Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Softball Contines Non-Conference Play At Stanford
2/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Long Beach, Calif. -
LEADING OFF
• Preseason tournament play continues this week for Long Beach State, as the 49ers play four games up in Palo Alto, Calif. The Beach starts the weekend against the hosts, Stanford, on Saturday before facing North Dakota State twice, once on Saturday and then once on Sunday. A game against St. Mary's closes the tournament Sunday for LBSU.
• Two sophomores got off to a hot start for Long Beach State, leading the way for the Beach offensively at the Sportco Kickoff Classic. Hannah Cookson hit .529, driving in six RBI on nine hits, while Lauren MacLeod hit .400, driving in four RBI as the pair combined to slug over 1.000 on the weekend.
• In the circle, Long Beach State returns first-team All-Big West selection in Christina Clermont, who was the Co-Big West Pitcher of the Year. Clermont posted a 20-7 record with a 2.35 ERA, leading the team in every pitching category. In her sophomore campaign, Clermont had 19 complete games and four shutouts in 190.2 innings pitched, striking out 179 batters and limiting opponents to a .202 batting average.
• Long Beach State also got a big lift from freshman Cielo Meza in the circle. The two-time high school All-American lived up to high expectations in the first weekend, striking out 13 batters against Syracuse in a tough 1-0 loss, and then held No. 14 Minnesota in check to grab her first collegiate win. On the weekend, Meza went 1-1 with two complete games, and struck out 22 with a 2.74 ERA.
POWER SURGE
• Long Beach State features two players who rank in the Top 10 in career home runs in this year's squad. Leading the way is senior Darian Tautalafua, who is the school record holder with 37 home runs in her first three seasons, seven more than second place with a full season to play. She is joined by Lauren Lombardi, who has 17 home runs over two seasons, ranking 7th in LBSU history.
RECORD WATCH
• Darian Tautalafua owns another career record at the Beach as the senior continues to own the power marks. Along with home runs, Tautalafua has driven in 119 RBI, passing Jessica Beaver as a junior to hold the top spot.
• Two other records are within reach for Tautalafua. The senior currently ranks sixth in career runs scored with 106, trailing new record holder Shayna Kimbrough by 25 runs, a mark set last season in 2015. Tautalafua also ranks fifth in career walks with 84, and can set a new LBSU record with seven more walks this season.
PLAYER NOTES
• Long Beach State adds one Division I transfer in senior Alley Perkins, who returns to California after playing one season at Tennessee. Perkins starred at Santa Ana College before transferring to Tennessee, where she played in 2014 with current teammate Haley Tobler. The pair are reunited at the Beach as seniors in 2016.
• Haley Tobler hit .286 a season ago, fifth on the team, while starting all 52 games, joining Lauren Lombardi and Darian Tautalafua as the three returning players who started every game in 2015. Tobler kicked off the 2016 campaign with four hits in Vegas, including a double and a home run while leading off for the Beach in all five games.
• Sophomore LT Torres walked 27 times as a freshman, and is already off to a quick pace in 2016, walking four times in the opening weekend. Torres started all five games opening weekend, and had an on-base percentage of .353.
• Fresh off an All-Freshman team campaign last season, Julia Lombardi is off to a strong start in 2016. Second on the team with five hits last week, Lombardi is hitting .333 and has driven in three RBI with a double in five games.
• Two more freshmen players made immediate impacts in week one in Kelli Finan and Nichole Fry. Finan hit .364, foing 4-for-11 while starting four games as the 49ers' DP, while Nichole Fry started all five games at shortstop, fielding 1.000 while scoring three runs and reaching base at a .400 clip.
THIS AND THAT
• Head Coach Kim Sowder earned career win No. 300 in the final game of the season in 2015, a 5-4 victory over UC Santa Barbara. Sowder is the leader among all eight coaches in the Big West in wins as a member of the Big West, and is just the 8th coach to reach 300 wins in conference history. Twice named Big West Coach of the Year, Sowder enters her 10th season as head coach at Long Beach State, her Alma Mater, where she was an All-American shortstop.
• Long Beach State has reached 20 wins for 32 straight seasons, and has never finished under .500 in Kim Sowder's tenure.
• The Beach will face another strong schedule, playing six teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 as well as another six teams that were receiving votes in the initial NFCA Coaches Poll.
