Oct. 15, 2012
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State softball head coach Kathy Van Wyk and assistant head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz were each inducted into their former school's Hall of Fame over the weekend.
Van Wyk, who is already in the Texas Woman's University hall of fame as an individual (1995), joined the 1978-79 softball team as the school's first Team of Distinction. The Pioneers captured the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship after posting a 7-1 record in the Women's College World Series.
TWU defeated South Carolina and Arizona State, before falling to Cal Poly Pomona. Texas Woman's then made a run through the loser's bracket, eliminating Indiana, Northern Colorado and Cal Poly Pomona to clinch a spot in the championship game. The Pioneers won the title with back-to-back 1-0 wins over UCLA for their first-ever national title.
Van Wyk was the 1979 Texas AIAW Player of the Year and a catcher/pitcher on the national championship team, before transferring to Cal State Fullerton when TWU dropped its softball program.
Nuveman Deniz, meanwhile, was inducted into the UCLA hall of fame on Friday. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Nuveman Deniz was a four-time NFCA first-team All-American, a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002) and the inaugural USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year in 2002. She ended her Bruin career as the NCAA all-time career leader in home runs (90) and slugging percentage (.945) as well as the school career record-holder for batting average, RBIs, hits, doubles, walks, games played and on-base percentage.
Nuveman Deniz also set UCLA single-season records for batting average (a nation-leading .529 in 2002), home runs (a then-NCAA record 31 in 1999), RBIs (a nation-leading 91 in 1999), total bases (187), slugging percentage (a NCAA record 1.045% in 2002), walks (77 in 2001) and on base percentage (.665 in 2002).
Nuveman Deniz led the Bruins to Women's College World Series appearances in each of her four years, including 1999 when UCLA captured the NCAA Championship. At the national level, Nuveman Deniz helped Team USA win gold at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and silver at the 2008 Olympics.
The Aztecs continue their fall exhibition schedule Saturday with their second Round Robin Day, beginning at 9 a.m. PT.
SDSU's biggest game of the fall season will be on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. PT against the National Pro Fastpitch All-Stars. Tickets for that game are available in advance for $10 and $5 for groups of 15 or more.
To purchase tickets to the San Diego State-NPF All-Stars game on Oct. 26, visit GoAztecs.com, or call (619) 283-7378, or visit the Aztec Ticket Office at Qualcomm Stadium's Window "E." The ticket office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets must be purchased in advance as there is no will call for the event.
Admission to the rest of the fall games (besides the NPF contest) is free.