March 22, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztec Softball Looks to Continue Eight-Game Winning Streak; Plays Ohio State, Cal State Fullerton This Weekend in Fullerton
The San Diego State softball team looks to ride the momentum of a season-long eight-game winning streak when it plays two games in Fullerton this Saturday. The Aztecs (21-11), who swept No. 20 Georgia Tech, 5-4 and 1-0, on Wednesday night, will take on Ohio State (10 a.m.) and the host Titans (2 p.m.) on Saturday. SDSU has already played five games at Fullerton, going 3-2 in the highly-competitive Worth Invitational from March 2-4.
Aztec Quick Hits
- The Aztecs' eight-game winning streak is its longest since the 2006 squad tied a school record by winning 13 games in a row from March 31-April 29.
- The Aztecs are 4-6 on the year against top-25 teams, with three of their losses to nationally ranked teams coming by one run each (No. 25 Oregon (L, 2-3), No. 8 Northwestern (L, 1-2) and No. 12 Stanford (L, 3-4)).
- San Diego State is 10-1 over its last nine home games after starting the season 1-4 at SDSU Softball Stadium.
- SDSU has started a remarkable 29 different batting lineups in its 32 games and 25 different fielding lineups.
- A testament to the team's pitching, SDSU is 17-1 when scoring three or more runs.
- As of March 21, San Diego State was leading the Mountain West Conference in hitting (.305 team batting average) and pitching (1.63 team ERA). Sophomore Melissa Owens was the only player in conference ranked among the top 5 in both categories (5th in batting (.391) and 5th in ERA (2.12)).
- SDSU sophomore Monica Alnes was named the MWC Player of the Week on Tuesday after leading the Aztecs to a 5-0 record last week. She batted a team-best .529 and also led the squad in RBI (8), slugging percentage (.941) and on-base percentage (.556).
Last Week With the Aztecs
The Aztecs went 5-0 last week, including a perfect 4-0 record at the Aztec Classic. SDSU's wins came against Fairfield (11-4 and 7-2), Fordham (7-1), Iona (9-4) and Miami (OH) (5-0).
Sophomore Monica Alnes batted a team-best .529 and also led the squad in RBI (8), slugging percentage (.941) and on-base percentage (.556). Four other Aztecs - junior Tamani Wells (.471, 6 R), sophomore Melissa Owens (.438, HR, 5 RBI), junior Megan McDonald (.417, 5 RBI) and junior Taryin Casillas (.417, 5 R) - each batted over .400.
Junior Christina Ross led the pitching staff with a 3-0 record and 0.89 ERA. She struck out 34 batters against six walks in 23 2/3 innings, limiting her opponents to a .120 batting average.
On Wednesday night, SDSU swept a doubleheader against No. 20 Georgia Tech by scores of 5-4 and 1-0. Alnes, Wells and Owens each went 3-for-5 to lead the Aztec offense. Owens threw a three-hit shutout and Ross struck out eight in her victory.
Noting Ohio State
Ohio State is 15-12 heading into this weekend's trip to Fullerton, but has lost two of their three games on the most recent West Coast Trip, including a 10-6 contest at Long Beach State on Tuesday.
Sam Marder leads the Buckeyes with a .355 batting average, seven home runs and 25 RBI. Brittany Vanderin (.315), who is the only other player with an average above .300, leads the team with 10 stolen bases. Jamee Juarez (5-7, 1.88 ERA) and Kim Reeder (9-4, 2.35 ERA) have logged the majority of the innings in the circle for Ohio State.
The Aztecs and Buckeyes have each won three games in the all-time series. Ohio State won the last meeting, back on March 3, 2002, by a 3-1 score.
A Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Titans come into their match with San Diego State with a 16-13 record, having played 11 teams that have been nationally ranked or receiving votes in the national poll.
Ashley Van Boxmeer leads the team offensively with a .338 batting average, five home runs and 14 RBI. Jessica Doucette is batting .293 and leads the team with 10 doubles, while Courtney Martinez has 15 sac bunts. Candice Baker leads Cal State Fullerton's pitching staff with a 9-8 record and 1.97 ERA. She has 15 strikeouts in 124 2/3 innings.
The Titans lead the all-time series, 46-11. The two teams split at SDSU Softball Stadium last season. The Aztecs won the first game, 3-1, and fell, 8-0, in the nightcap.
SDSU's Monica Alnes Named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week
San Diego State sophomore Monica Alnes (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS) has been named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after leading SDSU to a 5-0 record last week. The weekly award is the second of her career and first offensive award by an Aztec this season (Christina Ross and Melissa Owens were each named MWC Pitcher of the Week earlier this season.)
Alnes, a 2006 all-MWC performer, batted a team-best .529 as SDSU went 5-0, including a 4-0 record at the Aztec Invitational, and had at least one hit in every game, extending her season-long hitting streak to seven consecutive games. The first baseman also led the squad in hits (9), RBI (8), total bases (16), slugging percentage (.941) and on-base percentage (.556).
Alnes went 1-for-3 with her first career grand slam in SDSU's 7-1 win over Fordham on Saturday. She added two hits apiece in each of the other four games during the week, including a 2-for-3 outing with a double, triple, two runs and two RBI in the Aztecs' 9-4 come-from-behind win over Iona on Sunday.
This season, Alnes is fourth in the team with a .325 batting average. She has started all 27 games she has played in and has two homers and 12 RBI.
Jack of All Trades; Masterful Melissa Owens
Sophomore Melissa Owens (San Diego/Christian HS) is having one of the best overall seasons, not only in school history, but in Mountain West Conference history as well.
Owens, who earlier this season played four positions - first base, shortstop, pitcher and designated player - in one game, is ranked fifth in the league in batting average (.391) and fifth in ERA (2.12) (as of March 21). No Aztec has ever been ranked among the conference top-10 in both categories. In addition, Owens is tied for fifth in hits (34) and doubles (7), seventh in slugging percentage (.609), tied for eight in RBI (17) and total bases (53), ninth in stolen bases (5), tied for ninth in on-base percentage (.436) and tied for tenth in home runs (4). In the circle, Owens is tied for third in saves (1), fourth in strikeouts (80), fifth in ERA (2.12) and games started (13), tied for fifth in wins (7), eighth in innings pitched (69.1), and tied for eighth in opposing batting average (.249) and appearances (16).
Through 32 games, Owens also leads the team with 11 multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games.
Two weekends ago, Owens had a team-best three homers, seven RBI and .818 slugging percentage. Against UC Santa Barbara, Owens became the first Aztec to hit two homers in a game since Sarah Hershman did the feat on May 8, 1999 against San Jose State.
In addition, Owens had a career-long 10-game hitting streak from Feb. 16-March 2 where she batted .519 (14-for-27). The 10-game streak is the second-longest in the MWC this season.
Owens has also shined in the circle. Earlier this season at the Aztec Invitational, Owens went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings. She struck out 15, walked one, and held her opponents to a .098 batting average and five hits, all singles. For her pitching efforts, Owens was named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career.
In SDSU's second game of a doubleheader against No. 20 Georgia Tech on March 22, Owens allowed just three hits (all singles) to a team who came into the day with 42 home runs and a .336 batting average. She struck out eight and allowed one walk for her second shutout of the season. Owens got out of a huge jam in the fourth after Caitlin Lever reached on an infield single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Owens then struck out the Yellow Jackets' No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 batters in succession to end the threat and preserve the shutout.
In Ross We Trust
Junior Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) is making a case to repeat as the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year, a feat only former Aztec Celena Velasquez (2003 and 2004) has accomplished. Through 23 Aztec games, Ross is 13-5 with a league-low 1.39 ERA. She has 108 strikeouts (2nd in MWC) in 125 2/3 innings pitched (1st in MWC) and has limited her opponents to a .220 batting average (2nd in MWC). In addition, she has 14 complete games and six shutouts, one more than she had all of last season. Ross is also first in wins (13), 2nd in games started (17) and tied for third with one save.
Earlier this season, Ross was named the MWC Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with two complete game shutouts and a 0.00 ERA in three appearances to lead SDSU to a 4-1 record and runner-up finish at the Texas Invitational. Ross tossed a combined 16.0 innings and allowed 11 hits and three walks, while striking out seven batters.
Ross might have had an even better performance at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton from March 2-4 when she went 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA as the Aztecs went 3-2. She appeared in all five games and logged 27 1/3 innings, striking out 22 with just two walks for a 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. She threw a complete game two-hitter and struck out a season-high six in SDSU's 1-0 win over Minnesota on Friday. Ross also had complete game victories against Cal Poly on Saturday and Nevada on Sunday.
In her two-year career (she played at Kansas her freshman year), Ross is second in win percentage (.667), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.21 K/BB), fourth in opponent batting average (.223), tied for fourth in saves (3), seventh in strikeouts (244), eighth in wins (30), tied for eighth in total shutouts (11), ninth in ERA (1.64), ninth in WHIP (1.05), ninth in fewest walks per seven innings (1.38) and 10th in fewest hits per seven innings (5.96).
Tamani on a Roll
Junior Tamani Wells (Concord, Calif.) continues to improve with each at-bat. This season, Wells is second on the team with at .367 batting average. She is also first in at-bats (98) and sacrifices (10), and is the only Aztec to start all 32 games this season. Dating back to last season, Wells has earned the starting nod in 56 consecutive games. During that stretch, SDSU has gone 38-18 (.655).
Wells is currently in the midst of a career-long nine-game hitting streak, tied with Monica Alnes for the longest streak by an Aztec this season (Melissa Owens hit safely in 10 games earlier this year). Over the nine games, in which SDSU has gone 8-1 with its only loss coming to No. 12 Stanford by one run, Wells is batting .516 (16-for-31) with a team bests of 10 runs and 16 hits.
In addition, she has reached base as the leadoff batter 57.1 percent (12 of 21) of the time, tops on the team.
Wells has also performed admirably in the field at both the left and center field positions. She has been perfect in the field on all 18 of her chances and even has one assist, second most among all outfielders.
Please click on the PDF file for a chart comparing each of her last three seasons.
SDSU Softball Picked to Repeat as MWC Champions
The San Diego State softball team has been picked to win the Mountain West Conference by the league's coaches in a preseason poll released by the conference. Last season, the Aztecs won their third MWC regular season title in the last five years with a 15-3 record in league play and a 34-15 overall mark, their best winning percentage in school history.
SDSU, who returns six starters, including sophomore All-American Erin Floros and junior MWC Pitcher of the Year Christina Ross, collected 25 points to capture the top spot in the poll, including five of the possible six first-place votes. Brigham Young received the other first-place vote. The Aztecs were followed by UNLV (19 points), Brigham Young (17 points), Utah (14), Colorado State (10) and New Mexico (5)
Head Coach Kathy Van Wyk
Under 11th-year head coach Kathy Van Wyk's leadership, the Aztecs have won three of the last six (2002, 2003, 2006) Mountain West Conference regular-season titles, advanced to the NCAA tournament three times in the past six seasons, including regional runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2006, and compiled a .600 or higher winning percentage in five of the last six campaigns. SDSU has improved its winning percentage in six of the last eight seasons and have been .500 or better in eight of Van Wyk's 10 years.
Under Van Wyk's guidance, the Aztecs had their best season in school history in 2006 with a 34-15 record, culminating with a runner-up finish to host UCLA in the NCAA Regional. En route to its third MWC regular season championship in the last six seasons, SDSU set numerous team records including winning percentage (.694), home winning percentage (.769),
In addition, despite playing only 49 games (SDSU typically plays around 60 games), the Aztecs set program records in batting average (.293), runs (234), home runs (27), RBI (213), slugging percentage (.410), walks (161) and on-base percentage (.379).