49ers Open Big West Conference Play This Weekend
Beach Has Three-Game Homestand With CS Northridge
March 30, 2007
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| 2007 Long Beach State Softball | | Overall Record: 16-16 | | Big West Record: 0-0 | This Week:
Saturday, March 31 vs. CS Northridge (2) 1 pm
Sunday, April 1 vs. CS Northridge 1 pm |
FIRST PITCH: Long Beach State (16-16) hosts Cal State Northridge (12-11-1) this weekend as both teams begin the Big West Conference schedule ... both teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and one game on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the 49er Softball Complex.
SCOUTING CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: Cal State Northridge is 12-11-1 coming into this weekend against the 49ers ... the Matadors have been off since Mar. 17, when they went 2-3 in the Cal State Fullerton tournament, having a pair of wins against No. 24 Florida State (4-3) and No. 12 Washington (5-1) ... CSUN is hitting .284 as a team and has four players hitting over .300 ... Christina Saenz leads the team with a .405 average in 13 games played and Amanda Peek is batting a .389 (24 games) and leads the Matadors with 17 RBI, 28 hits and six home runs ... Miranda Ponce (.333) and Lauren Olivas (.306) are also hitting above .300 ... Mercedes Lovato (7-7) leads CSUN with 57 strikeous in 78 innings pitched with a 3.66 ERA and Ama Pitzenberger (5-3) is right behind with 51 strikeouts in 61 innings and a 3.65 ERA.
SERIES RECORDS: Long Beach State holds a 41-37 lead over Cal State Northridge ... the 49ers won all three games last year in Northridge ... The Beach has won the last 12 games versus the Matadors ... LBSU is 21-12 at home against CSUN ... the last time the 49ers lost to Northridge was in 2002, when the Matadors swept The Beach all three games in Northridge.
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. ... Cal State Northridge Head Coach Barbara Jordan is in her sixth year at the Matador helm ... Jordan has an overall record of 139-120-1 in her six years at Northridge.
PAGANO TOSSES NO-HITTER: Freshman Bridgette Pagano became the 20th player in Long Beach State softball history to toss a no-hitter as she led the 49ers to a 7-0 victory against visiting Brown University ... Pagano earned her 11th victory of the season to improve to 11-5 ... in her victory against Brown, only three Bears' players reached base as Pagano gave up just two walks and a hit batter while striking out three in 7.0 innings pitched.
BEACH EVENS RECORD WITH SWEEP OF BROWN: The 49ers evened their overall record to 16-16 with a pair of wins against Brown at the 49er Softball Complex on Tuesday as The Beach defeated the Bears 7-0 in game one and 6-4 in game two ... Brianna Goad and Ashley Levine each had a triple and five 49ers recorded a hit in game one ... in game two, Kelly Cross earned the victory as she improved her record to 4-5, allowing four runs on 10 hits, while striking out three in 7.0 innings pitched ... Panita Thanatharn led the 49er offense going 4-for-4 with a double and two runs scored ... Whitney Radcliff contributed with two hits and an RBI.
LAST WEEK: The Beach went 3-2 in last weekend's Stanford Tournament in Palo Alto, winning their first two games against Ohio, 8-0 and UC Davis, 5-3 ... Kelly Cross (3-5) went the distance in game one giving up four hits and striking out two as she picked up her first complete game shutout of the season ... Jessica Beaver led the 49er offense with a double and four RBI, while Whitney Radcliff and Kourtnee Gervasi each went 2-for-3 with two RBI a piece, while Lacy Tyler chipped in two hits ... in game two, Tyler (1-5) picked up her first win of the season as she allowed one run in four innings of relief against the Aggies ... on the second day, the 49ers had their five-game winning streak snapped as they fell to Portland State, 7-3 and No. 10 Stanford, 3-0 ... Tyler took the loss in game one, allowing five runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings pitched ... Whitney Radcliff led the 49er offense with a two-run shot, her first homerun of the season ... in game two against Stanford, Bridgette Pagano went the distance allowing only one earned run on three hits, while striking out three as the the 49ers committed four errors ... Panita Thanatharn and Tyler each singled, accounting for the only two hits for The Beach ... on the final day, the 49ers came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Ohio, 3-2 ... Pagano earned the victory to improve her record to 10-5 as she allowed no runs on four hits in 3.2 innings of relief ... Brianna Goad, Stefanie Trutanic and Tyler had two hits a piece as LBSU racked up eight hits against Ohio.
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PAGANO EARNS BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Bridgette Pagano was selected Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 12) for her performance at the Long Beach Invitational (Mar. 9-11) as she went 3-0 on the weekend, picking up wins over Canisius, Southern Utah and Eastern Kentucky ... against the Canisius Golden Griffins she gave up three hits and struck out five in a complete game shutout win, then followed that up with another three-hit gem to go along with a career-high seven strikeouts in the 2-1 win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds ... after pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless relief against No.12-ranked UCLA, Pagano wrapped up her week with another complete game shutout against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels ... she scattered five hits to go along with three strikeouts for her eighth win of the season.
HOME SWEET HOME: The 49ers made their on-campus debut on Mar. 13, at the 49er Softball Complex with a victory against Miami (OH) as it marked the sixth consecutive home opening win for The Beach ... 49ers last lost their home opener was back in 2001 as Loyola Marymount defeated LBSU, 3-0 ... the 49ers opened the 2007 campaign with 19 games on the road before coming home to their former home, Mayfair Park in Lakewood, CA, to host the Long Beach Invitational ... Mayfair Park served as the home field for the 49ers for 13 seasons (1981-94) before the team moved to their permanent on campus field.
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.
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.
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: The Beach travels to Cal Poly next weekend for a three-game series against the Mustangs ... the 49ers return home on Apr. 14, when they host Cal State Fullerton at the 49er Softball Complex.
2007 Roster
2007 Schedule
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