49ers Head South for San Diego
Beach Among Six Team Tournament at Aztec Invitational
February 23, 2007
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| 2007 Long Beach State Softball | | Overall Record: 3-6 | | Big West Record: 0-0 | This Week: At Aztec Invitational, San Diego, CA
Friday, Feb. 23 vs. North Dakota State, 2 pm
Friday, Feb. 23 vs. Oregon, 7 pm
Saturday, Feb. 24 vs. Siena College, 7 pm
Sunday, Feb. 25 vs. San Diego, 2 pm
Sunday, Feb. 25 vs. San Diego State, 4:30 pm |
FIRST PITCH: The Long Beach State softball team travels down south to San Diego for the six team (North Dakota State, Oregon, San Diego, San Diego State & Siena) Aztec Invitational hosted by San Diego State ... the 49ers are scheduled to play two games on Friday, the first game at 2 p.m., against North Dakota State and the second game with Oregon at 7 p.m. ... On Saturday, The Beach plays only one game at 7 p.m. with Siena ... On the last day of the tournament, the 49ers will be in the last two games of the day as they'll play San Diego at 2 p.m. and San Diego State at 4:30 p.m.
SCOUTING THE FIELD: North Dakota State comes into this weekend with an overall record of 10-1 ... the Bisons went 4-1 last week at the College of Charleston Tournament in Charleston, SC. ... NDSU finished last season as the Division I Independent Tournament Champions ... INF Melissa Chmielews leads the club with a .394 average and 18 RBI's and Lynnae Foshag has driven in 13 runs with a .351 average ... in the circle, RHP Bekki Rasmussen has a record of 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA and Allison Bakke has a 5-1 record and 1.35 ERA in four starts for the Bisons ... Oregon is riding on a nine game winning streak, with their lone loss coming to Florida at the Kajikawa Classic two weeks ago in their season opener ... the Ducks outscored all five opponents 43-4, last weekend at the UNLV Dessert Classic ... RHP Alicia Cook has a 0.71 ERA with a record of 5-1 ... OF Ann Marie Topps leads the Ducks with a .400 average and five HR's ... San Diego comes into the tournament at a 2-2 record ... Tournament host San Diego State has a overall record of 5-5 ... the Aztecs went 4-1 in the Texas Invitational last week, including a win against No. 10 Texas ... OF Brittany Knudsen is batting .455 with six runs and five RBI's ... Christina Ross has a 0.64 ERA in seven appearances with a 3-2 record ... Siena will open their season this weekend in the Aztec Invitational against San Diego ... the Saints finished the 2006 season at 18-34 overall and a fifth place finish in the MAAC ... SS Kelly Boyle set a school record last year with 12 home runs as a junior and batted .316 with 39 RBI's and 22 runs scored.
SERIES RECORDS: Long Beach State leads the series with San Diego State, 46-19, as both teams met last year in the NCAA Regionals at UCLA ... the Aztecs defeated the 49ers 3-1, eliminating LBSU from the NCAA Tournament ... Long Beach State leads San Diego, 6-1, in its series history ... both teams last met in 2003 in the Aztec Invitational as Long Beach came away with a 5-4 victory ... the series is tied between The Beach and Oregon at 4-4 ... the Ducks evened the series two weeks ago at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, AZ, as Oregon defeated the 49ers 3-0 ... LBSU holds a 1-0 advantage in its series with Siena as they last played each other in 2004 at the Hawai'i Tournament ... for Long Beach State and North Dakota State, this will be the first meeting between the two schools.
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. ... North Dakota State Head Coach Darren Mueller is in his sixth season with the Bison, with an overall record of 179-88 ... last season Mueller guided the Bisons to the Division I Independent tournament title ... Oregon Head Coach Kathy Arendsen is her fifth season with the Ducks and has compiled a record of 139-94 ... Arendsen has an overall coaching record of 511-369 ... San Diego State Head Coach Kathy Van Wyk is in her 11th year (332-252-1) with the Aztecs ... before coming to SDSU, Van Wyk previously served as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton from 1983-87, helping the Titans to the 1986 NCAA Championship ... Van Wyk is a 1983 graduate from CSUF ... San Diego Head Coach Melissa McElvain is in her sixth season with the Torreros, with an overall record of 80-161 ...
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).
BEAVER BRINGS HOME WINNING RUN: Jessica Beaver hit a walk-off two-run homerun to give the 49ers a 4-3 victory over the Nevada Wolfpack on the final day of the Softball by the Beach Invitational in Santa Barbara ... she hit a .562 average for the weekend going 9-16 and scored six runs for the tournament ... overall, she has a .467 average in nine starts and leads the team with 11 runs, 14 hits, four HR's and 11 RBI's.
CROSS EARNS HER FIRST WIN: Kelly Cross (1-0) earned her first victory as a 49er giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out four in seven innings pitched against Nevada last weekend ... Cross, who played one year at University of Illinois-Chicago last season, struck out nine and allowed one earned run in 5.2 innings of relief against UC Santa Barbara.
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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