May 13, 1998
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona States 16th-ranked softball team travels to Tampa, Florida for regional action in the 1998 NCAA Tournament this Friday-Sunday, May 15-17. The Sun Devils finished the regular season 37-25 overall with a sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 Conference with a 9-19 mark. It is ASUs second consecutive tournament appearance and 21st NCAA appearance.
ASU, the fourth-seed in the four-team regional, will begin the double-elimination tournament Friday against top-seeded Texas (42-14). Also in the Tampa regional are host and No. 2 seed South Florida (55-12) and third-seeded Florida (47-20). Game time at USFs Bomber Stadium on Friday is set for 3:00 PT.
A regional win would earn the Sun Devils their 10th College World Series appearance. The CWS is held in Oklahoma City next week.
BIRDS NEST: Senior pitcher Carrie Breedlove, affectionately called Bird has already garnered USA Today/NFCA National Player of the Week honors, as well as earning Pacific-10 Pitcher of the Week honors, twice. Breedlove has fired two no hitters (Detroit/Ball St.), posted 10 shutouts (2nd Pac-10) and has a 1.90 ERA. In 187 innings of work, Breedlove has struckout 151 for 5.60 so/g. She is now fourth all-time in ASU history with 350 Ks. Breedloves 50 career wins also placers her fourth all-time in ASU history. Additionally, Breedloves 10 shutouts have already surpassed her career total of seven.
SPECIAL K: Senior Roxanne Tsosie continues to accumulate the Ks. This year Tsosie has struckout 134 batters to raise her career total to 426. She is currently second all-time in ASU history in career strikeouts, and is second all-time in career wins with 61. Tsosie also became ASUs first 20-game winner since Donna Stewart in 1987. In addition, Tsosie was named Pacific-10 Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season as she no hit Cal (5/2). Tsosie is listed among the top 10 in every Pac-10 pitching category: Tied for second with two saves; Tied for third with 23 wins; Third with 219.1 innings; Sixth with seven shutouts; Fifth with 1.28 ERA; Eighth in strikeouts/game with 3.73.
DIAMOND NOTES: ASU is fourth in the Pac-10 in fielding percentage at .967 ... ASU is fourth in the conference with a .268 team batting average ... the Sun Devils are 15-4 when they score more than five runs ... Erin Hull currently holds ASUs longest hitting streak this year at 11 ... 10 of ASUs 11 players have at least one stolen base ... ASU averages just over one walk per game (1.1) and just over five strikeouts a game (5.1) ... opponents are batting .217 against ASU pitching ... outfielder Jennifer Langenhuizen holds a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (53 chances) ... ASU is 9-2 against other regionally ranked teams ... ASU players have been hit by a pitch 26 times, 12 taken by Chris Gill ... ASU has been ranked in the top-25 all season ... this years 37 wins marks the most since the 1991 season (43) ... the Sun Devils have pitched three no hitters this year.
SCOREBOARD: Sophomore Chris Gill is lighting up the scoreboard this year with the long ball. So far, Gill has smashed six home runs, including a shot off of ASUs left field scoreboard that was measured at 240 ft. (Its belived to be the longest in Sun Devil Club Stadium history). Gill, slugging at a .486 clip, is now tied for third all-time in career homers with seven, and is also tied for third all-time on the single-season list. Gill is also ASUs all-time single-season leader in RBIs with 41.
POWER SURGE: The Sun Devils have hit 11 home runs this season, including three inside-the-park. Chris Gill leads the team with six followd by Raja Woods two. This years 11 homers is the most in the Linda Wells era and the most since the 1987 season.
WELLS ACHIEVES MILESTONES: In winning both games against California, Head Coach Linda Wells earned her 650th (and 651st) career win, as well as achieving her 300th win at Arizona State. Wells, in her ninth year at Arizona State, has coached three players, earning a total of five All-American awards. Wells is currently the 12th winningest active coach all-time in NCAA history and 14th all-time.
DID YOU KNOW: Arizona State and Washington tied for the most team Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors this season with four. (Carrie Breedlove 2/7, 2/24 and Roxanne Tsosie 3/24. 5/4).
POSTSEASON ACTION: Since its inception in 1967, Arizona State has made postseason play 21 of the 32 years, including nine College World Series appearences.
ASU Record Breakdown: Pacific-10 9-19 Non-Conference 28-6 Against Ranked Teams 13-21 Against Unranked Teams 24-4 Home Games 16-10 Road Games 8-10 Neutral Sites 13-5 Day Games 25-18 Night Games 12-7 Vs. Right Handed Starters 34-22 Vs. Left Handed Starters 3-3 Extra Innings 4-2 One Run Game 11-9 Two Run Game 6-5 Five Run (+) Game 15-4 Shutouts 18-12 ASU Scores First 32-9 Opponent Scores First 5-16 Out-Hit Opponents 34-9 Out-Hit by Opponents 3-16 February 13-2 March 13-6 April 8-12 May 3-5 Last 5 Games 2-3 Last 10 Games 3-7 Current Win Streak 0ASU Milestones within Reach: Carrie Breedlove 5 wins for 55 6 starts for 100 9 innings for 575 10 strikeouts for 360 Chris Gill 6 hits for 100 6 RBI for 75 Erin Hull 19 at-bats for 550 3 runs for 100 1 hit for 175 Holly Smith 6 hits for 100 8 RBI for 75 Roxanne Tsosie 4 wins for 65 1 complete games for 65 15 innings for 700 4 strikeouts for 430 Linda Wells 4 wins for 305 at ASU 3 wins for 655 career Raja Woods 5 hits for 110 4 RBI for 50 9 runs for 75 4 stolen bases for 50