Long Beach State Hosts Louisville Slugger Invitational Beginning Thursday

3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball

March 8, 2017

Long Beach, Calif. -

LEADING OFF
• Long Beach State will host its major tournament of the year, holding 11 games on campus at the LBSU Softball Complex beginning on Thursday, March 9. The Beach will play four times, taking on Boston and Eastern Michigan on Thursday before playing No. 10 UCLA and Harvard on Saturday.

• Long Beach State is 4-3-1 overall at home this season, and had two of the team's signature wins this season at the LBSU Softball Complex. Christina Clermont and Devyn Magnett combined for a no-hitter in the season opener against South Dakota, and the Beach defeated then No. 22 Notre Dame 4-3 in nine innings at home as well.

• Sophomore Nichole Fry has been the key hitter for Long Beach State thus far in 2017. The shortstop has started all 17 games and his hitting .348 wwhile leading the team with a .609 slugging percentage and reaching at a .475 rate. Fry leads the team in doubles, triples, walkes and HBP and has scored 12 runs this season. Fry was named the Big West Player of the Week after the opening weekend.

• Freshman Aniesa Maulupe has delivered at the plate in 2017, leading the team with 11 RBI on the year. Walking four times, Maulupe is reaching at a .36 rate, and three times this season has driven in multiple RBI, including four in Long Beach State's win over Oregon State.

• Long Beach State has gotten an early lift from Iowa transfer Sammi Gyerman. The senior graduate transfer has played in all 17 games for Long Beach State, starting 16 and is hitting .333, second on the team in batting this season. Her 16 hits this season are tied with Fry for the team lead.

• 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 51 innings pitched, and has a 4-4 record with a 3.29 ERA.

• Clermont is within striking distance of a number of career records as Long Beach State. Last week, she reached the top 5 in strikeouts at LBSU, 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 26.1 innings this season, compiling a 2-2 overall record.

• 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 21.1 innings in the circle with four starts and also starting six games in the outfield.

• 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 batting .297 with a triple and two runs scored in 14 starts.

• LT Torres had six hits last week to raise her batting average to .229 on the year, as the junior has started every game for the Beach over the last three seasons at second base. Another junior, Lauren MacLeod, has stepped up in the absence of Lauren Lombardi, starting 12 games beghind the playe and hitting .238 on the year.

• Tierra Falo returned to the starting lineup, and hit her second home run of the season, a three-run shot that lifted Long Beach State to a 5-4 win over Indiana. The sophomore leads the team with two home runs and is tied for the team lead with seven walks.

• 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.

• Mattie Scheele and Kelli Finan have split time at third base this season, with Scheele getting the majority of time lately, including against Indiana where she drove in the game-winning run.