April 26, 2006
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -
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No. 24 SDSU Softball Looks to Remain Unbeaten in MWC; Travels to UNLV on Saturday for Doubleheader
The No. 24 San Diego State softball team looks to continue its winning ways when it travels to UNLV (20-31, 5-9 MWC) for a Mountain West Conference doubleheader, beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Aztecs (27-8), who are ranked nationally for the first time in school history, are off to a 12-0 start in MWC action. SDSU received 32 points in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate national poll, six points ahead of No. 25 Oklahoma. The Aztecs' 12 game-winning streak is the second longest current winning streak in the nation, behind Texas-San Antonio (13 games). The streak is also one short of the school-record 13 consecutive games SDSU won in the 2003 season, the last year it went to the NCAA tournament.The Aztecs moved up three spots to No. 17 in the latest RPI rankings out of 275 schools. SDSU is ranked behind Auburn (14), North Carolina (15) and Florida (16), and is ahead of LSU (18), Texas A&M (19) and Baylor (20).
A Look at the Rebels
UNLV (20-31, 5-9 MWC) have won three of four games since it lost a doubleheader to SDSU on April 15. Shannon Crisp leads the offense with a .317 batting average and 28 RBI. Kendall Fearn (.305, 8 HR, 25 RBI) and Marissa Nichols (.300, 12 SB) also are batting .300 or higher for the Rebels. Christie Robinson is 6-11 with a 3.49 ERA, while Crisp (9-13) has posted a 3.97 ERA. SDSU and UNLV are meeting for the 64th time with the Aztecs leading the series, 33-31. SDSU won both meetings on April 15 by scores of 3-2 and 5-2, respectively.
Alnes Named MWC Player of the Week
San Diego State freshman Monica Alnes (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) has been named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week. It is the first award for the first baseman and the fourth MWC award by an Aztec this season.
Alnes batted .571 (8-for-14) to lead SDSU to a pair of doubleheader sweeps over Colorado State and New Mexico last weekend. She led the Aztecs in runs (7), doubles (3), RBI (7), total bases (16), and slugging percentage (1.143), and was second with a .647 on base percentage.
Alnes went 2-for-4 with a game-winning RBI double in the seventh inning of SDSU's 8-6 first-game win against New Mexico. In the second game against the Lobos, she hit for the cycle and had career highs of five RBI and four runs as the Aztecs beat the Lobos, 21-5, in five innings.
Alnes is the first SDSU hitter to win an award this season. Senior Celena Velasquez (April 18), sophomore Christina Ross (April 4) and freshman Melissa Owens (March 7) were each named MWC Pitcher of the Week earlier this year.
Aztecs Ranked in National Poll for First Time
SDSU is ranked in a national poll for the first time in school history. The Aztecs are currently 24th in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll. It is the sixth time in the last eight weeks that SDSU has either been ranked or receiving votes. The Aztecs have 32 votes, six points ahead of No. 25 Oklahoma.
In the USA Today/NFCA poll, the Aztecs received enough votes to be mentioned in the poll as receiving votes for consecutive weeks. SDSU debuted on the March 8 version of the poll in 31st and stayed in that spot the following week.
SDSU and the RPI
The Aztecs are No. 17, up three spots from last week, in the latest RPI rankings of 275 schools. It is the highest RPI ranking they have ever been.
According to the rankings, SDSU has the 17th-best winning percentage in the nation (.771) while playing the 38th toughest schedule. The Aztecs' 2006 opponents have a combined winning percentage of .562.
SDSU is 7-4 against top 50 RPI schools, 11-3 against teams rated between 51 and 100, 6-1 versus 101-200 schools and 3-0 against teams rated higher than 201.
The Streaking Aztecs
SDSU has won 12 games in a row, just one win away from its longest winning streak in school history (2003). The 12-game winning streak is the second-longest current streak in the nation behind Texas-San Antonio, which has won its last 13 contests.
The Aztecs' six-game winning streak on the road is currently tied with three other teams - No. 4 Alabama, Fordham and No. 6 Tennessee - for the seventh-longest road winning streak in the nation.
Click on the PDF file for a complete release, including player notes and other statistics.