Fresno State Athletics
Bulldog Pride
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May 24, 1999
Bulldog Pride - May 24, 1999
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Softball Returns to Oklahoma City for Repeat
The Fresno State softball team is one step closer to repeating as national champions as it defeated Texas Tech, 5-0, in the Region IV finals at Bulldog Diamond on Sunday and earned a spot in next weeks Womens College World Series. The Bulldogs will play Southern Mississippi on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the first round.
The Bulldogs started the Region IV tournament off by defeating Florida A&M, 5-0, on Thursday, then came back the next day and posted another five-spot against Stanford in a 5-2 victory.
Fresno State got its first crack at the Red Raiders on Saturday as it handed Texas Tech a 3-1 loss, guaranteeing the Bulldogs a spot in Sundays championship game.
Texas Tech threatened to get on the board in the first, but tournament MVP Kristen Hunter (Portland, Ore.) struck out the last two batters with the bases loaded. The Bulldogs responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
After loading the bases in the first, Hunter silenced the Red Raiders over the next four innings, not allowing a Texas Tech player to reach base until the sixth. Fresno State tacked on three runs in the bottom of the inning, then set down the Red Raiders one-two-three to seal the Regional Championship.
"I thought we played extremely well," Fresno State head coach Margie Wright said after the Bulldogs 5-0 victory. "We played as well today as we have all year long. Its a great time for us to be playing good."
Joining Hunter on the all-tournament team were Bulldogs Lovieanne Jung (Westminster, Calif.) - second base, Becky Witt (Reseda, Calf.) - outfielder and Amanda Scott (Clovis, Calif.) - pitcher/outfielder.
Fresno State has appeared in 11 of the past 17 Women's College World Series and the Bulldogs won their first national championship last year with a 1-0 victory over Arizona.
Price and Davis Pace Fresno State at WAC
Two Bulldogs vaulted their way towards the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Boise, Idaho as they won the pole vault competition at the Western Athletic Conference Championships this weekend in Fort Collins, Colo. on the campus of Colorado State.
Senior Melissa Price (Kingsburg, Calif.) and junior Jim Davis (Godley, Texas) each won the pole vault competition. Price, a two-time WAC Champion and the NCAA record holder at 14-3 1/2, won the event with a height of 12-6 and Davis won his second conference title with a vault of 17-11, a new personal best.
Price is Fresno States only automatic qualifier, while seven other, including Davis, have made the list of provisional qualifiers. After the number of automatic qualifiers has been determined, the provisional qualifiers will be invited to the championships based on their ranking.
Harris, Djilianova Receive Northwest Region Honors
On Wednesday womens tennis coach Irene Harris was named Northwest Region Coach of the Year and Dora Djilianova (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) was named Northwest Senior Player of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Awards Committee.
Harris led her team to a 24-7 record, the program's first Western Athletic Conference Championship and an NCAA Championship appearance in 1999.
Djilianova is currently 42-8 in singles after defeating Erika Perkins of Washington State, 6-1 6-1, in the first round of the NCAA individual Championships This season she reached a career-high No. 6 ranking and set school records for wins in a season (42) and career (128).
Harris and Djilianova are now nominated for the national awards in the same categories.
BDF Approaches Seven Million Mark Once Again
The nation's top volunteer fund-raising group, the Bulldog Foundation, is on its way to reaching its goal of seven million dollars by end of the month.
Currently the Bulldog Foundation has raised $6,501,396 - 92.8 % percent of its goal of seven million.
Including this year's total, the Bulldog Foundation has raised almost $50 million dollars since 1971 for scholarships, recruiting needs and special requests by the athletic department.
Listen to the Women's College World Series at www.ncaasoftball.com under the TotalCast Link