team to an 8-0 (6 inn.) victory over Tulsa in Western Athletic Conference play.
Fresno State, which has won its last 10 straight and is 28-8 in its last 36, recorded its seventh mercy run-rule game of the year. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one full inning of play before tacking on four runs in the fourth and a run in the sixth.
With a 33-20 overall record, the Bulldogs posted a final 14-4 WAC record (two games rained out) and finished second in the league. Having captured the league title the last five years straight and six of the last eight, Fresno State has finished second in WAC play both times it did not capture the conference title in the past eight seasons.
Winless on the road in WAC action (0-10), Tulsa fell to 34-29 overall and went 8-12 in league play. While going 9-12 in their last 21 games, the Golden Hurricane finished third in the WAC and will wait to see if they receive an at-large NCAA bid.
The Bulldogs notched eight runs on 14 hits with one error while Tulsa had eight eights and committed two errors. Each team turned a double play.
Senior right-handed pitcher Leslie Poole collected her fourth shutout victory as she improved to 9-5 overall. Poole walked two and struck out two.
TU's Maren Genow took the loss and went to 15-10 overall. In 3.2 innings of work, she allowed seven runs (six earned), walked none and struck out three. Lindsey Dyer came in relief of Genow in the fourth and pitched the final 1.1 innings as she gave up four hits, one run (earned), one walk and struck out one.
In the first, freshman shortstop Christina Clark led the game off with a single to center field. After Genow got the next two Bulldog batters out, Clark stole second. Sophomore right fielder Jamie Southern singled to right field to score Clark. West then hit the first pitch over the right field fence for her third career home run and her first at Bulldog Diamond.
In the fourth with one out, junior first baseman Shasta Lewis singled to right center. Junior center fielder Mitzi Ing then singled up the middle. Sophomore second baseman Leticia Pacheco tripled to right center to knock in Lewis and Ing. After freshman left fielder Nicole Shan reached on a Tulsa error to put runners on first and second, Clark singled up the middle to score Pacheco. With Shan at second and Clark at first, freshman third baseman Angelina Diaz singled to left field to load the bases. Junior designated player Lori Hoffman lined a single to right field to score Shan.
In the sixth, Clark beat out an infield single to short as did Diaz. Hoffman singled to center field to knock in Clark and end the game via the eight-run rule.
In the game, four Bulldogs had a multiple-hit game. Clark led the way after going 4-4 with two runs, a double, a stolen base and a RBI. Diaz went 2-3 with a sacrifice while Hoffman went 2-4 with two RBI. West was 2-3 with a run, a home run and two RBI. Pacheco had two RBI after going 1-3 with a run and a triple.
Fresno State, which has outscored its opponents 71-11 in its 10-game win streak, will wait to see if it receives a NCAA at-large bid to the 64-team tournament field next week. Fresno State, which was selected as a NCAA tournament host site two weeks ago, will be looking to make its 22nd consecutive NCAA tournament showing. The softball regional pairings will be announced on ESPNEWS at 7:00 p.m. (PDT).
