Softball's Clark and Southern Garner All-America Honors

May 21, 2003

FRESNO, Calif. -

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Fresno State softball had two players selected as Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Americans in freshman shortstop Christina Clark (Santa Ana, Calif.) and sophomore pitcher/utility Jamie Southern (Clovis, Calif.).

This is the second straight year in which Southern picked up All-America accolades. As a freshman, she was a first team honoree at pitcher. This season, Southern earned All-America honors at utility.

Southern, who pitched while also playing first base, right field and left field this past season, went 25-12 in the circle with 17 shutouts and 322 strikeouts in 253.0 innings for a 0.64 ERA. At the plate, she batted .337 (60-178) with 21 runs, seven doubles, triple, eight home runs, 13 walks, 31 RBI and 93 total bases for a .522 slugging percentage.

Southern recorded her 60th career victory this season when the Bulldogs defeated No. 2 seed and seventh-ranked Georgia last week in NCAA Regional action. Already ranked No. 2 all-time at Fresno State in career strikeouts (740), she has ranked all 14 weeks in the NCAA statistics for ERA since her debut.

Down the stretch, Southern was remarkable. At the plate she hit .375 (33-88) with 10 runs, four doubles, four home runs, 19 RBI and 49 total bases for a .557 slugging percentage in her last 27 games. Overall, she finished second on the team in batting (.337), doubles (7), home runs (8), walks (13) and total bases (93) while third in hits (60) and RBI (31).

With a season-best 68.1 innings without an earned run and totaling 14 ten-strikeout games on the year, Southern went 14-3 with 11 shutouts and 149 strikeouts in 127.1 innings for a 0.50 ERA in her last 17 starts. In her last 24 starts she went 20-4 with 15 shutouts while striking out 204 in 158.2 innings for a 0.49 ERA.

As the second pitcher in school history to amass 700 or more career strikeouts and the quickest Bulldog to tally 500 career strikeouts (64 games), Southern became the first Bulldog hurler to not only throw back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons but back-to-back 300-strikeout seasons.

As the 10th Bulldog freshman to earn All-America honors, Clark put together a stellar rookie season and will return as the country's top shortstop next year.

Setting the school's freshman mark in total bases (141) and tying the school's single-season home run record (15), Clark is the second infielder at Fresno State to be an All-American as a freshman.

Ranked every week in home runs per game in the NCAA statistics, Clark hit .382 (73-191) with 54 runs, 15 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs, 14 walks, 46 RBI and 141 total bases for a .748 slugging percentage in 2003.

Clark, who had a season-best 12-game hit streak, batted better than .400 in her final 48 games, which included 66 hits, 43 runs, 43 RBI, 15 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 7-7 stolen bases and 128 total bases for a .780 slugging percentage.

Leading the team in 14 offensive categories, she was the second freshman in school history to tally 100 or more total bases. Clark is the first Bulldog to hit three home runs in a doubleheader and set a single-game school record in total bases (10 vs. Long Island).

Already ranked No. 6 in career home runs at Fresno State, she hit her first career grand slam against Louisiana Tech. Her slugging percentage of .758 ranks third-best and her total base mark (141) ranks fourth-best in a season at Fresno State.

All told, head coach Margie Wright has now coached 47 of the program's 49 All-Americans in 18 seasons at Fresno State. Wright has directed the program to 18 straight NCAA Tournament appearances as the 2003 club finished the year as one of the top 25 programs in the country after reaching the semifinals of NCAA Regional play.

Despite the slowest start in school history at 7-14, Wright directed her club to a 29-8 mark to finish out the year, which included three Top 15 wins, and the program's and NCAA's record-setting 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Though the Bulldogs did not advance to the NCAA Women's College World Series, Fresno State still holds the sole distinction of being one of just three programs in the nation to have made 10 or more trips to WCWS.

Bulldog Freshmen All-Americans
1989    Terry Carpenter, P (First Team)1994    Robyn Yorke, OF (First Team)    Laura Berg, OF (Third Team)1996    Lindsay Parker, P (First Team)1997    Amanda Scott, UT (First Team)1998    Becky Witt, OF (Second Team)1999    Kristen Hunter, P (Second Team)        Lovie Jung, 2B (Third Team)2002    Jamie Southern, P (First Team)2003    Christina Clark, SS (Second Team)


NOTE:
  In the final NCAA regular-season statistics released onWed., May 21, Fresno State finished among the nation's best in thefollowing categories:
Team#12 ERA (1.34)#27 Fielding Pct. (.969)

IndividualFr., SS, Christina Clark#26 HR/Game (15, 0.26)
So., RHP, Jamie Southern#2 ERA (0.64)#19 Victories (25-12)#21 Strikeouts/7IP (8.9)

Fresno State Athletics

Softball's Clark and Southern Garner All-America Honors

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