Beach Closes Out Season at 28-25
Five 49ers Earn All-Big West Honors
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May 16, 2007
FIRST PITCH: The Long Beach State 49ers (28-25, 11-7 Big West) finished the 2007 campaign right where they were projected to finish, which was third in the Big West Conference behind Cal State Fullerton and conference champion Cal Poly.
ALL BIG-WEST HONORS: Long Beach State had five players selected to the All-Big West Conference Teams as announced by the league office on Tuesday (May 15) ... Bridgette Pagano continued the tradition of stellar 49er pitchers as she was named the Freshman Pitcher of the Year and first team all-conference ... juniors Jessica Beaver and Lacy Tyler landed on the second team, while junior Whitney Radcliff and senior Panita Thanatharn were honorable mention selections ... Cal Poly's Lisa Modglin was named the Big West Player of the year and UC Santa Barbara's Jennifer Davis picked up the Gauchos' first-ever Pitcher of the Year award ... Cal Poly Head Coach Jenny Condon was the 2007 Big West Coach of the Year, while Krysten Cary (Cal Poly) and Christina Saenz (Cal State Northridge) were selected as Co-Freshman Field Players of the Year.
BRIDGETTE PAGANO: Right-handed pitcher Bridgette Pagano (Temecula) completed her inaugural campaign with 20 wins, 10 shutouts and a 1.65 ERA in 211.2 innings pitched ... she became the 20th pitcher in Long Beach State history to throw a no-hitter as she led the 49ers to a 7-0 game one victory over non-conference foe Brown University (Mar. 27) ... Pagano was also named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday, April 30 after helping the 49ers to a 2-1 series victory at Pacific ... Pagano also earned the weekly honor when she was tabbed the Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 12 for her performance at the Long Beach Invitational when she went 3-0 on the weekend allowing no earned runs while picking up two shutouts ... Pagano finished second in the Big West in ERA, third in opponents batting average (.219), first in innings pitched and fourth in strikeous (100).
JESSICA BEAVER: Shortstop Jessica Beaver (Hemet) had her best season offensively in 2007 as she led the team with a .356 batting average, 41 RBI, 31 runs scored and 10 homeruns ... she was also second on the team with 48 hits ... Beaver made her mark in the single season record books as she ranks third in homeruns and RBI ... Beaver will look to break a couple of career records next season as she is already tied for third with 15 homeruns and is eighth with 73 RBI.
LACY TYLER: Outfielder Lacy Tyler (La Mirada) also had her best season offensively as she ended up third on the team with a .315 batting average, scored 27 runs and had 17 RBI ... she racked up 46 hits, including a team-best 10 doubles, a triple and a homerun ... Tyler is currently tied for 10th on the 49er career charts with 23 doubles.
WHITNEY RADCLIFF: Second baseman Whitney Radcliff (Tustin), a transfer from Mt. SAC, led the team with 54 hits and was a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases ... Radliff finished the season second in batting average (.335) with eight doubles, two triples and a homerun ... she committed only nine errors in 200 attempts for a .955 fielding percentage.
PANITA THANATHARN: Third baseman Panita Thanatharn (Chino Hills) finished her last year with a .291 batting average, 46 hits, 26 runs scored and 20 RBI ... Thanatharn was also named one of 20 finalists for softball's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for her acheivements on and off the field ... Thanatharn was told she may never play again after a collision at the plate during the start of her sophomore season ... she received the school's Todd Hart Courage Award in October 2003 ... an academic all-star and academic all-conference selection, Thanatharn received her degree in Kinesiology and is now working towards her Master's.
STREAK SNAPPED: The 49ers saw their post-season streak come to an end when they weren't one of the five Big West teams to claim a bid to the NCAA Regionals ... the 49ers had made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for four consecutive years and 17 times overall before being left out in 2007 ... conference champion Cal Poly earned the automatic bid, while Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific all earned at-large berths into the post-season as announced by the NCAA Softball Committee on Sunday, May 13.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP: The Beach won the three-game series with UC Santa Barbara 2-1... the 49ers split the doubleheader on Friday as they won the opener 3-0 before falling in the nightcap 2-1 ... in game one, Bridgette Pagano went the distance allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out six, and Whitney Radcliff powered the 49er offense with a pair of hits ... The Beach scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to run away with a 3-0 win ... in the second game Pagano again went the distance allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out four ... UCSB was leading 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh and it looked like it would be a 49er comeback when Jessica Beaver led the inning off with a solo homerun, but The Beach couldn't get much else going as Jennifer Davis retired three of the next four batters ... Pagano and the 49ers came back strong on Saturday as they took game three 1-0 ... Pagano picked up her 20th win of the season with her 10th complete game shutout ... Breezy Goad scored what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-out solo shot over the right field fence.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Jessica Beaver made her way into the single season record books in several categories this season ... Beaver finished the season with 41 RBI (third), 10 homeruns (third) and a .356 batting average (fourth) ... Brianna Goad ended up tied for eighth in stolen bases (11) on the all-time single season charts... on the career charts, Jonae Perez who missed most of the 2007 season due to injury still sits atop the leaders in batting average (.321) ... Beaver is tied for third in career homeruns (15) and is eighth with 73 RBI ... Lacy Tyler is tied for 10th with 23 doubles, 10 of those coming in the 2007 season, and in only two seasons with the 49ers, Goad is already tied for eighth with 21 career stolen bases.
OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: The Beach finished the season with a .260 batting average and 208 runs scored ... the 49ers hit the 200 mark with Beaver's two-run homer in game three at Pacific (Apr. 29), marking only the fifth time a 49er squad has scored 200 or more runs in a season ... three 49ers hit .300 or better, led by Jessica Beaver (.356) ... Beaver registered 48 hits, a team-best 10 homeruns and 41 RBI, while Whitney Radcliff had a team-leading 54 hits.
ON THE DEFENSIVE END: The pitching staff ended up with a combined 3.09 ERA and was led by Bridgette Pagano (20-11) who finished her first year as a 49er with 20 wins and a 1.65 ERA ... The Beach had a .958 fielding percentage.
IN THE BIG WEST: Several 49ers finished the season ranked among the statistical leaders in the Big West ... Jessica Beaver was third in homeruns (10), fourth in RBI (41), fifth in slugging percentage (.630), and seventh in batting average (.356) ... Whitney Radcliff ended up eighth in hits (54) and on base percentage (.419), while Breezy Goad was second with 11 steals ... Bridgette Pagano finished a stellar freshman year ranked first in wins (20), second in ERA (1.65), third in opposing batting average (.219), and fourth in strikeouts (100).
THE COACH: Long Beach State Head Coach Kim Sowder completes her first year as a head collegiate coach with an overall record of 28-25 (.528) and an 11-7 (.611) record in the Big West ... 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.
A LOOK AHEAD: The 49ers will return a majority of their starting lineup next year with only two seniors on the roster in 2007 ... The Beach will look to have a strong pitching staff with Freshman Pitcher of the Year Bridgette Pagano returning along with Kelly Cross and Melissa DeMarco ... high school standout Brooke Turner (La Palma/John F. Kennedy HS), who signed a national letter of intent with the 49ers will also look to make an immediate impact in 2008 ... the 49ers will also return their top three bats in Jessica Beaver, Whitney Radcliff and Lacy Tyler ... other top 49er returnees include Breezy Goad (2006 All-Big West Honorable Mention), Brooke LeSage and Jonae Perez.
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 went 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 UCLA, losing 5-0 ... the 49ers 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 named 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 ... Tiffanie Wedell and Sophomore Breezy Goad were both Honorable Mention selections as well.
2007 Schedule
2007 Roster
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