49ers Honor Seniors in Final Homestand
Beach Drops Two-of-Three Against UC Davis; Hosts UCSB This Weekend
May 9, 2007
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| 2007 Long Beach State Softball | | Overall Record: 26-24 | | Big West Record: 9-6 | This Week:
Friday, May 11 vs. UC Santa Barbara, 1 pm (DH)
Saturday, May 12 vs. UC Santa Barbara, 1 pm |
FIRST PITCH: The Long Beach State 49ers (26-24, 9-6 Big West) are currently tied for third in the Big West Conference and will take on UC Santa Barbara in their final regular season series at the 49er Softball Complex ... both teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday with the first game starting at 1 pm and the second game beginning a half-hour after the completion of game one ... Saturday's game begins at 1 pm.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA: UCSB improved their record to 29-19 overall and 6-9 in the Big West with a three-game sweep of UC Riverside last weekend ... the Gauchos, who are sixth in the Big West standings, captured the first two games of the series by way of 8-2 and 10-2 scores and closed out the weekend with a 2-0 victory ... on the season, the Gauchos are hitting .258 and are averaging 3.9 runs per game ... UCSB is led by Christine Ramos who checks in with a team-leading 61 hits for a .365 batting average ... Tisha Duran is not far behind with a .344 batting average, 52 hits (11 doubles) and a team-best 32 RBI ... the pitching staff comes into the weekend with a combined 2.06 ERA and are led by Jennifer Davis (13-12, 1.42 ERA) and MeLinda Matsumoto (9-6, 2.63 ERA).
SERIES RECORDS: Long Beach State leads in its all-time series with UCSB by a count of 64-28-1 ... the two teams met earlier in the year at the UCSB Softball by the Beach Tournament as the Gauchos came out on top 9-6 ... the 49ers who have not lost a series to the Gauchos since the Big West switched to the three-game format in 1999, took two-of-three from UCSB last season ... the 49ers have an overall record of 32-13-1 at home against the Gauchos and are 21-5 at the 49er Softball Complex.
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. ... UCSB Head Coach Kristy Schroeder is in her sixth season at the helm of the program... Schroeder, who served as the head coach at Division II Truman State for three years before joining the Gauchos has an overall head coaching record of 276-167-1 (.623) and has a career record of 143-133 (.518) at UCSB ... Schroeder was named the Big West Coach of the Year in 2001.
STAYING ALIVE: The 49ers can clinch the Big West title with a sweep of UCSB and some help from Pacific and UC Riverside... if The Beach can complete a sweep this weekend, Pacific sweeps Cal Poly and Riverside can take one game from Fullerton, the 49ers would be tied with the Tigers and the Titans at 12-6 in this scenario, but would claim the crown thanks to head-to-head wins over both clubs.
THE SENIORS: The 49ers will honor seniors Kourtnee Gervasi and Panita Thanatharn before their final home game on Saturday ... Gervasi has been a defensive staple in the outfield committing only one error in 183 games played ... Gervasi will finish her career with a .240 batting average, 104 total hits (20 doubles, six homeruns) 52 RBI and a .994 fielding percentage ... Thanatharn, who was granted her sixth season of eligiblity this year has been making the most of the opportunity as she is hitting .291 with 44 hits, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored and is a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP: After taking game one from UC Davis, the 49ers dropped the next two games to give the Aggies the series victory ... the 49ers came out strong in game one behind the efforts of pitcher Bridgette Pagano who tossed her third consecutive complete game shutout to give The Beach the 2-0 victory ... Whitney Radcliff led the 49er offense going 1-for-2 with an RBI, while Pagano helped herself out at the plate with a double and a run scored ... the Aggies rebounded in game two of the doubleheader as they blanked the 49ers 6-0 ... the tandem of Jessica Hancock and Lauren Pieretti combined for the one-hit shutout as Radcliff had the 49ers lone hit ... the Aggies completed the weekend with a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon ... Pagano had pitched 29 consecutive scoreless innings before the Aggies scored an unearned run in the third inning ... UC Davis eventually scored the game-winning run in the top of the seventh ... Radcliff had two hits including a triple and Panita Thanatharn scored the 49ers only run.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Coming into the final weekend of regular season play, several 49ers have already made their way into the school's single-season record books ... Jessica Beaver is currently second in batting average (.373) and is tied for third in RBI (40) and homeruns (9) ... Brianna Goad is tied for eighth in stolen bases (11) and Whitney Radcliff is tied for eighth with a .340 batting average ... on the career charts, Jonae Perez who is currently inactive still sits atop the leaders in batting average (.321) ... Beaver is fourth in career homeruns (14) and is eighth with 72 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 checks in with a .267 batting average and has scored 203 runs on the season ... 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 are batting over .300, led by Jessica Beaver (.373) ... Beaver has registered 47 hits and leads the team with nine homeruns and 40 RBI, while Whitney Radcliff has a team-leading 52 hits.
ON THE DEFENSIVE END: The 49er pitching staff has an ERA of 3.26 and is led by Bridgette Pagano who checks in with an 18-10 record and a 1.80 ERA ... Kelly Cross (6-7) is second on the staff with a 4.50 ERA ... The Beach has a .958 fielding percentage.
IN THE BIG WEST: Jessica Beaver ranks in the top-10 among the Big West leaders in five categories including, homeruns (T-third), RBI (fourth), slugging percentage (fifth), batting average (T-fifth) and on base percentage (sixth) ... Whitney Radcliff is tied for eighth with 52 hits and Brianna Goad is second in the conference with 11 steals on the season ... Bridgette Pagano is second in wins (18), fourth in ERA (1.80) and fifth in strikeouts (86).
PAGANO MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT: Freshman pitcher Bridgette Pagano 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 ... the Tigers, who were averaging 5.3 runs per game were baffled by Pagano as she held them scoreless in 16 innings of work, allowing 16 hits and three walks while striking out five ... Pagano has earned the weekly honor once before in her young 49er career as 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.
THANATHARN EXCELS ON AND OFF THE FIELD: Senior Panita Thanatharn was named one of 20 finalists for softball's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for her acheivements on and off the field ... Thanatharn enters the week fourth on the team in hitting (.291) after being 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.
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 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 Roster
2007 Schedule
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