Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Hosts Cal Poly In Big West Home Opener
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Long Beach, Calif. - 
LEADING OFF
• The Beach has won two series in a row on the road to start Big West play, and will finally make their debut at the LBSU Softball Complex, hosting Cal Poly for a three-game series. Long Beach State and Cal Poly will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m., and then finish the series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. matinee.
• Long Beach State won the first two series in conference play for the first time since 2014. That was also the last season that the Beach advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
• Long Beach State leads the all-time series with the Mustangs 43-22, as the teams have played annually since 1995. The road team has won the last six games in the series, as the Beach swept the Mustangs in San Luis Obispo last season, but Cal Poly won the last three games in Long Beach back in 2014.
• Pitching and defense have been a strength this season for the Beach. Ranking in the Top 75 nationally in both categories, Long Beach State ranks 42ne with a 2.68 ERA and 75th in fielding percentage at .968.
• Christina Clermont has had a tremendous start to conference play. Leading the league with 29.2 innings pitched, Clermont also leads the Big West with 27 strikeouts, and has a 1.18 ERA while recording two wins and two saves in six games.
• The Big West Pitcher of the Year a season ago, Clermont is on track for more postseason awards this season. Her 2.34 ERA is fourth in the Big West, and her 138 strikeouts is second in the conference. With a 14-5 overall record, Clermont is well on her way to a second-straight 20-win season at the Beach.
• Freshman Skie Munoz made her first collegiate start against CSUN, and picked up her third win of the season, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing six hits and just one run against the Matadors.
• It hasn't all been pitching for the Beach, as six players are hitting over .290, led by senior Darian Tautalafua at .374. Fellow senior Alley Perkins has returned to the lineup and is now hitting .333, and sophomore Julia Lombardi is also hitting .333. Freshman Tierra Falo is currently hitting .299, as is LT Torres, and Hannah Cookson is batting .295.
• In fact, eight out of the nine regulars for Long Beach State are at least hitting .250, and collectively account for 166 of the team's 172 RBI this season.
• Long Beach State's .290 team batting average ranks 110th nationally, and fourth in the Big West, as the 49ers rate in the top half of the league in hitting, pitching and fielding over the 2016 season.
WHAT'S THE SCORE
• All games played at the LBSU Softball complex can be followed via Gametracker. Additional live stats links will be made available through www.longbeachstate.com.
POWER SURGE
• Senior Darian Tautalafua has been one of the elite power hitters in not only Long Beach State history, but in the Big West Conference. Tautalafua's 49 career home runs has smashed the LBSU record, and Tautalafua passed the Big West record of 47, set by Yasmin Mossadeghi of Cal State Fullerton from 1999-02 with four home runs hit at UC Davis.
RECORD WATCH
• Darian Tautalafua owns another career record at the Beach as the senior continues to own the power marks, smashing multiple records. In addition to the LBSU home run record, Tautalafua also owns the Long Beach State RBI record by a large margin, and has walked 94 times, a school record.
• One additional record is within easy reach for Tautalafua. The senior currently ranks second in career runs scored with 128, trailing new record holder Shayna Kimbrough by 3 runs, a mark set last season in 2015.
• Tautalafua is also climbing up the conference charts in RBI - her 163 currently rank third all-time, with the record standing at 170 from Jennifer Curtier of Pacific from 2004-07.
PLAYER NOTES
• Tautalafua is living up to her records with her play in 2016. Leading the team in hitting at .374, Tautalafua has hit a team high 12 home runs, is slugging a team-best .757 on the year, and has driven in a team high 44 RBI.
• Julia Lombardi is having a strong sophomore campaign after earning All-Freshman honors last season. Starting every game at first base, Lombardi is hitting .333, and has hit eight doubles with a pair of home runs.
• Freshman Tierra Falo has effectively locked down the team's DP slot, hitting .299 with three home runs and four doubles in her first season. The freshman has also walked 14 times, reaching base at a .411 mark, second on the team to Tautalafua.
• Also off to a good season is Lauren MacLeod. Forced into a bigger role due to a season-ending injury to All-Big West catcher Lauren Lombardi, MacLeod has started 30 games behind the plate and has hit five home runs, second on the team while batting .232 on the year.
• Sophomore LT Torres walked 27 times as a freshman, and is already off to a quick pace in 2016, walking 15 times this season. Torres is reaching base at a .381 mark, and is hitting .299 on the year, fourth on the team.
• Haley Tobler has hit three home runs while starting every game in 2016, and is third on the team with 19 RBI this season while scoring 22 runs and walking a team-high 18 times. The senior has started every game in the last two seasons since transferring from Tennessee. Tobler is also tied for the team lead in batting in conference play, hitting .333.
• Senior Alley Perkins returned to the lineup for Long Beach State, and is now hitting .333 in her first season at the Beach after transferring from Tennessee. She also leads the team on the basepaths, with four stolen bases this season.
• Rounding out the outfield, sophomore Hannah Cookson is hitting .395, having multiple hits in five games this season, including a team-high four hits earlier in the year.
• Cielo Meza has been an excellent complement to Christina Clermont in the circle, striking out 10 or more in a game four times this season while posting a team-best 2.59 ERA. Meza ranks 25th nationally in strikeouts per seven innings this season at 8.8, but hasn't pitched since March 13.
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.
• Sowder passed Kathy Strahan of Sacramento State and San Jose State for seventh place in the career coaching wins as a member of the Big West, as the 10th year coach now has 324 wins at the helm of the Beach.
• Long Beach State has reached 20 wins for 33 straight seasons after hitting the mark Wednesday against LMU, and has never finished under .500 in Kim Sowder's tenure.
• Long Beach State enters the week No. 34 in the NCAA RPI, second in the Big West behind Cal State Fullerton at No. 27, and still firmly in the realm of at-large consideration for the NCAA Tournament. The league as a whole continues to have four teams in the top 100, and no team outside of the Top 200.
