Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs' road to Oklahoma City starts in LA
5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Postseason-Guide 
| Tournament Central Page
NCAA Los Angeles Regional
Hosted by UCLA at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif.
Friday, May 20
Game 1: Fresno State (41-10-1) vs. Cal State Fullerton (43-14) - 3 p.m.
Game 2: Cal State Bakersfield (16-32) vs. No. 12 seed UCLA (35-13-1) - 6 p.m.
940 AM ESPN Radio
Saturday, May 21
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner
940 AM / 790 AM ESPN Radio
Sunday, May 22
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if necessary)
940 AM ESPN Radio
All games to be streamed live on the Pac-12 Network
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FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State softball team will make its 32nd all-time appearance in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 20 at Easton Stadium. The Los Angeles Regional rounds out with host, UCLA taking on Cal State Bakersfield at approximately 6 p.m.
Both Fresno State and CSU Fullerton won their respective league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament as neither the Mountain West nor Big West play a conference tournament. UCLA earned an at-large bid, and finished second in the Pac-12, and CSU Bakersfield punched their postseason ticket after taking two games from one-seeded New Mexico State to win the WAC Tournament.
All-session tickets are $33 for adults and $22 for students and youths. Single-day tickets, which are $12 for adults and $8 for students and youths, will be sold on the day of the game only at Easton Stadium on a first-come, first-served basis.
Fresno State is 41-10-1 (22-1 MW) on the season, has clinched back-to-back Mountain West Championships and punched the nation's first ticket to the 2016 NCAA Tournament after securing the league's berth with a seven-game lead on May 1.
ROAD TO THE 2016 WCWS
The field of 64 teams announced by the Division I Softball Committee on May 15 evening is comprised of thirty-two automatic conference berths while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large sections. UCLA was pegged the No. 12 overall seed and is among 16 teams seeded nationally, joined by two additional Pac-12 selections, eight Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams and one program from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12, Big Ten, Sun Belt and Colonial (CAA) associations to host a Regional round.
The Southeastern Conference led all leagues for the second straight year with 11 overall berths, meanwhile the Pac-12 placed eight teams in the championship tournament, respectively. Five teams are making their first NCAA postseason appearance including Alabama State, Butler University, CSU Bakersfield, Ole Miss and Samford.
Only 12 schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, including Fresno State who is one of the 12 that will compete in this year's bracket.
Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 20-22 on 16 campus sites. A four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted at each site and the 16 winning teams advance to the Super Regionals. Super Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 26-29 on eight campus sites. Two teams will play in a best-of-three tournament format and the winners from each site advance to the NCAA Women's College World Series.
The 2016 NCAA WCWS will be held at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, from June 2-8. This is the 35th annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship and the 26th time hosted in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. All 15-17 games of this year's WCWS will be broadcasted on either ESPN, ESPN2 and/or ESPNU.
SERIES HISTORY WITH FULLERTON
Fresno State last suffered a 5-0 loss to the Titans this season on March 22 in Fullerton, Calif., before entering a nation-leading 23-game win streak. Despite that blemish, the Bulldogs hold the 41-33 all-time series record over Cal State Fullerton and have won three of their last five meetings since 2010.
The two teams squared off for the first time in 1981 and are tied with a 2-2 record in postseason meetings. Fresno State has taken two-of-three NCAA Regional (2000, '02 and '06) games against the Titans with the last victory coming in 2006.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton is 43-14 overall and finished 14-4 as the Big West Champion. The Titans are making their 26th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the eighth most all-most, after securing the league's automatic berth by winning their conference for the first time in 10 years. The last time the team competed in postseason was in 2009 in Tempe, Ariz.
The Blue and Orange continue to receive votes to be ranked in both nationally accredited polls this week after collecting seven in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and three in the ESPN.com/USA Top 25. Team-wise, CSUF is positioned top 50 in four of the most recent NCAA Statistics categories - ERA (18th, 2.17), doubles per game (32nd, 1.54), fielding percentage (41st, .969) and stolen bases per game (49th, 1.47).
Cal State Fullerton also led the Big West in doubles per game, scoring and slugging percentage (.691) and similarly accounted for a league-best 1.82 ERA. The squad is led at the plate by junior outfielder Delynn Rippy who ranks 15th in the nation with five triples, behind three-time All American Missy Taukeiaho with a No. 10 placement in doubles per game (0.39). The duo are joined by three additional Titans hitting above .300 heading into the tournament - Alexis Gonzales (.343), Samantha Vandiver (.332) and Courtney Rodriguez (.311).
The Titan pitching staff is headed by freshman Sydney Golden (17-5) with a No. 38 national ERA 1.79 in 28 appearances including 20 game starts. Veteran lefty Desiree Ybarra's (15-6) 1.80 ERA ranks 42nd as she leads Fullerton in strikeouts (133) over 35 appearances and 13 complete games.
POTENTIAL GOLDEN STATE OPPONENTS
Fresno State and UCLA are tied for the most all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with each school making their 32nd appearance this season. The Bulldogs made each and every NCAA Tournament form 1982-2011 before returning this season. No. 13/14 ranked UCLA has made it every season since 1999 and holds 26 Women's College World Series Appearances.
The Bruins closed out the regular season winning nine of their last 10 games, finished second in the Pac-12 behind fifth-seeded Oregon and posted a 35-15-1 record. Their strong offense has been led by outfielder Allexis Bennett and second baseman Kylee Perez who are batting over .400 on the season.
As Western Athletic Conference Tournament Champions, CSU Bakersfield (16-32, 5-10 WAC) is appearing in their first NCAA Tournament since transitioning to NCAA Division I six years ago. The Roadrunners are headed by fifth-year Crissy Buck-Ziegler who helped UCLA to a Women's College World Series Championship in 1999 and hold an impressive 11-4 record in WCWS games during her playing career.
HIGHLY DECORATED POSTSEASON
A record-setting regular season landed Fresno State softball all but one of the five Mountain West postseason awards, four first-team All-MW picks and three second-team selections. For the second-consecutive year, Bulldog head coach Trisha Ford was named the 2016 MW Coach of the Year along with senior catcher Paige Gumz as the Defensive Player of the Year and Jill Compton the league's Pitcher of the Year. In the same regard, junior Kierra Willis garnered her first career MW Player of the Year accolade.
Along with Compton and Willis, senior Alyssa Villalpando and junior Lindsey Willmon, both transfers of Hawai'i, round out Fresno State's four All-MW first-team picks and joining Gumz on the All-MW second-team is senior Bria Kennedy and junior Malia Rivers.
Since joining the league in 2013, Fresno State has now garnered three MW defensive honors, two pitcher of the year awards, a pair of coaching accolades and notched one overall player of the year. The four Bulldogs on the first-team ties the 2013 season-high as Ford has had 23 players selected between the two All-Conference squads during her tenure, after claiming 10 of the 16 possible this year.
RECORD BREAKING HOT STREAK
Fresno State was halted last week for the first time after running its nation-leading win streak to 23-straight. That stretch is the longest amongst all teams in the championship field and shattered the school record for most consecutive games won (21) last accomplished in 1999 as the `Dogs reached the WCWS.
Counting only Mountain West games, the Bulldogs strung together 32 conference victories dating back to the 2015 season and exceeded the longest win streak accomplished by any MW team in league history, and second-most within its prestigious profile. The school record is a 33-game conference run from Feb. 2, 1999 to April 22, 2000.
NATIONAL RUN
As of Tuesday, May 17, Fresno State is ranked No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Rankings. With the NCAA Championship field set, the final poll will be announced after the Women's College World Series concludes.
UCF dropped out and was replaced by No. 25 Utah in the NFCA Coaches' Poll this week, meanwhile no teams entered or fell out in the ESPN rankings. Records reflect games played through Sunday, May 15.
Fresno State has squared off with five nationally-ranked programs this season - Tennessee, Oklahoma, Oregon, Baylor and Washington - and three Bulldog opponents continue to receive votes in the NFCA top 25 including Cal State Fullerton (8), Cal (8) and Utah (2).
RECORD SETTING SEASON
In all-time program history, this year's squad shattered the all-time single-season home run record of 51 in 2010 with a total of 58 knocks during the regular season. In addition, their .511 slugging percentage would top the 1998 record (.468) if maintained throughout the postseason.
The No. 18/20 Bulldogs have been ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll for 14 consecutive weeks, which exceeds the longest in MW history with San Diego State who spent 13 weeks in the NFCA poll in 2008. In addition, Fresno State is the first Mountain West team to be nationally ranked since New Mexico earned four weeks in the top 25 back in 2012.
Earlier this year, Fresno State captured the best start to a season in Mountain West softball history after riding a 10-game win streak for the first time since the 1997 season and the fifth time in program history (1982, 1989, 1991, 1997). Fresno State's longest winning stretch to open a season came in 1982 as the `Dogs went 17-0 before suffering their first loss.
CEMENTING A LEGACY
A two-time MW Pitcher of the Year, Compton has put up the stats to be considered one of the best pitchers in conference history. Heading into postseason, she has etched her name as the second-best leader in all-time wins (87), games started (133), complete games (86) and shutouts. When counting conference games only, she is first in appearances (72), games started (61), complete games (46), shutouts (14), innings pitched (375) and finished her four-year league campaign with 18 more MW victories than any other pitcher in league history and 92 more strikeouts.
An 11-time conference pitcher of the week and 2016 Female Bob Duncan Bulldog of the Year recipient, Compton is just the third pitcher in MW history to be named All-Conference in all four seasons of her career, and third to become the league's pitcher of the year twice.
In 2014, she became the first pitcher in conference history to collect a MW weekly honor in four consecutive weeks. During that incredible month Compton held a 0.86 ERA, a 12-1 record, had nine complete games in 11 starts with four shutouts, held opposing batters to a .165 average and had 72 strikeouts against only 16 walks.
On March 30, Lindsey Willmon set a single-game program and conference record with nine RBIs in Fresno State's 18-2 win over Boise State. A grand slam, three-run knock and a two-run double topped Bulldog softball's historic record of seven RBIs, accomplished four times by former Bulldog's Gina LoPiccolo (1991), and most recently Caitlin Stiglich (3x), back in 2010. The previous MW game-high of eight was held by four different players.
Three members of the 2016 squad account for the four grand slams tallied this season - Willmon, twice (3/20 and 3/30), Alyssa Villalpando (3/29) and Dominique Jackson (4/30) - which ties the all-time single-season record set back in 2009.
As the starting leftfielder in all 107 games over the past two years, Kierra Willis is among Fresno State's top 10 batting leaders in career walks (5th, 89), triples (8th, 13) and single-season walks (4th, 39).
AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
Heading into the 2016 NCAA Division I softball championships, Fresno State is positioned 11th in the nation in terms of overall record and meanwhile ranks within the top 20 in toughest schedule.
The squad is top 50 within six categories -- batting average (26th, .322), home runs per game (25th, 1.12), on-base percentage (28th, .409), scoring (18th, 6.42), slugging percentage (24th, .507) and winning percentage (11th, .798).
Individually, Jill Compton secured the team's highest ranking at No. 13 in victories (24), while fellow veteran Whitney Smith is 16th in sacrifice hits per game (0.27). Junior Kierra Willis is 26th in walks (39) while No. 41 in runs per game (1.00) and senior Alyssa Villalpando rounds out the top 50 at No. 28 in runs batted in per game (1.08) and 29th with 56 runs driven in.
BULLDOGS IN THE RPI
The Bulldogs are the lone Mountain West program in the NCAA Women's Softball RPI top 50 at No. 18 as of May 16. The `Dogs have remained steady for two-straight weeks after dropping one spot from a season-high No. 17 on May 2, which tied the best RPI since 2008.
2016 RPI Rankings
March 21 -- No. 20
March 28 -- No. 22
April 4 - No. 23
April 11 - No. 21
April 18 - No. 18
April 25 - No.18
May 2 - No. 17
May 9 - No. 18
MW RPI Rankings
No. 18 -- Fresno State
No. 62 -- San Diego State
No. 64 -- San José State
No. 101 -- Nevada
No. 117 -- Colorado State
No. 140 -- New Mexico
No. 147 -- UNLV
No. 159 -- Utah State
No. 217 -- Boise State
FINAL MW STANDINGS
After being tabbed to repeat as league champion in the 2016 preseason poll, Fresno State (22-1) took first with a six-game lead over San Jose State (17-7) in second place. Nevada (10-10) finished third ahead of San Diego State (12-12) and Utah State (12-12) rounds out the top five.
2016 MW Standings
Fresno State: 41-10-1 (22-1)
San José State: 28-24 (17-7)
Nevada: 32-15 (10-10)
San Diego State: 30-22 (12-12)
Utah State: 26-25 (12-12)
Colorado State: 22-24 (8-12)
New Mexico: 23-27 (8-15)
UNLV: 24-31 (8-16)
Boise State: 14-38 (6-18)
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Counting the 23 conference games played this season, the Bulldog pitching staff boasted the highest win total (22), combined strikeouts (119) and had a MW-leading 3.59 ERA and .258 opposing batting average. Fresno State's batters rank second among the nine teams in the Mountain West with a .322 overall average including the most walks (187) and home runs (58) in 1,695 plate appearances.
Alyssa Villalpando served as the top run producer in the MW with 56 RBIs, meanwhile Kierra Willis drew the most walks (39). From the circle, Jill Compton heads the conference in wins (24), innings pitched (183), strikeouts (135) and starts (29).
QUICK HITS
The `Dogs have registered back-to-back 40-win seasons under head coach Trisha Ford who has accumulated a winning record of 142-71-1 over four seasons and 68-21 in conference play. That run included a streak of 32-straight MW wins from April 11, 2015 until May 14, 2016 which set a new conference record.
The `Dogs have notably suffered just 16 losses in 88 games played at Margie Wright Diamond since 2013, which includes a nearly perfect 22-1 stretch at home this season. On the road, Fresno State finished MW play with a perfect (1.000) mark featuring series sweeps over Boise State, New Mexico, San Jose State and Nevada.
The Bulldogs have run-ruled their opponent seven times this year, compared to the all-time program record of 19 in 1998, and have won in double-digit fashion on 11 occasions with five shutouts. When combining the eight conference series, Fresno State more than doubled their opponent with a 200-94 tally that included four run-rule victories, three walk-off wins and one extra-inning contest.
This week is the 14th time the `Dogs have been ranked during Ford's four-year Bulldog tenure after receiving votes to be placed in the top 25 on six occasions last season. Aside from the 2016 preseason standings, Fresno State has secured a spot in NFCA Coaches' Poll for 14-consecutive weeks, appeared in the ESPN rankings on 13 occasions and is currently positioned No. 20/18 in the nation (22/24, 20/20, 21/22, 22/24, 24, 23/25, 25, 23/25, 23/25, 20/22, 20/21, 18/22, 19/17).
Fresno State was the only Mountain West program to open the season with a top 25 victory while unranked. Similar to the `Dogs, San Diego State is the only additional league opponent to defeat more than one nationally-ranked team with wins over No. 22 Cal, 2-1 (Feb. 20) and No. 11 Texas A&M, 10-5 (March 4). Nevada toped No. 23 Nebraska, 6-3 (March 19) as the remaining MW top 25 victory collected during the 2016 nonconference schedule.
This year's nonconference tournament slate included 13 teams that competed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Prior to opening the regular season, Fresno State faced Regional contestants Utah (W, 2-0), Kansas (W, 5-3), Northwestern (W, 6-4 and 7-1), Cal State Northridge (W, 3-1), Baylor (L, 5-4), California (W, 7-0), Weber State (W, 2-0) and Washington (L, 12-3), Super Regional advancer Oklahoma (L, 3-2) and World Series qualifiers Oregon (L, 9-0) and Tennessee (W, 7-3).
Six Fresno State opponents -- No. 6 Oregon, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 16 Baylor, No. 20 Washington and No. 21 California -- were ranked in the Top 25 USA Today/NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
During the 28-game tournament slate, the Bulldogs faced 10 individual student-athletes who were placed on the 2016 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List" -- Annie Aldrete (California, catcher), Shelby Friudenberg (Baylor, infield), Rainey Gaffin (Tennessee, utility), Cheridan Hawkins (Oregon, pitcher), Jazmyn Jackson (California, outfield), Jenna Lilley (Oregon, infield), Erin Miller (Oklahoma, outfield), Paige Parker (Oklahoma, pitcher), Ali Aguilar (Washington, infield) and Missy Taukeiaho (Cal State Fullerton, infield).
BULLDOG STANDOUTS
Fresno State enters the tournament batting .322 as a team and has seven members hitting above .300 for the season. UCLA is the only team with multiple players who are hitting above .400, as they have two and are batting .330 as a team. Fullerton and Bakersfield both have five or less behind the .300 mark while CSUF is at .302 collectively and CSUB combines for a .247 team average.
Newcomers Lindsey Willmon and freshman Dominique Jackson combine for 22 of the team's 58 home runs, compared to last year's 29 total, while hitting in the bottom half of the lineup this season. Willmon paces the team offensively with a .373 batting average, 60 hits, a .696 slugging percentage, 112 total bases and have driven in 47 overall runs.
The team's top offensive leaders round out with junior Kierra Willis (.355, 43 RBIs, 39 BB) and senior Whitney Smith (.336, 16 RBIs, 15 SH). While hitting in the three spot, Willis has currently reached base a season-high 24 times in a row ahead of Bria Kennedy with 15-straight.
The squad currently sports seven members of its starting lineup hitting over .300 and tops their opponents in nearly every offensive category including a .324 batting average, 317 runs scored, 182 walks and 28 combined sacrifice hits.
From the circle, Jill Compton (24-5) and Kamalani Dung (8-0) combine for all but eight of the `Dogs victories with 52 total appearances. Compton has fanned a team-leading 136 batters, while Dung trails with 52 strikeouts during her rookie season.
WEEKLY TRIBUTES
Overall, three Bulldogs were recognized as the Mountain West Player or Pitcher of the Week this season - Kierra Willis (5/10), Lindsey Willmon (5/3, 2/16) and Jill Compton (4/18, 2/16). In addition, College Sports Madness claimed a Bulldog student-athlete to be the Madness Mountain West Player of the Week on three occasions which includes Compton (2/16) and Willis, twice (4/4 and 5/2).
On Feb. 16, Compton was also pegged the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Pitcher of the Week.
Fresno State Athletics pegged Willmon (5/2, 4/4), Dominique Jackson (4/18) and Alyssa Villalpando (2/23) as the Deli Delicious Student-Athlete of the Week.
Of the current roster, additional league honors have been distributed to Willis (2/24/15), Whitney Smith (4/28/15), Hannah Harris (4/15/14) and Taylor Langdon (3/5/13).
ACADEMIC IMPORTANCE
The Fresno State softball team takes pride in the hard work dedicated on the field as well as in the classroom and reaffirmed its commitment to academic success with 20 NFCA Scholar-Athlete awards, 14 Mountain West Scholar-Athlete laurels, 23 MW All-Academic honors and two CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades.
INSIDE BULLDOG SOFTBALL
Ford is in her fourth season at the helm of the Fresno State softball program and is joined by assistant coaches Sara Pickering (4th year) and Carly Wynn (4th year), volunteer assistant coach Jeff Harger (1st year), student manager Andrew Rich (1st year) and director of operations Taylor Green (1st year).
Bearing the loss of five seniors, Ford added five freshmen and two transfers to contribute to the winning tradition set forth by the 16 cultured veterans focused on carrying momentum into the 2016 season. The 23-person roster containing 22 Californians and one Hawai'i native is comprised of five pitchers, one catcher, nine infielders, six outfielders and one utility player.
Wearing a Bulldog jersey for the first time this season is pitchers Kamalani Dung and Kira McKechnie, outfielders Kaitlyn Jennings and Howe, redshirt freshman Vanessa Hernandez and Jackson as an infielder. The team also welcomed sophomore transfer Claire Stucker (Mississippi State) along with Lindsey Willmon as a junior from Hawai'i.
For what is the largest senior class during Ford's tenure, Fresno State will graduate three pitchers, one catcher, three infielders and one outfielder. This group includes Jill Compton, Hannah Harris, Taylor Langdon, Paige Gumz, Whitney Smith, Alyssa Villalpando, Victoria Trevino and Bria Kennedy.
Fresno State's eight seniors, along with juniors Kierra Willis, Malia Rivers, Lindsey Willmon and Christina Rodriguez round out the 12 Bulldog upperclassmen who reap postseason familiarity.
COVERAGE
Stay up-to-date with the latest news via Twitter (@FresnoStateSB), Facebook (Fresno State Softball), Instagram (@fresnostatesoftball) and Snapchat (FresnoStateSB). A full recap and final results can be found at GoBulldogs.com following each competition.
"Fun. Family. Forever." - The official home of the Fresno State Softball is 790 AM ESPN2 "The Deuce." For ticket information contact the Bulldog Ticket Office at 559-278-3647 or log on to www.gobulldogs.com.
