May 12, 2004
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SDSU Begins Quest for First Championship
* Even though San Diego State has won the 2002 and 2003 Mountain West Conference regular-season championships, the Aztecs have yet to win a conference tournament championship. With a 7-6 all-time record in the four years of the MWC Tournament, the Aztecs are the only team in the conference with a winning tournament record but no title. SDSU went 1-2 in its only other post-season conference tournament, the 1999 Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
* The MWC tournament is double-elimination with a single-game championship. The Aztecs have a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed of the six participating and if they were to win their first game, would only need to win one of their next two contests to reach the championship. A loss in its first game would ensure that SDSU would need to win three straight to reach the championship game.
* The MWC Tournament champion earns the MWC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will be broadcast on ESPNews on Sunday between 5 and 6 p.m.
Winningest Class and SDSU Field Say Goodbye
* Three San Diego State seniors, second baseman Joann Figueroa (Phoenix, Ariz.), center fielder Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) and third baseman Kelcy Murphy (San Diego, Calif.), played their final home games over the weekend. The trio have led SDSU to the four best records in school history, two regular season MWC championships (the first two league titles in school history) and San Diego State's first two NCAA Tournament berths, including a trip to the regional championship against host UCLA in 2001, two wins from the Women's College World Series.
* SDSU Field also saw its final Aztec games as a new softball/tennis facility is being built next to Tony Gwynn Stadium and is scheduled to be completed by October 2004. The 1,000-seat facility will have room to add 1,000 more seats. San Diego Padre owners, John and Becky Moores, donated approximately $6.5 million for the combined softball/tennis facility.
Aztecs Have Tough Weekend
* The Aztecs had a good start to their week with a 6-0, non-conference victory over Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. The fourth inning alone saw shortstop Meagan Hartung (San Diego, Calif.) tie the school single-season walks record at 28 with Anne Marie Risquez's 1998 campaign and third baseman Kelcy Murphy (San Diego, Calif.) tie the career SDSU record for RBI at 102 with Erryn Gutjahr (1996-99). Center fielder Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) also stole her 57th career base to move within two of tying that school career record, held by Kelley Santa Cruz, who swiped 59 from 1996-98. The shutout was the team's 11th of the season.
* Game one of Friday's MWC doubleheader with Utah saw the Utes prevail, 2-1, to end SDSU's 15-game home MWC winning streak, the longest home conference winning streak in school history.
* Pitcher Celena Velasquez (Tucson, Ariz.) threw a complete-game shutout in the second contest as the Aztecs prevailed, 2-0. Catcher Danielle Touhey (Fresno, Calif.) led the Aztec attack with a 2-for-3 outing with an RBI. Kovensky scored Hartung in the third with a single and Touhey drove in Figueroa with a single to center in the fourth.
* BYU shut out the Aztecs in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 4-0. First baseman Lacey Craft (Valley Center, Calif.) led SDSU with a 2-for-3 performance.
* The Cougars won the night-cap, 5-1. Right fielder Bree Boyer (Huntington Beach, Calif.) drove in Hartung in the third.
Murphy Driving in Runners Like No Other Aztec
* Third baseman Kelcy Murphy (San Diego, Calif.) has 102 RBI in her career, tied for the most in Aztec history with Erryn Gutjahr (1996-99). Murphy's 35 RBI on the season is third on the SDSU record charts and just six short of her record-setting 2002 season. She also leads the 2004 Aztecs with four homers.
Kovensky Keeps Rising on Career Charts
* Center fielder Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) broke the SDSU career record for runs scored when she crossed home plate on a fielder's choice in the first inning of game two of April 23's doubleheader against New Mexico. Kovensky has now scored 133 runs, surpassing Kellie Nordhagen's (1999-02) 126.
* Kovensky has played in more games than any San Diego State softball player in history. Her 247 total games surpasses Sarah Hershman's (1999-02) 235.
* Kovensky is in sole possession of second place on the career hits chart with 226, trailing only Nordhagen's 254.
* With 304 total bases, Kovensky only trails Kellie Nordhagen's (1999-02) 318 for the career lead in that category.
* Having already broken the career walks record with 70, Kovensky is ranked in the top five of 12 all-time SDSU offensive categories.
* Kovensky leads the 2004 Aztecs with a .367 batting average, .482 slugging percentage, 81 total bases, two triples (tied with Meagan Hartung) and 17 stolen bases. Her .367 average would be the third highest in Aztec history.
Murphy and Kovensky Interlinked
* Seniors Kelcy Murphy (San Diego, Calif.) and Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) have played softball together since the summer before their sixth-grade years. The two also went to school together since sixth grade in addition to attending the same pre-school.
* For the season, the two are ranked in the top three on the team in batting average: Kovensky is first with a .367 average and Murphy is third at .321.
Sensational Sophomore Paces Offense
* Shortstop Meagan Hartung (San Diego, Calif.) has rebounded from a 2-for-20 freshman season with a flourish, hitting at a .365 clip (62-of-170). She leads the Aztecs with her .465 on-base percentage, 37 runs, 62 hits, 12 doubles, two triples (tied with Janna Kovensky), 81 total bases and 28 walks.
* Hartung's 28 walks is tied for the school record with Anne Marie Risquez's 1998 season, while her 12 doubles are two shy of the school record, held by three players.
* Her current batting average would be the fourth best in SDSU history and her on-base percentage would set a school record, breaking Trish Mang's 1988 season of .462.
Pitching Staff Ranked 25th in NCAA
* San Diego State's team ERA of 1.45 ranks 25th among 265 NCAA Division I teams and is on pace to break the MWC record of 1.62, set last year by SDSU. Florida State leads the country with a 0.52 ERA.
* Cori Janelli's (Visalia, Calif.) and Celena Velasquez's (Tucson, Ariz.) ERA of 1.32 is currently the third and fourth best in MWC history (Janelli's ERA is 0.0056 lower than Velasquez's) and Deanna Richards' (Visalia, Calif.) 1.67 ERA would place her seventh on the list. Richards' ERA is third-best in the MWC and would lead every other conference team.
Velasquez Flourishes in Closer Role
* During the MWC season, pitcher Celena Velasquez (Tucson, Ariz.) came in from the bullpen 11 times and started three others. In her relief appearances, Velasquez compiled a 5-0 record with five saves and a 0.22 ERA. In MWC starts, she was 1-1 with a 1.91 ERA, although the one win was a complete-game shutout over Utah on Friday, 2-0.
* Velasquez finished the MWC season with a 6-1 mark and compiled five saves and a 0.85 ERA, the lowest in the MWC and the third-best mark in MWC history, just behind Velasquez's 2003 season as a freshman (0.81) and former Aztec Bre DeSanta's freshman season in 2002 (0.83). Her five saves in MWC contests shattered the previous record of three, set by DeSanta in 2002 and Colorado State's Megan Masser in 2003.
* Velasqeuz once again turned up the heat in MWC action. Last season, she compiled a 2.26 ERA in non-conference games, but had a MWC-record low ERA of 0.81 ERA in conference contests to earn MWC pitcher and freshman of the year honors. So far in 2004, Velasquez has a 1.59 ERA in non-conference games and a 0.85 ERA in MWC action.
* Velasquez's five saves are tied for 14th this season among NCAA Division I pitchers, three behind a trio of pitchers who have compiled eight.
* With a 15-5 record (.750 winning percentage), Velasquez has the best record on the staff to go along with the team's only five saves.
* Velasquez has not let the light air of high-altitude cities affect her pitching, allowing only one earned run in 14.2 innings (0.48 ERA) in cities with elevations of 4,300 feet or greater. Fort Collins, Colo., has an elevation of 5,004 feet.
Homers Coming at Record Pace
* San Diego State has hit 16 homers this season, three short of the team record of 19, set in 1999.
MWC Tournament Back in San Diego in 2005
* The Aztecs have clinched the right to host the 2005 MWC Tournament. The team that finishes first place one year hosts the tournament the next, but no team can host two years in a row so Colorado State is ineligible.
Van Wyk is Winningest Coach in SDSU History
* Kathy Van Wyk is the winningest coach in San Diego State history with a 270-206-1 record. She broke Linda Spradley's (1984-94) win total of 253 on March 21 when SDSU topped Buffalo, 6-0. The two served as co-head coaches from 1995-96 and compiled a 48-69 mark.
* Under Van Wyk's leadership, the Aztecs have advanced to their lone NCAA Tournament appearances, in 2001 and 2003. The 2001 squad went 3-2 and advanced to the regional championship against host UCLA, while the 2003 team was 1-2 in tourney action.
Staying in San Diego a Success
* The only three Aztec players to list San Diego as their hometowns are also the top three hitters on the team: center fielder Janna Kovensky (.367 batting average), shortstop Meagan Hartung (.365), and third baseman Kelcy Murphy (.321). Hartung went to Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, while Kovensky and Murphy both attended Rancho Bernardo High School.
* Seven of SDSU's 17 players hail from San Diego county, including Amanda Beasley (Spring Valley), Jamie Burton (Carlsbad), Bridgette Caron (Fallbrook), Lacey Craft (Valley Center), Hartung, Kovensky and Murphy. Fourteen players list California cities as their hometowns, while three call Arizona home.
Scouting BYU
* The Cougars are 34-17, 11-8 in the MWC, good for their second consecutive third-place finish.
* The Aztecs have ended BYU's season the past two seasons while the Cougars defeated SDSU in the 2001 MWC championship game.
* Catcher Paige Paramore is hitting at a .361 clip with seven homers to lead the Cougar offense. Third baseman Ashlyn Russell has 11 homers to lead the Cougar power attack, which has compiled 54 team homers this season. Brooke Boyce's 1.74 ERA leads the pitching staff.
* BYU swept San Diego State in a MWC doubleheader in the final two Aztec games at SDSU Field on Saturday, 4-0 and 5-1. The Cougars won three-of-four from SDSU this season. SDSU holds a 12-7 all-time advantage while the teams have gone 2-2 against each other in MWC Tournament games. BYU won the 2001 championship with a victory over SDSU, 4-3.
Scouting Colorado State
* The regular-season champion Rams are 40-13, 16-4 in MWC games. Colorado State is the host for this year's tournament and defeated the Aztecs in last season's championship game at SDSU Field, 3-1.
* Infielder Ricki Walker is hitting .406 to lead the offense. Brittany Huerta's 14 homers leads CSU in that category as the Rams have hit 58 homers this season. Megan Masser paces the pitchers with a 1.78 ERA.
* The teams split a MWC doubleheader at Ram Field on April 5 with the Aztecs taking the opener, 2-1, before the Rams took the second contest by an identical 2-1 count. SDSU took three-of-four meetings this year with all four match-ups being decided by one run. San Diego State leads the all-time series, 28-23, while Colorado State has won both MWC Tournament meetings.
Scouting New Mexico
* The Lobos finished 29-34, 3-16 in MWC play. Last season, the Aztecs and Lobos played the longest MWC Tournament game in history, a 14-inning, 4-3 Aztec win.
* Second baseman Stephanie Kennedy is hitting .333 to lead the Lobos, while Iraina Ogas' 2.43 ERA is the lowest on the staff.
* The Aztecs swept New Mexico in a road MWC doubleheader on April 23, 3-2 and 8-2, and won all four meetings with the Lobos this season. SDSU holds a 38-21 all-time advantage and has won all three MWC Tournament meetings. UNM has not won an MWC Tournament championship.
Scouting UNLV
* The Rebels are 25-34, 7-13 in the MWC.
* Outfielder Bridget Byrne's .379 average leads all Rebels and the 1.94 ERA of Jacque Kerrigan paces the pitchers.
* The Aztecs swept a road MWC doubleheader on May 1, 5-2 and 6-3, and won all four meetings this season. SDSU holds a 31-26 all-time advantage over UNLV and the teams are 1-1 in their two MWC Tournament meetings. San Diego State has won 22 of the past 29 meetings. The Rebels have not won an MWC Tournament championship.
Scouting Utah
* The Utes finished in fourth place in the MWC with an 8-12 record and are 20-31 overall.
* Infielder Glennis Donnelly is hitting .361 with 18 homers, compiling a .775 slugging percentage to pace the Utah attack. In the circle, Brianna Gourdin's 3.04 ERA leads the way.
* The Aztecs and Utes split a MWC doubleheader on Friday. Utah won the first game, 2-1, and the Aztecs won game two, 2-0. The teams split their four meetings this season with three of the games being decided by one run and two going to extra innings. In MWC Tournament history, the teams split their two meetings. Utah defeated San Diego State in the 2002 championship game, 8-1. Utah also won the 2000 championship to be the only MWC team to win two tournaments.