Beach Travels Up North for Weekend Tourney
New Head Coach Kim Sowder Earns Her First Victory
February 16, 2007
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| 2007 Long Beach State Softball | | Overall Record: 1-4 | | Big West Record: 0-0 | This Week: At Softball by the Beach Tournament, Santa Barbara, CA
Friday, Feb. 16 vs. Northern Colorado, 2 pm
Saturday, Feb. 17 vs. UC Santa Barbara, 9 am
Saturday, Feb. 17 vs. Nevada, 2 pm
Sunday, Feb. 18 vs. Northern Colorado, 11:30 am |
FIRST PITCH: The Long Beach State softball team travels up the 101 Freeway this weekend for the five team Softball by the Beach Tournament hosted by UC Santa Barbara ... The 49ers will face Northern Colorado on Friday at 2 p.m., UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 9 a.m., Nevada on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Northern Colorado again at 11:30 a.m.
SCOUTING THE FIELD: Tournament host UC Santa Barbara comes into this weekend at 2-2 after opening their season last weekend at the San Diego State Tournament ... the Gauchos finished last year at 24-22 and a fourth place finish in the Big West Conference ... Former Big West member Nevada is off to an 0-5 start after competing Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, AZ. ... the Wolf Pack won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in school history ... Nevada concluded the season at 33-33 ... Big Sky Conference member Northern Colorado is 1-4, with their only victory coming against San Jose State in the UC Riverside Tournament ... the Bears finished last season at 12-34.
SERIES RECORDS: Long Beach State leads UC Santa Barbara 64-27 ... last year The Beach took two of three from the Gauchos in Santa Barbara, defeating UCSB in the series' finale 2-1 ... the 49ers lead Nevada 1-0, as they last met in 2004 in the Sacramento State Tournament ... LBSU won 5-1 ... This will be the first meeting between Long Beach State and Northern Colorado.
THE COACHES: Long Beach State Head Coach Kim Sowder begins her first year as a head collegiate coach ... she previously served as an assistant coach for the past 12 seasons under Pete Manarino ... Sowder also played at LBSU for four years (1989-92) as a shortstop, garnering All-America and All-Big West honors ... during her playing career, Sowder helped the 49ers to three (1990-92) of their five trips to the NCAA College World Series in Oklahoma City, OK. ... Nevada Head Coach Michelle Gardner enters her fifth season with the Wolf Pack as she has accumulated a 115-127 record ... Gardner guided Nevada to their first WAC Tournament Championship and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament ... Northern Colorado Head Coach Jennifer Schunke is in her first season as she previously served as an assistant coach with the Bears in 2001 and 2002 ... UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Kristy Schroeder is in sixth year leading the Gauchos with a record of 143-133 and a career record of 276-167-1 as she was previously the head coach at Division II Truman State.
SOWDER EARNS FIRST WIN AS COACH: Long Beach State Softball Head Coach Kim Sowder picked up her first win as a collegiate head coach on Feb. 10, as the 49ers defeated the Syracuse Orange, 12-3 ... Bridgett Pagano (1-1) picked up the win as she struck out five and limited Syracuse to five hits ... The Beach went 1-4 in last week's Kajikawa Classic as they lost in their opening game against Oregon, 3-0 and a 5-4 loss to Wisconsin ... shortstop Jessica Beaver batted a .357 for the weekend tournament, which also included three home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored ... second baseman Whitney Radcliff had six hits for the tournament and scored three runs with a .429 average.
THE BEACH PICKED THIRD IN BIG WEST: Long Beach State was picked to finish third in the the annual preseason Big West Conference coaches poll conducted on Jan. 24 ... the 49ers received 33 points as Cal Poly was selected second with 35 points and conference favorite Cal State Fullerton received 48 points and six first place votes.
BIG WEST RANKED AMONG THE BEST: In the first USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll, Long Beach State received 15 votes for a ranking of 33rd and fellow conference member Cal State Fullerton received 54 votes for a ranking of 27th.
POST-SEASON SUCCESS: Since 1986, the 49ers have made 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and participated in five NCAA College World Series ... The Beach has compiled a record 21-28 in post-season play and a 5-10 record in their five trips to Oklahoma City.
HOME SWEET HOME: The 49ers will play their next 17 games on the road this season before coming home to host their own tournament, the Long Beach Invitational (Mar. 9-11) at Mayfair Park in Lakewood, CA. ... The Beach will finally make their campus debut at the 49er Softball Complex on Mar. 14, when they host Miami (OH).
PEREZ LOOKS TO CONTINUE OFFENSIVE ATTACK: Junior infielder/outfielder Jonae Perez looks to lead the 49ers in offense as she batted a .303 with 40 hits ... she also hit a .400 in conference play and a .421 on base percentage which ranked eighth in the Big West Conference … was selected as the 2005 Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year after hitting .363 in just 38 games, with 15 runs, six doubles, and 12 RBI … her .363 batting average was the second highest in a single-season in program history.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Senior outfielder Kourtnee Gervasi will be looked upon for her leadership as she leads the 49ers into the 2007 season ... Gervasi batted a .235 last year with 27 hits ... scored the game-winning run in the top of the sixth inning of the NCAA Regional vs. San Diego State on May 19… LBSU won 1-0 … Posted a .714 batting average (5-for-7 with two runs and an RBI) in the Pacific series (Apr. 29-30) ... Hit .500 at CS Northridge (3-for-6 with a run scored) on Apr. 6 ... Had a six-game hitting streak (Feb. 10-18) … Posted a .500 batting average for the week (Feb. 15-18) with a run and an RBI.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The 49ers will rely on two newcomers to help out in the circle, sophomore Kelly Cross and freshman Bridgette Pagano ... Cross, a transfer from the University of Illinois Chicago, played for one year for the Flames which went on to capture the 2006 Horizon League Championship ... Pagano pitched two perfect games as a senior at Temecula Valley High and had an 0.82 ERA and hit .380.
LAST SEASON: The 49ers finished the 2006 campaign at 31-22 and a second place finish (13-5) in the Big West ... The Beach made its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance as they received an at-large berth into the UCLA regional ... The Beach were 1-2 in regional play last year as they defeated San Diego State, 1-0 in the first game and went on to play host team UCLA, losing 5-0 ... met SDSU again in the losers bracket and were eliminated by the Aztecs, 3-1 ... last season marked the fifth time that Long Beach State has played in a regional at UCLA , posting a 3-8 all-time record ... three 49ers were honored last year by the Big West Conference as Michelle Turner was selected as the 2006 Pitcher of the Year ... the honor marked the fourth straight season (five out of the last seven years) that a Pitcher of the Year has come from Long Beach State ... Turner was also a first-team all league selection as well ... Tiffanie Wedell and Sophomore Breezy Goad were both Honorable Mention selections as well.
MANARINO RIDES INTO THE SUNSET: After guiding the Long Beach State Softball program for 23 years, long time Head Coach Pete Manarino announced his retirement following the 2006 campaign ... he finishes with an all-time record of 843-508, making him the all-time winningest head coach in Long Beach State Athletic history ... guided the 49ers to 151 victories the last four seasons ... named Big West Conference Coach of the Year (1986, 1997, 1999) five times, including back-to-back accolades in 2002 and 2003... finished with conference record of 403-225 as he claimed five conference championships ... participated in 17 NCAA Regionals and five trips to the NCAA College World Series.
ON DECK: Next weekend, The Beach travels to San Diego, CA., as they'll face North Dakota State, Oregon, Sierra College and San Diego State in the Aztec Invitational, Feb. 23-25.
2007 Roster
2007 Schedule
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