Long Beach State University Athletics
Softball To Play Five In San Diego
3/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 12, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Softball Release in PDF Format 
This Week: San Diego Classic II
Iowa State Cyclones (18-4, 0-0 Big 12) vs.
No. 25 Long Beach State 49ers (15-8, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, March 14
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies (13-15, 0-0 WAC) vs.
No. 25 Long Beach State 49ers (15-8, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, March 14
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Utah Utes (10-10, 0-0 MWC) vs.
No. 25 Long Beach State 49ers (15-8, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, March 15
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
No. 25 Long Beach State 49ers (15-8, 0-0 Big West) at
No. 23 San Diego State Aztecs (19-8, 0-0 MWC)
Date: Saturday, March 15
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies (25-4, 0-0 Big 12) vs.
No. 25 Long Beach State 49ers (15-8, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Sunday, March 16
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Next Week: CSUF Judy Garman Classic
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Two Tourneys
Fresh off of their hosting duties at the Long Beach Invitational, the 49ers play in two more tournaments before closing the non-conference season. First up is the San Diego Classic hosted in conjunction by San Diego State and San Diego. The 49ers are in the SDSU half, and will play the No. 23 Aztecs as part of the tournament. Also on tap are tilts with Iowa State, Utah, New Mexico State and a finale with No. 5 Texas A&M. The first game of the group is against the Cyclones on Friday at 9 a.m. After wrapping up play in San Diego, the 49ers will play in one more large tournament next week, the CSUF Judy Garman classic down the road in Fullerton. The 49ers will play four games in that tournament, including facing two more ranked opponents in Washington and Fresno State. After that, the 49ers will be in conference play until any possible postseason appearances in May.
Toppling The Top
Long Beach State took down another ranked foe while hosting the Long Beach Invitational, and almost swept the weekend with a 3-1 record. The biggest win for the Beach came on Saturday, when the No. 8 Northwestern Wildcats faced off with the 49ers. Brooke Turner allowed just three hits, while Long Beach State brought out the bats in an 8-0 run rule victory, excercising patience with nine walks while driving in six runs on five hits. With two more wins coming over Notre Dame and Rutgers, the Beach came into the finale against No. 2 UCLA with a lot of confidence, as the teams battled through seven scoreless innings, with the Bruins putting an unearned run across in the bottom of the eighth.
Joining The Ranks
A rout of No. 8 Northwestern and a close extra-inning loss to No. 2 UCLA combined with the 49ers previous body of work was plenty to convince voters to place Long Beach State in the top 25. With a 4-5 overall record against ranked teams, and two wins against teams in the top 10 the 49ers earned the No. 25 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll this week. LBSU remained just outside of the top 25 in the NFCA poll, as the coaches did not move anyone out but put the 49ers next in line behind North Carolina.
Terrific Turner
One of the bright spots for Long Beach State in 2008 has been the play of pitcher Brooke Turner. The sister of Michelle Turner, a former 49er and Big West Pitcher of the Year, Brooke has wasted no time rewriting the 49er record books. In her first start against San Diego, Turner set a school record with 15 strikeouts, and topped that record against No. 5 Florida, giving the 19-0 Gators their first loss with 16 punchouts. Again winning the Big West Pitcher of the Week award, Turner has picked up the honor every week that the 49ers have played. Not even halfway through the year, Turner has struck out 107 batters, pitched seven shutouts and owns a 10-3 record with a 0.47 ERA. In addition, she's had double-digit strikeouts five times this year, and was named the National Player of the Week on March 4.
And The Other Half Of The Battery
Calling most of those games has been Brooke LeSage, Long Beach State's senior catcher and batting leader through 23 games. LeSage is hitting .359 and reaching base at a .446 rate, leading the team in both categories. Also dangerous on the basepaths, LeSage is leading the team in steals with five, proving she can move after getting on first. In her career, LeSage ranks in the LBSU top 10 in walks, and has six this season to go with four bean balls.
The Record Books
With six seniors on the 2008 squad, a number of records are under assault in the career categories. First on the list is the home run mark, where shortstop Jessica Beaver passed Jessica Smith for second place with her 17ther career home run. That is just one of a number of records that Beaver is looking to grab in her senior season. Beaver also is in the top three now in RBI, following a strong weekend at the Long bBeach Invitational. Jonae Perez and Whitney Radcliff are both in the top 10 in career batting average at the moment, as those marks shift quickly. Brooke LeSage is climbing up the walks list, and both Beaver and Lacy Tyler each are climbing up the runs scored and doubles lists. With most of the season left to play, those players should all tick off some names on those charts.
Leaving Las Vegas
Coming into the Eller Media Stadium Classic off of their huge win over Florida, the 49ers continued their hot streak with a 4-1 record at UNLV. Beating No. 14 Hawaii in their first game, the 49ers also picked up two teams receiving votes in the polls, as Turner shut down Western Kentucky and Danielle Linke hit a solo homerun to top Western Kentucky, and the 49er bats got after it in a 10-0 win over UNLV in the tournament's final game.
Island Hopping
Long Beach State posted a 4-3 record in their last competition at the Paradise Classic, playing their best ball at the end of the weekend in Honolulu. After losing a tough 10-inning battle with Central Florida in their first game, the 49ers proceeded to go 4-2 on the weekend. The Beach won their only game with Kentucky, and took their next two games against the Knights as well. Finally after losing two games to No.15 Hawai'i, the 49ers got the last laugh, defeating the Rainbow Wahine 1-0 behind a great game from pitcher Brooke Turner. The 49ers had three players make the all-tournament team, as infielders Jennifer Griffin and Jessica Beaver were selected to go with outfielder Lacy Tyler.
