Fresno State Athletics
Bulldog Softball Travels to Hawai'i
4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2012
By Jason Clay
jaclay@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Fresno State (31-17, 11-2 WAC) at No. 14/17 Hawai'i (37-5, 11-3 WAC)
Dates: April 27-28, 2012
Game Times: Friday: 9 p.m. PT; Saturday: 5 & 7 p.m. PT
Site: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium (1,200) - Honolulu, Hawai'i
Radio: None
TV: OCSports (Honolulu only - Ch. 12)
Live Stats: Gametracker Links
Video Streaming: www.ocsports.tv ($6.28 per game)
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State softball team travels to Hawai'i this weekend for a showdown between the top two teams in the WAC. The Bulldogs and the 14th-ranked Rainbow Wahine are set to play one game Friday night at 9 p.m. PT and two on Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. PT at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The games are being televised locally in Honolulu on OCSports Channel 12, but Bulldog fans can watch the games online at ocsports.tv for a small fee. Live stats are also available via Gametracker at GoBulldogs.com.
The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a half-game lead on the Rainbow Wahine in the conference standings. The `Dogs are 11-2 in WAC play while UH is 11-3.
Fresno State is 1-6 against ranked teams this season, having defeated No. 5 UCLA back on Feb. 25. However, the Bulldogs swept Hawai'i last season when it was ranked No. 20 entering that series. Hawai'i is No. 14 this year with its 37-5 record and the Bulldogs are just two spots outside of the top 25, as they are receiving nine votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll (would be ranked No. 27).
Last weekend with a series sweep of New Mexico State, the Bulldogs surpassed the 30-win plateau for the 31st consecutive season. Also last weekend, another milestone was reached in the legendary coaching career of Margie Wright. Friday's series-opening victory of the Aggies was the 1,450th of her 33-year career and now in her 27th season at Fresno State, she needs just 11 more wins for 1,300 as a Bulldog.
This weekend's series features the two frontrunners to win the WAC Pitcher of the Year award. Fresno State's Michelle Moses is 20-11 with a 1.80 ERA and leads the league with 207 strikeouts and 198.2 innings pitched. UH's Stephanie Ricketts is 23-3 with a 0.97 ERA. Moses' 11 shutouts are tied for the fourth-most in the country and she has five shutouts in WAC play. Ricketts is tied for 10th nationally with nine shutouts and has thrown three in conference play.
Looking at WAC games only, Ricketts is 8-1 in 11 appearances (nine starts) with a 0.72 ERA. Moses is 9-1 in league play with a 1.32 ERA in 11 appearances and she has thrown three one-hit shutouts.
Offensively, infielders Brooke Ortiz and Stesha Brazil continue to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. Ortiz is batting a team-best .328 with 21 runs scored and 15 driven in. Brazil is hitting .319 and she is third in the WAC with 21 extra-base hits.
Moses is second in the conference with 22 extra-base hits, 16 of which have been homers. She leads the WAC in home runs and ranks 11th nationally. Moses needs five more home runs to tie the school record and seven more to tie the all-time WAC record.
Fresno State's Series History Against Hawai'i
Fresno State and Hawai'i will be meeting for the 85th, 86th and 87th times with this weekend's three-game series. The Bulldogs lead the rivalry between the schools by a 65-19 count. Last year, Fresno State swept all four games from the Rainbow Wahine, including a 2-1 victory in the WAC Tournament. Fresno State topped No. 20 Hawai'i, 5-0, 2-1 and 2-1 in the three-game series played at Bulldog Diamond in the regular season last year. Fresno State's last trip to Honolulu was in 2010, when No. 23 Hawai'i took 2-for-3 games from the `Dogs. The same result played out in Fresno State's 2007 trip to the islands, but over the last 10 years, the Bulldogs own an 11-6 record in WAC regular season games at Hawai'i.
An Individual Look at the Bulldogs vs. UH
Senior Andrea Ortega is the one Bulldog that has faced Hawai'i the most. In 14 career games, she has batted .342 (13-for-38) with two doubles, four home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBIs. Michelle Moses is 12-for-46 (.261) in her career with two home runs, four RBIs and seven runs scored in 13 games against UH and Courtney Moore is 7-for-27 (.259) with one homer and two RBIs in 10 games. In the circle, Moses is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA in six appearances and five starts. Last year, Moses threw a no-hitter against the 20th-ranked Rainbow Wahine and she beat them two times in the series and also recorded a save in the third game. Moses only allowed two hits in her 16.0 innings against UH last year, did not allow a single run and had 13 strikeouts against four walks. Mackenzie Oakes is 1-1 lifetime against UH in six appearances and four starts with a 7.82 ERA.
Wright Earns Career Win No. 1,450; Approaching 2,000th Game Coached
Legendary head coach Margie Wright picked up the 1,450th victory in her 33rd year coaching career last Friday when Fresno State defeated NM State 1-0. Wright is the second-winningest active coach among all NCAA Division I coaches regardless of sport, behind Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido who has 1,840 victories. For her career, Wright now has a 1,452-536-3 (.729) overall record and a 1,289-444-1 (.743) mark in what is her 27th season as head coach of the Bulldogs. Wright is nine games away from coaching her 2,000th collegiate softball game.
Moses Named the WAC Pitcher of the Week
For the second time this season and the fifth time in her career, Michelle Moses was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week after leading Fresno State to a series sweep over New Mexico State last week. Moses went 2-0 in her two starts against the Aggies and held NM State to just one total run and a .087 batting average. She allowed only four hits in her two complete game victories and had 12 strikeouts against two walks as she finished the week with a 0.50 earned run average. Moses is now 20-11 overall on the year with a 1.80 ERA. In WAC play she has been even better, holding league opponents to a .159 batting average and she sports a 9-1 record and 1.32 ERA She also leads the WAC with 207 strikeouts, which marks the second year in a row that she has fanned 200 or more batters. For her career, Moses has 598 strikeouts and needs two more to become the seventh pitcher in Fresno State history with 600 or more strikeouts in a career.
Also Good With the Bat
In addition to being the star pitcher, Moses also provides Fresno State with some pop in the lineup. She leads the WAC this year with 16 home runs, a number that is tied for the third-most in Fresno State single-season history. For her career, Moses now has 57 home runs and 168 RBIs, ranking second and sixth, respectively, in the school record books. Moses needs five more home runs to tie the school record held by Christina Clark (2003-06) and seven more to tie the WAC record held by NM State's Hoku Nohara.
Martin Excelling Against the WAC
Sophomore infielder Vonnie Martin led the Bulldogs to the series sweep over New Mexico State by hitting .444 in the series with two RBIs, one double and one run scored. Both of her RBIs came in the third game of the series, as she plated both of Fresno State's runs in the 2-1 victory. Martin is hitting .289 on the year and 11 of her 24 hits have gone for extra bases. She is tied for second on the team with seven doubles and has hit four home runs. In WAC play, Martin is second on the team with her .364 batting average and she's hit four doubles and one home run.
Perfect in the Field
Fresno State did not commit a single error in the series sweep over NM State. This was the first time all year that the `Dogs have gone three-straight games without committing an error and Fresno State has a 18-3 record in errorless games. The Bulldog defense sports the second-highest fielding percentage in the WAC at .969 and has turned the most double plays in the league. Fresno State's 20 double plays are five more than any other team in the conference.
Hitting Streaks Come to an End
Brooke Ortiz and Brenna Moss saw their hitting streaks come to an end in the series last weekend against New Mexico State. Ortiz had her 10-game hitting streak end in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader when she was 0-for-3. That 10-game streak tied with Moss' 10-game streak from Feb. 24-March 10 for the longest on the team this year. Over Ortiz's 10-game streak, she was 15-for-34 (.441) at the plate with eight runs scored, four driven in and she connected for two doubles and one triple. Moss' most recent hitting streak spanned seven games. She was 8-for-27 (.296) over her seven-game hitting streak with three RBIs, one run scored and one triple. Other long hitting streaks this year by the Bulldogs including Courtney Moore's nine-game streak (March 30-April 15), Michelle Moses' seven-game streak (March 10-15) and Stesha Brazil, who has two separate five-game hitting streaks. Moses' four-game hitting streak is longest streak currently alive entering the series.
Bulldog Tidbits
• Michelle Moses has 16 home runs on the year and six of those have been hit in WAC games. She leads the conference in both total home runs and home runs hit during WAC play. • Courtney Moore's seven RBIs in April (11 games) are the most on the team and she has a team-best .370 (10-for-27) average in the month of April. Brooke Ortiz's 12 hits in April are the most on the team. She is batting .343 in the month with six runs scored and four driven in. • Fresno State has a 26-1 record this season when out-hitting its opponent, but is just 4-13 when being out-hit and 1-3 when the hits are tied. For the season, the Bulldogs are averaging 6.8 hits per game while their opponents have averaged 5.5. Fresno State has 66 more hits than the teams it has played. • Fresno State and Hawai'i feature the top to pitching staff's in the league. Hawai'i has a WAC-leading 1.02 team ERA while the Bulldogs are second with a 2.45 team earned run average. The Rainbow Wahine are holding opposing batters to a .171 batting average while Fresno State is limiting opponents to a .218 average.
Mid-Major Rankings
Fresno State moved up to No. 3 in this week's mid-major rankings. Louisiana (41-2), who the `Dogs fell to on March 16, is No. 1 in the mid-major poll. Hawai'i (37-5) is ahead of Fresno State at No. 2, with 72 points to the Bulldogs' 68. The Mid-Major poll can be found at http://midmajorpoll.blogspot.com. Fresno State's RPI ranking this week was No. 61.
