Long Beach State University Athletics
Softball Hits Road For First Time In 2017
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Long Beach, Calif. -
LEADING OFF
• Long Beach State will leave Long Beach for the first time in the 2017 season this week, heading to Palm Springs to participate in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Beach will play two more ranked teams, and start play on Thursday against Oklahoma State at 10 a.m.
• Sophomore Nichole Fry was named Big West Player of the Week after an outstanding first week of the season at the Beach Kickoff Classic. Helping the team to a 3-1-1 record with wins over #22 Notre Dame and San Diego State, Fry reached at a .632 rate, going 6-for-12 with two doubles and a triple, scoring four times and driving in four RBI while also walking four times and getting hit by two pitches. She slugged .833 on the weekend while starting every game at shortstop.
• Long Beach State returns seven position starters from the 2016 team that reached the NCAA Regionals last season, bringing back the regulars from every position except for third base, left field and center field. The Beach has over 60 percent of the team's at-bats from last season back in the lineup for 2017.
• Returning pitching is also a strength for the Beach. Christina Clermont returns for her third season with Long Beach State after earning first-team All-Big West honors in each of her first two seasons at LBSU. The 2015 Big West Co-Pitcher of the Year, Clermont went 23-12 one season ago and struck out 205 batters in 230.1 innings pitched. In 2017, Clermont leads the team with 25 innings pitched, and has a 3-1 record with a 1.40 ERA.
• Clermont is within striking distance of a number of career records as Long Beach State. The senior is now just three strikeouts away from becoming the sixth 49er with 400 strikeouts, and is climbing the career charts in both wins and complete games as well.
WHAT'S THE SCORE
• All games played at the LBSU Softball Complex can be followed through StatBroadcast at www.beachlivestats.com. The majority of LBSU home games will also have live audio through KBEACH at www.kbeach.org or through the KBEACH app based on student availability.
PLAYER NOTES
• Christina Clermont and Cielo Meza shared one mark in 2016, as each pitcher recorded 15 strikeouts in a game. Clermont reached the mark for the second time in her 49er career against Colorado State, while Meza struck out 15 less than one week later against San Jose State. The 15 strikeouts tied Brooke Turner for the most in a regulation game; Turner also struck out 16 in a 10-inning victory over Florida in 2008.
• Long Beach State is still waiting for the return of Meza, who missed the second half of 2016. Meza struck out 85 batters in 67.2 innings pitched before missing the remainder of the season, and her recovery has stretched into the beginning of the 2017 campaign.
• Claiming the majority of those innings in the early going of 2017 has been freshman Devyn Magnett. Making three early relief appearances before making her first start against Utah, Magnett combined in a no-hitter on opening day with Clermont, and has pitched 14.1 innings this season, compiling a 1-1 overall record.
• Both Lombardi sisters are climbing the power ranks at Long Beach State. Having each played two seasons, Lauren ranks seventh all-time with 17 home runs in her career, while Julia Lombardi is one away from joining the Top 10, after hitting a solo home run against Weber State. Additionally, Lauren joined the top 10 in RBI, and now ranks 10th with 82 in her career.
• Junior Hannah Cookson is once again off to a quick start. After hitting .375 through the first ten games of the season in 2016, Cookson is third on the team through eight games in 2017, hitting .353 with a triple, having played in all eight games while starting five in the outfield.
• Another newcomer making an impact in 2017 is Jessica Flores, a transfer from Arizona Western CC who is living up to her Utility position designation. Flores was a two-way star for Arizona Western, and has done both for the Beach, throwing 7.2 innings in the circle with a 1.83 ERA, and also starting three games in the outfield. Walking three times, Flores is hitting .286, and hit a solo home run in Long Beach State's 2-0 win over CSU Bakersfield.
• Freshman Aniesa Maulupe has delivered at the plate in 2017, hitting .294 in her first seven games at the Beach. Hitting a home run in Long Beach State's win over San Diego State, Maulupe has also walked three times while starting seven of eight games this season.
• Other key returners for Long Beach State include junior Julia Lombardi, a 2016 All-Big West selection, who has started all eight games this season and homered against Weber State. Sophomore Tierra Falo missed last weekend's action but is hitting .273 with a home run as well, and junior LT Torres continues to anchor second base, where she has started every game since coming to the Beach.
• 2017 marks an opportunity for two other returners to claim increased roles. Mattie Scheele returns for her fourth season at the Beach, and the senior will vie for time at third base along with 2016 Big West All-Freshman team selection Kelli Finan, while Rachel Loera, who had 14 at-bats in four starts in the outfield will press for more action alongside her usual usage as a pinch runner.
THIS AND THAT
• Twice named Big West Coach of the Year, Kim Sowder completed her 10th season in 2016 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 11th year coach now has 337 wins at the helm of the Beach.
• Long Beach State reached 20 wins for 33 straight seasons after getting there in 2016 on March 30 against LMU, and has never finished under .500 in Kim Sowder's tenure. With 33 wins in 2016, the Beach has reached 30 wins in 6 of 10 seasons under Sowder.
• Once again Long Beach State will play one of the best schedules in the country. The 49ers will play 11 teams ranked in the USA Today preseason poll, and an additional six teams receiving votes in the same poll. The team will also play at home for a record 31 games, all at the LBSU Softball Complex.
• Among the games of note at home in 2017 are a single game against #8 Washington on Valentine's Day, which the Huskies took in seven innings, Long Beach State's annual tilt with #6 UCLA on March 11, and a three-way round-robin contest between Long Beach State, #9 Arizona and defending national champions #4 Oklahoma.
