49ers Host Utah Valley State
LBSU Plays Next Five Games at Home
March 14, 2005 PDF VERSION of this RELEASE 12-12, 0-0 Big West
home: 5-3 • away: 0-3 • neutral: 7-6
Quickly:
The Long Beach State softball team (12-12) hosts Utah Valley State for a double-header, Sunday, Mar. 19 beginning at Noon.
Turner Named Big West Pitcher of the Week:
Michelle Turner was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league office on Monday. This was her second Pitcher of the Week honor this season. Turner (Buena Park) pitched the seventh perfect game in school history, and recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in Long Beach State's 8-0 win over Mercer at the Long Beach State Invitational on Friday from Mayfair Park. Turner in fact was the sixth player to throw a perfect game in program history. Mary Letourneau threw two perfect games in 1990. Lindsey Knoff threw the last perfect game on April 9, 2004. The 5-9 right-hander also collected the win in the circle in the 15-2 win over Syracuse on Saturday. She allowed two runs (both unearned) on five hits with four strikeouts vs. the Orange. For the week, Turner was 2-0 and walked just two batters over 11 innings. This season, Turner has compiled a 9-5 record with a 1.56 ERA and 84 strikeouts. She has also been effective at the plate with a .280 batting average, to go along with a team-high 20 RBI and team-high four home runs.
About Utah Valley State:
UVSU has posted a 5-14 record thru games played Mar. 12...Chris Jiminez leads the team with a .383 batting average, but the Hornets are just hitting .237 as a team...The pitching staff has posted a 6.03 ERA
Last Week Recap:
LBSU went 2-3 for the week (0-1 vs. Virginia) and 2-2 at the Long Beach State Invitational. After Michelle Turner's perfect game on Friday vs. Mercer, Long Beach State ended Saturday night in successful fashion, after it defeated Syracuse, 15-2, after falling to Mississippi State, 13-2 earlier in the day. The 49ers jumped on the Orange early in the first inning for two runs off starting pitcher, Erin Downey. Back-to-back RBI singles from Michelle Turner and Lacy Tyler gave LBSU the early 2-0 lead. The 49ers followed with a four-run second inning. Breezy Goad?s RBI double to score Kourtnee Gervasi started things off, before two more doubles in the inning from Jessica Beaver and Tyler drove in another two runs, and pushed the 49er lead to 6-0. No. 4-ranked UCLA escaped Mayfair Park with a 4-2 win over Long Beach State in the final day of the Long Beach State Invitational on Sunday. UCLA (25-1) struck first in the first inning when Caitlin Benyi's two-run home run gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Long Beach State cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth inning when an error by UCLA third baseman, Andrea Duran allowed Lacy Tyler to score. The Bruins tacked on another run in the fifth inning to give them a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning. LBSU however squandered an opportunity to threaten the UCLA lead with the bases loaded and no outs. After Brooke LeSage was issued a bases loaded walk (Tyler scored) from UCLA starting pitcher, Lisa Dodd, to cut the deficit to 3-2, Dodd prevented both Franciska Morlet and Kourtnee Gervasi to score from third base on a pair of fielder's choices. Tiffanie Wedell then struck out to end the inning. UCLA added one more run in the sixth inning to make the final score 4-2.
News & Notes
Headlines in ‘06
• Long Beach State will try and win its third consecutive Big West Title (6th overall) in program history
• The 49ers were picked second, behind CS Fullerton in the annual Big West Pre-Season Coaches Poll, released in January
• Long Beach State lost three first-team all-conference performers last year (Meredith Cervenka, Lauren Johnson, Marcel Torres). Cervenka was a three-time BWC Co-Pitcher of the Year, while Torres was a two-time BWC Co-Pitcher of the Year
• Keep an eye on: Jonae Perez, Michelle Turner, and Tiffanie Wedell. Perez was the 2005 Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year. Wedell has been the staple at second base for the 49ers. She was a 2005 Big West Honorable Mention, and Michelle Turner is a transfer pitcher from UCLA.
• Long Beach State has a very young squad, featuring eight newcomers (six freshmen). Michelle Turner and Lindsay Russo are both junior transfers
• The 49ers play or have played six opponents ranked in the Top-25 (UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington, Mississippi State, and Northwestern) this season. Long Beach State is 1-6 vs. teams ranked in the Top 25 this season
A Look Inside the Numbers:
Long Beach State has been most productive in the third and fifth innings of games this season. The 49ers have scored a total of 22 runs in the third inning and 21 in the fifth inning. However, LBSU has been out-scored 36-19 in the sixth and eighth innings of games this season...The 49ers are 11-3 when leading after five innings (0-8 when trailing after six innings).
Player Notes
# 15 Michelle Turner
• Big West Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 13)
• Big West Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20)
• Pitched the seventh perfect game in school history (was the sixth player to throw a perfect game) and added a career-high 11 strikeouts in Long Beach State's 8-0 win over Mercer on Mar. 10
• Leads the 49ers with four HR and 20 RBI this season, and has compiled a .280 batting average (second on the team)
• Has a team-high nine doubles
• Has 84 strikeouts in the circle with a 9-5 record and a 1.56 ERA
• Tossed a three-hitter to lead Long Beach State to a 4-1 victory over Wichita State to open the Hillenbrand Invitational (Mar. 3)
• Had two 2-run home runs and nine strikeouts in the circle to lift Long Beach State to a 7-4 win over South Florida at the Hillenbrand Invitational (3/4)
• Tossed a three-hit shutout and went 2-for-4 from the plate with a pair of RBI in LBSU's G1 win over Southern Utah (Feb. 22)
• Went 2-for-2 with a run and RBI vs. Wagner on Feb. 25
• Pitched a five-hit shutout with six strikeouts (no walks) in LBSU's 1-0 win over UCLA on Feb. 15. Also scored the game-winning run in that contest
• Made her 49er debut by pitching a one-hit shutout (with five strikeouts) in the 4-0 season-opening win over Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 10. Turner also connected for a two-run home run in the fifth inning of that game
# 1 Breezy Goad
• Leads the team with a .327 batting average and has scored a team-high 15 runs
• 7-for-8 on stolen base attempts
• Hit .357 at the Long Beach State Invitational (Mar. 10-12), including a 4-for-5 performance with four RBI vs. Syracuse on Mar. 11
#3 Tiffanie Wedell
• Hitting .267 with 12 runs scored and nine RBI
• Has had two five-game hitting streaks (Feb. 10-12, Feb. 23-Mar. 3)
• 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts
• Went 2-for-3 with a run and RBI vs. Kentucky on Feb. 24
• Had three RBI in LBSU's 6-2 win over Tulsa on Feb. 18
• Went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the season opening win vs. Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 10)
• Went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI in the 11-6 win over Southern Utah (Feb. 10)
#2 Jessica Beaver
• Has two of Long Beach State's four triples this season
• Has compiled a .237 batting average with 13 runs and 11 RBI
• Connected for a three-run triple vs. Mercer on Mar. 10
• Hit .267 at the Hillenbrand Invitational, Mar. 3-5, with two runs, one HR, and three RBI. Hit a two-run home run in the first inning in LBSU's 4-1 win over Wichita State (3/3)
• Went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the season opening win over Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 10)
• Went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, including a three-run double in the fifth inning in LBSU's 11-6 win over Southern Utah on Feb. 10
#16 Kourtnee Gervasi
• Had a six-game hitting streak (Feb. 10-18)
• Hitting .273, with 10 runs and eight RBI
• Had a .444 batting average at the Long Beach State Invitational (Mar. 10-12), with three runs, three doubles, and an RBI
• Hit her first home run of the season with a two-run shot in the second inning vs. South Florida on Mar. 4
• Posted a .500 batting average for the week (Feb. 15-18) with a run and an RBI...Had the game-winning RBI in the 1-0 win over UCLA on Feb. 15
• Hit an RBI single in the third inning of LBSU's 11-6 win over Southern Utah (Feb. 10)
#4 Ashley Weber
• Hitting .394 in 16 games (12 started) this season, with six RBI
• Hit .545 (6-for-11) at the Long Beach State Invitational (Mar. 10-12) with three runs and three RBI |
