Softball Begins Season On Friday In Las Vegas

2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Feb. 8, 2016

Long Beach, Calif. -

LEADING OFF
• Long Beach State opens up the 2016 season by heading to Las Vegas to compete in the Sportco Kickoff Classic hosted by UNLV. The Beach will play five games, starting with South Dakota on Friday, February 12. The 49ers will play a pair of ranked teams to close the tournament, facing No. 14 Minnesota on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend Sunday against No. 9 Oklahoma.

• Long Beach State was chosen as the favorite to claim the 2016 Big West crown as the league's coaches voted in the preseason coaches poll. The Beach picked up six first place votes to take the top spot in front of Cal State Fullerton and Hawai'i, who each took a first-place vote. Last season's champs CSUN were picked fourth, with UC Riverside, Cal Poly, UCSB and UC Davis rounding out the list.

• Long Beach State returns six of eight players who had over 100 at-bats last season, a strong return for a team that finished in second place in the Big West one season ago. Five of those six players earned All-Big West honors a season ago, as Darian Tautalafua and Lauren Lombardi were both first-team selections, Haley Tobler garnered honorable mention, and Julia Lombardi and LT Torres were both added to the all-freshman team.

• Lauren Lombardi led the way offensively, hitting .346 with 52 RBI, setting the Long Beach State single season mark for runs batted in. Darian Tautalafua led the team in home runs for the third straight season with 11, hitting .309, and Julia Lombardi and Haley Tobler also both hit over .275 at .296 and .278 respectively.

• In the circle, Long Beach State returns another 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. Also returning are senior Selene Polamalu and Lacey Alderman. Polamalu pitched 26.0 innings, and Alderman made three starts in 2015.

WHAT'S THE SCORE
• All games played at the LBSU Softball Complex can be followed via Gametracker at www.longbeachstate.com, the home of Long Beach State athletics.

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 16 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 100, trailing new record holder Shayna Kimbrough by 31 runs, a mark set last season in 2015. Tautalafua also ranks sixth in career walks with 81, and can set a new LBSU record with 10 walks this season.

PLAYER NOTES
• It's a sister act as Lauren Lombardi and Julia Lombardi will play together for the second full season. Last year, the pair combined to hit 18 home runs, drive in 83 RBI, and walk 37 times. Lauren started all 52 games at either catcher or DP, while Julia started 48 games at first base.

• 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 hit three home runs and was second the team with 10 doubles, and begins the year on a five-game hitting streak from last season.

• Long Beach State returns two additional starters in LT Torres and Hannah Cookson. Both sophomores, Torres started 49 games last season at second base, while Cookson played in the outfield. Torres earned all-freshman honors after hitting .261 with 15 RBI and 27 walks, while Cookson hit .236 with 11 RBI and five doubles.

• Other returners of note include three more sophomores. Summer Pohl hit two home runs and had 12 hits in 51 at-bats, and Irma Sanchez hit .245 in 34 games played. Lauren MacLeod started 11 games behind the plate for Long Beach State, and had seven hits on the year.

• Along with Alley Perkins, Long Beach State welcomes in eight freshman, giving the Beach nine newcomers on the roster. Two pitchers, Cielo Meza and Skie Munoz will look to make an immediate impact in the circle, while Tierra Falo, Kelli Finan, Nichole Fry, Brittany McConnell, Jessica Nogosek and Sophia Valenzuela will vie for spots in the lineup as well.

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.