Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Continues Big West Play At UC Davis
4/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Long Beach, Calif. -
LEADING OFF
• Long Beach State opened Big West play with a series win for the fourth season in a row, and will try to make it two series wins in a row with another road trip, this time to UC Davis. The Beach opens the series at UC Davis with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 10, and will end it with a single game on April 11.
• Long Beach State stands one game off of the pace after the first weekend of conference play, and will try to make up ground against an Aggies squad that picked up a surprising series win over Hawai'i. Picked to finish last and coming into their series with the Rainbow Wahine with 11 wins, UC Davis grabbed a pair of wins and are tied with the Beach in the standings.
• The Beach leads the all-time series with UC Davis 28-8, and have won five straight series against the Aggies, dating back to a 2010 loss on the road in Davis.
• Pitching and defense have been a strength this season for the Beach. Ranking in the Top 50 nationally in both categories, Long Beach State ranks 47th with a 2.73 ERA and 43rd in fielding percentage at .968.
• Christina Clermont earned Big West Player of the Week honors after a tremendous week last season, making four appearances and striking out 24 batters while posting a 1.29 ERA. The junior picked up two more wins and had her second save of the season.
• The Big West Pitcher of the Year a season ago, Clermont is on track for more postseason awards this season. Her 2.50 ERA is fourth in the Big West, and her 124 strikeouts is second in the conference. With a 13-4 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 .300, led by senior Darian Tautalafua at .358. Fellow senior Alley Perkins has returned to the lineup and is now hitting .342, and sophomore Julia Lombardi is hitting .336. Freshman Tierra Falo is up to .310, while LT Torres and Hannah Cookson are also over .300 at .306 and .300 respectively.
• In fact, all nine regulars for Long Beach State are at least hitting .250, and collectively account for 155 of the team's 161 RBI this season.
• Long Beach State's .294 team batting average ranks 105th 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.
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 45 career home runs has smashed the LBSU record, and Tautalafua needs two more home runs to tie the Big West record, set by Yasmin Mossadeghi of Cal State Fullerton from 1999-02.
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 92 times, a school record.
• One additional record is within easy reach for Tautalafua. The senior currently ranks second in career runs scored with 124, trailing new record holder Shayna Kimbrough by 7 runs, a mark set last season in 2015.
• Tautalafua is also climbing up the conference charts in RBI - her 155 currently rank fifth 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 .358, Tautalafua has hit a team high eight home runs, is slugging a team-best .651 on the year, and has driven in a team high 37 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 .336, and has hit seven doubles with a pair of home runs.
• Freshman Tierra Falo has effectively locked down the team's DP slot, hitting .310 with three home runs and four doubles in her first season. The freshman has also walked 11 times, reaching base at a .407 mark, second on the team to Tautalafua.
• Also off to a great start is Lauren MacLeod. Forced into a bigger role due to a season-ending injury to All-Big West catcher Lauren Lombardi, MacLeod has started 28 games behind the plate and has hit five home runs, second on the team while batting .250 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 .392 mark, and is hitting .306 on the year, fifth on the team. • Haley Tobler has hit three home runs while starting every game in 2016, and is third on the team with 18 RBI this season while scoring 21 runs and walking a team-high 18 times. The senior has started every game in the last two seasons since transferring from Tennessee.
• Senior Alley Perkins returned to the lineup for Long Beach State, and is now hitting .342 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 .300, 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.
• 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. 31 in the NCAA RPI, a good mark entering what should be a strong conference that has four teams in the RPI Top 100 and no team outside of the Top 200.
