March 20, 2003
SAN DIEGO - On the Road Again After a two-week homestand in which the Aztecs hosted two tournaments, and games against St. John's and Nevada, the San Diego State softball team (20-11) hits the road for games at No. 12 Stanford and Fresno State.
The Aztecs take on the Cardinal in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon, followed by a pair of games against the Bulldogs on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
Stanford is the fourth ranked opponent SDSU has faced this season. The Aztecs are 3-3 this year against teams currently ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 poll.
DeSanta Pitches No-Hitter (Again!) For the second time in two weeks, Aztec RHP Bre DeSanta tossed a no-hitter, this time against the Nevada Wolf Pack.
DeSanta, who's first no-hitter of the season came on March 4 against St. John's, walked two and faced only 25 Wolf Pack batters in seven innings of work.
She now owns a team-best 9-3 record and 0.55 ERA. Tuesday's contest with Nevada marks the sophomore's seventh complete-game shutout of the season.
Last Time Out Aztec right-handed pitcher Bre DeSanta threw the second no-hitter of her career Tuesday at SDSU Field against Nevada, leading San Diego State to a 2-0 victory over the Wolf Pack. In the second game of the doubleheader, SDSU got 10 hits en route to a 3-0 win, as the Aztecs improved to 20-11 and have won four of their last five games.
The first game of the day was scoreless until the fifth inning when, on a 2-2 pitch, Aztec junior first baseman Jacque Vaca doubled to right center and later came home on a Bianca Cruz single. Vaca, who went 2-for-3 at the plate, singled in the sixth frame and scored sophomore Erin Mahoney to put the Aztecs up for good, 2-0.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Deanna Richards held Nevada scoreless in the second game of the day, striking out a season-high 10 batters in picking up her sixth win of the season and her second complete-game shutout. Richards scattered just three hits and walked only one batter.
SDSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game two when junior Joann Figueroa and Mahoney notched back-to-back singles in the first inning and both later came around to score on a Wolf Pack error.
The Aztecs scored its third and final run of the game in the second frame when sophomore third baseman Lacey Craft scored on a Figueroa RBI single. Figueroa hit safely in three of her four at-bats in the game, while Craft and sophomore right fielder Jennifer Funk each went 2-for-3 in the contest.
Aztec Trivia Did you know?...The Aztecs have won 10 games by way of shutout...The Aztecs set a new season high for most runs scored with nine against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday...SDSU is averaging 5.8 runs in its last 10 wins...San Diego State has never lost more than two games in a row so far this year...The Aztecs are 15-0 this season when leading in the sixth inning...This year is the first at SDSU for 11 of the squad's 19 players (eight freshmen and three transfers)... All but two players have earned the starting nod at least once this season.
Weekend Wrap-up San Diego State went 2-2 at the Aztec Invitational last weekend. The invitational marked the final tournament SDSU will participate in during the 2003 campaign until the MWC tourney, held May 8-10.
SDSU won its games against Nevada (3-1) and Eastern Kentucky (9-3), but dropped a pair of decisions to Iowa (1-2, 2-4).
For the fifth time in as many weeks, SDSU finished in the top-three at a tournament. San Diego State finished second at the Aztec Invitational, SDSU Tournament, Hillenbrand Invitational and Campbell/ Cartier Classic and finished third at the 10-team UCSB Softball By the Beach tourney.
Sophomore Lacey Craft notched her first hit and RBI as an Aztec in SDSU's game against Nevada.
Scouting Stanford The Cardinal (21-7) is currently ranked No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll.
Stanford opened the season ranked 14th in the preseason poll and has peaked twice at No. 11, before settling in at No. 12 this week.
Stanford is led by freshman shortstop Lauren Lappin, who's .388 batting average and .474 on-base percentage are team bests.
Stanford is hitting .259 as a team and has successfully stolen 30 bases in 37 attempts.
The Cardinal pitching staff boasts an ERA of 1.62. Junior RHP Dana Sorensen has a 0.48 ERA and 129 strikeouts on the season.
Stanford is most recently coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 22 Oklahoma State at the Speedline Invitational, but upset No. 3 Washington, 3-1, earlier at the tournament.
Friday's game is the 16th meeting between Stanford and SDSU, with the Aztecs holding a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series.
Tracking Fresno State The Bulldogs (11-14) were ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll, but opened the 2003 campaign 1-7 over the course of their first eight games and have since dropped out of the Top 25.
Fresno State has, however, has managed to piece together a four-game winning streak this past week, including a 7-3 victory over then-No. 3 Nebraska.
Freshman infielder Christina Clark is batting a team-best .310, to go along with 16 RBI and 21 runs scored.
Fresno State's rotation is led by ace Jamie Southern (0.93 ERA), but the Bulldogs' other three pitchers have ERAs of 2.60 or higher.
The Bulldogs dominate the all-time series with a 46-5 record over the Aztecs.
Head Coach Kathy Van Wyk Head coach Kathy Van Wyk, the Mountain West Conference's 2002 coach of the year, has easily been more successful than any previous coach at San Diego State. In just six seasons at the helm, Van Wyk has taken the SDSU softball program and elevated it to the ranks of conference champion and NCAA regional tournament finalist.
Under Van Wyk's leadership, the Aztecs have completed the season above .500 the past four seasons and have finished among the top-three in the Mountain West Conference four years running.
She is also the first coach to achieve a top-25 ranking, two 40-win seasons and is the fastest to 100 wins in the history of the program.
A Winning Rotation The Aztec pitching staff, consisting of sophomore Bre DeSanta and freshmen Deanna Richards and Celena Velasquez, have combined for a 1.72 ERA, .209 opposing batting average, 17 wins and 162 strikeouts, all of which are Mountain West Conference bests.
All three hurlers are among the top-10 in the league in wins and strikeouts.
DeSanta, the 2002 MWC Pitcher of the Year, seems to be outdoing herself in the 2003 campaign, as she has already pitched two no-hitters and set a new career record for strikeouts in a single game (11, vs. Long Beach State).
The Scottsdale, Ariz., native has also pitched seven shutouts this season, two more than she did all of last year.
Richards owns a 6-4 mark, earning wins over then-No. 4 Michigan and Kansas, which was receiving votes in the poll at the time of the game and is now ranked No. 24.
Velasquez (5-3) has struck out 43 batters in 55.0 innings of work. She leads the pitching staff in only walking five batters so far this season.
First-Rate First Baseman Junior first baseman Jacque Vaca leads the team with her .360 batting average, 17 RBI and 44 total bases.
Although Vaca's career-high nine-game hitting streak was snapped on March 9, she has hit safely in four of the Aztecs' last five games, including notching multiple hits in three of those contests.
Vaca went 2-for-3 against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday with a home run, two RBI and one run scored.
The transfer from Illinois-Chicago leads the team with 214 putouts, while only committing two errors for an impressive .992 fielding percentage.
Superb Second Baseman Joann Figueroa, a junior second baseman, has gone 6-for-16 (.375) in the Aztecs' last five games.
Figueroa leads the team with her .385 on-base percentage (minimum 10 games) and is second on the team with a .359 season batting average.
The Phoenix, Ariz., native was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate in the Aztecs' game against the Red Storm, scoring two runs and driving in one runner.
She has hit safely in eight of SDSU's last 11 games and has a total of 10 multiple-hit games.
#1 in Left Field Sophomore Erin Mahoney has put together a season-high nine-game hitting streak and is batting .303
A consistent defensive player, Mahoney has committed just one error this year.
Offensively, the Texas transfer has stolen seven of 11 bases, which ties her for fourth in the league this season.
On the Horizon Freshman Bridgette Caron and sophomores Lacey Craft and Jennifer Funk have been seeing more playing time of late and are making the most of their action on the field.
Caron has started 17 games this season in right field. She is batting .244 and went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI in the Aztecs' games with Harvard and Long Beach State at the SDSU Tournament.
Craft has started at third base in SDSU's last six games, hitting safely in two of her three at-bats against the Wolf Pack on Tuesday. In the Aztecs' last four games, she is batting .333 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Funk had a good showing in SDSU's contest with Nevada on Tuesday in which she went 2-for-3 at the plate. She is also batting .333 in SDSU's last four games.