Softball Opens Pac-10 Season At The Arizona Schools
March 31, 2004
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THIS WEEKEND: The sixth-ranked Washington softball team (24-7) will open the Pac-10 season this week with three games against No. 1 Arizona and No. 23 Arizona State. The Huskies will open the weekend at Arizona with a 7 p.m. game. UW will then play Arizona State on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games can be heard on KKNW AM-1150 radio. Washington has already faced the Wildcats and Sun Devils this season, handing top-ranked Arizona its first loss of the season (7-6) on Mar. 21 and defeating ASU (5-0) on Mar. 13.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Huskies trail Arizona 41-15 in the all-time series but have won two of the last four meetings. Washington leads Arizona State 33-11 and has won five-straight.
SCOUTING ARIZONA: No. 1-ranked Arizona (36-1) leads the Pac-10 in hitting (.357) and pitching (0.49) ERA. The Wildcats have three players hitting in the mid-.400's or better, including Autumn Champion (.500), Caitlin Lowe (.482) and Wendy Allen (.449). Allen leads the team with 53 runs batted in and 18 extra-base hits. Speed is a strength for Arizona as the Wildcats have stolen 113 bases while only allowing 13 from their opponents. Lowe is 38-for-39 on the base paths, while Champion is 22-for-25. Alicia Hollowell is Arizona's workhorse on the mound, amassing a 23-0 record with a miniscule 0.52 earned run average. Hollowell has fanned 302 batters in 149 innings and has given up just 21 walks. Nineteen of Arizona's 36 wins have been shutouts and the Wildcats are out scoring their opponents 277 to 42.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE: No. 23 Arizona State (30-14) has played more games than any other Pac-10 team this season. The Sun Devils are 21-7 at home and have played just 16 games outside of Tempe (9-7). Phelan Wright's .413 average leads the team, as do her 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. Val Sevilla is hitting .397 and leads the team with 54 hits, including 16 doubles. Desiree Serrano headlines the pitching staff with a 15-4 record and 1.14 ERA. She has struck out 165 batters in 148 innings and has tossed seven shutouts.
MINOR NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aimee Minor was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Mar. 23 after leading Washington to the Kia Klassic Championship. Minor had a .533 (8-for-15) batting average and seven RBIs in five games. She boasted a 1.133 slugging percentage, including a double, triple and two home runs. Against Texas A&M on March 18, Minor had two hits and helped the Huskies get off to a fast start as she singled and scored a run in the first inning. The run proved to be all the Huskies would need, as they beat the Aggies 5-0. Minor saved her best game of the weekend for the championship game against No. 1 Arizona. Minor led Washington to a 7-6 upset of the top-ranked Wildcats as she was 3-for-3, including a double and two home runs. She knocked in six of the Huskies seven runs, as Washington ended Arizona's 34-game win streak.
HUSKIES WIN KIA KLASSIC: Washington won the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., Mar. 18-21, defeating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Arizona 7-6 in the championship game. The Huskies swept through pool play, defeating No. 13 Pacific, Texas A&M and Princeton to receive a first round bye in the championship bracket. UW defeated seventh-ranked Oklahoma 1-0 in eight innings in the second round and advanced to the championship game when Florida State forfeited. In the championship, Aimee Minor went 3-for-3, including a double and a pair of two-run home runs with six RBIs to life Washington to victory and hand Arizona its first loss of the season. Ashley Boek finished the tournament 4-0 with a save and a 0.68 ERA. She struck out 33 batters in 31 innings and held her opponents to a .183 batting average. Dena Tyson also had a solid weekend for the Huskies, driving in three winning runs.
TWO OUT RALLY: Freshman Robyn Wike has driven in nine runs this season and seven of those have been with two outs. Wike hit in the game-winner against Northwestern in extra-innings on Mar. 26 with two outs. Sophomore Dena Tyson leads the team with eight two out RBIs and Sarah Hyatt has seven.
IN THE CLUTCH: Sophomore Dena Tyson had the game-winning hit in three games at the Kia Klassic, Mar. 18-21. She has driven in eight game-winners this season- more than double of any other Husky. Sarah Hyatt and Kristen Rivera has hit in three game-winners apiece.
BOEK BLANKS THE COMPETITION: With eight shutouts this season, junior ace Ashley Boek has already surpassed her season total from last year. Boek has blanked her opponents eight times in 22 appearances and leads the team with a 15-4 record, 1.41 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 128.2 innings. Boek has given up just 11 extra-base hits while facing 555 batters.
THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE: Senior Rita Roach leads the team with 10 sacrifice hits. Last season, Roach tied the Husky single-season record with 15 sacrifices.
HYATT HITS 'EM IN: Sophomore Sarah Hyatt ranks second on the team with 31 RBIs and has had six multi-RBI games this season. Hyatt logged seven RBIs against Texas on Feb. 13 and five against Santa Clara on Mar. 12.
HITTING IT DEEP: With a three-run shot against Arizona State on March 13, Kristen Rivera collected her 50th career home run. Her career total now stands at 52, which ranks second on the UW career-chart. She trails three-time All-American Jaime Clark who hit 73 home runs from 2000-03. Rivera leads the team with 11 home runs this season, including a solo home run against San Diego State in her first at-bat of the year. Last season, Rivera set the UW season record with 25 home runs, which tied for the national lead.
STREAKING START: Freshman Dominique Lastrapes made her collegiate debut with an 11 game hitting streak. She has notched a base hit in 28 of 31 games this season and has picked up 12 multi-hit games, including three games in which she recorded three hits. The school record is a 21 game hitting streak set by Rosie Leutzinger in 2000.
HYATT HIGHLIGHTS WIN OVER TEXAS: Sophomore Sarah Hyatt stole the show in the 14-4 mercy-rule victory over 10th-ranked Texas on Feb. 14. Hyatt hit two home runs in the game, including a game-ending grand slam. She picked up seven RBIs to fall one short of the school record. Hyatt is just the eighth player to hit a grand slam at Washington.
HUSKIES OPEN STRONG: Washington had a 10-1 record after the first two weeks of the season to tie for the second-best start in the program's history. Last season, UW set the school record with a 19-0-1 start and the 2002 squad posted a 10-1 start to the season.
MERCY-MERCY ME: The Huskies have invoked the mercy-rule six times this season. UW forced game-ending scores against San Diego State (8-0 in five innings), Texas (14-4 in six), Syracuse (11-1 in five), Dayton (10-2 in five), Santa Clara (11-0 in five) and Wisconsin (11-0 in five).
NIST RECAP: The Huskies finished second at the National Invitational Softball Tournament in Sunnyvale, Calif., March 12-14, falling to third-ranked California 5-4 in the championship game. Washington defeated Iowa in the tournament opener before posting three consecutive shutouts against Santa Clara (11-0), Wisconsin (11-0) and No. 20 Arizona State (5-0). Junior hurler Ashley Boek pitched all five games for the Huskies, striking out 37 batters in 30 innings and allowing just four earned runs for a 0.93 ERA. Kristen Rivera led UW with a .545 (6-for-11) average, while driving in 10 runs. Sarah Hyatt tallied seven hits over the weekend with 11 RBIs and a .417 average. Dominique Lastrapes hit .462 with six hits and seven runs scored. She drove in three runs in the loss to Cal.
HUSKIES TOP CANADIAN NATIONAL TEAM: Washington defeated the Canadian National Team 7-6 in eight innings on March 4 in an exhibition game. The Huskies collected 14 hits in the opener and overcame a three-run deficit to hand Team Canada its first loss of the season. The Huskies scored the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth on two hits. With Rita Roach starting the inning on second base, Team Canada intentionally walked Kristen Rivera. Callie Bergan followed with a single to the short stop and senior Amanda Oleson delivered the game-winner with a single into centerfield. Game two of the double header was halted due to darkness after two innings with the score knotted at 3-3.
NFCA LEADOFF CLASSIC RECAP: The Huskies went 2-3 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., Feb. 27-29. UW opened the tournament with wins over Texas and Army, before dropping three straight games to No. 11 Florida State, No. 12 LSU and Central Michigan. Kristen Rivera led the Huskies with a .364 average (4-for-11), including three home runs and eight runs batted in. Tia Bollinger tied her career-best strikeout performance against Central Michigan fanning 12. LSU and Florida State advanced to the tournament finals with LSU claiming the 4-3 victory.
CAMPBELL/CARTIER CLASSIC RECAP: Washington went 1-1 at the Campbell/Cartier Classic Feb. 20-22, dropping a 1-0 game to Long Beach State and defeating San Diego State 7-0. The Huskies had three games rained out on Saturday and Sunday, including match-ups against Fresno State, Auburn and Hawaii. Kristen Rivera led the Huskies with an .800 average (4-for-5) and a 1.400 slugging percentage. She notched five RBIs against SDSU, including a three-run home run. Tia Bollinger threw a one-hitter against the Aztecs, not allowing a base runner until the seventh inning.
FIESTA BOWL RECAP: Washington went 6-0 at the Fiesta Bowl Classic Feb 13-15, out scoring its opponents 50-11. The Huskies defeated Syracuse 11-1, No. 10 Texas 14-4, Texas Tech 6-0, No. 18 Texas A&M 4-2, Dayton 10-2 and Massachusetts 5-2. UW had seven players hit .400 or better, led by freshman Dominique Lastrapes with a .565 average. Highlights of the weekend included a two home run, seven RBI night for Sarah Hyatt vs. Texas, Kristen Rivera's 4-for-4 performance vs. UMass and Lastrapes's extension of her 11-game hitting streak.
USA SOFTBALL REPRESENTATIVES: Junior catcher Kristen Rivera is one of 14 players named to the 2004 Women's National Elite team by USA Softball. The team was chosen from the USA player pool and will represent the U.S. in the 2004 Canada Cup, U.S. Champions Cup and other events to be scheduled. Former Husky standout and three-time All-American Jaime Clark was one of three alternates to join the 15-member USA National Team roster that will compete at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
NFCA NAMES TOP ALL-TIME TOP 50 TEAMS: The National Fastpitch Coaches' Association released its all-time top 50 poll with Washington ranking No. 3. The poll was complied using weekly rankings from the 1995 season to the 2003 final poll. Joining the Huskies in the top 10 are five other Pac-10 teams, including No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 California, No. 8 Arizona State and No. 10 Stanford.
HEAD COACHES: Former Washington assistant coaches Scott Centala and Steve Dailey take over the reigns as co-head coaches for the 2004 season. Centala enters his eighth season on the UW coaching staff and has helped develop Washington's program into one of the nation's elite teams. Since joining the program in the 1997 as a defensive specialist, the Huskies boast a 372-125-1 record with an incredible .748 winning percentage. All totaled, Husky players have earned 20 All-America certificates, 45 selections to All-Pac-10 squads and 31 All-Conference academic honors during Centala's tenure.
Dailey begins his second season with the Huskies as the offensive coach. Last season, Dailey helped cultivate Washington's offense into one of the most powerful line-ups in the country. The Huskies pounded 75 home runs, including 25 by Kristen Rivera to set the UW record and tie for the national lead. Washington out scored its opponents by nearly double (313-161) and invoked the mercy-rule 11 times, including three times at the regional tournament to set a Washington postseason record. Dailey also helped the Huskies become more selective at the plate, increasing their number of walks and decreasing their number of strikeouts.
UW ON TV: Fox Sports Net has picked up Washington's April 17th game against Oregon State to air live at 2 p.m. The game will be played in Seattle.
TWO NAMED TO WATCH LIST FOR USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD: All-Americans Tia Bollinger and Kristen Rivera were among 40 college players named to an initial watch list for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. The award, which is considered the Heisman Trophy in women's collegiate softball and is the only national player of the year award, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. Last season, Bollinger and Rivera were named to the top 40 list, with Rivera being named a top 10 finalist.
NATIONAL RANKING: The Washington softball team ranked sixth in the last USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 poll on Mar. 23. The Huskies have been ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 poll in each of the last 132 poll datings. Washington's streak began with the team's No. 15 preseason ranking in 1994 and also includes smaller streaks of 66 straight top 6 rankings (2/28/96 - preseason 2001 poll) and 69 consecutive poll datings in the top 10 (preseason 1996 - 2/28/01). Overall, the Huskies have remained in the top 15 in each of the last 115 poll datings, a streak that began with the preseason poll in 1996. Washington is ranked No. 8 in the Mar. 29 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate top 25 poll.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The 15-player Washington roster includes 10 returning letterwinners and nine returning starters. The 2004 team is comprised of four seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. Ten players hail from California, four from Washington and one from Oregon.
2003 SEASON RECAP: Washington sprinted out to its best start in the program's history and was the last undefeated team in the country with a 19-0-1 mark last year. The Huskies peaked in May, splitting their final Pac-10 games against top-ranked Arizona in Tucson to earn the No. 1 seed at the regional tournament in Lincoln, Neb. Washington powered its way through its regional competition, sweeping the field 4-0 and out scoring its opponents 35-1, including three mercy-rule victories, to advance to its sixth Women's College World Series. The Huskies opened the series with a 3-1 win over Oklahoma before dropping a pair of one-run heartbreakers to Arizona and UCLA to finish the season tied for fifth place. Kristen Rivera was a first team All-America selection and Tia Bollinger was named to the second team.
