Feb. 18, 1998
ON TAP: 23rd-ranked Arizona State (6-1, 0-0 Pac-10) will host its annual ASU Classic Softball Tournament, beginning Friday, February 20, through Sunday, February 22. The three-day tournament will be played at Sun Devil Club Stadium, located behind the football practice field, adjacent to the Karsten Golf Course. In addition to ASU, the five other teams participating include No. 5 Iowa, No. 22 Michigan State, Ball State, Illinois State and Wisconsin. This will be the first competition this season for the teams.
ABOUT THE TEAMS: Under 11th year head coach Gayle Blevins, the fifth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes bring a formative team to Tempe. Iowa posted an undefeated conference record last season (22-0) and turned in a 52-9 overall mark, tying for fifth place in the College World Series. Senior All-American Debbie Bilbao leads the Hawkeyes in the circle as well as at the plate. She registered a 30-5 mark with a 1.20 ERA and batted .408, knocking out 72 hits. The 22nd-ranked Michigan State Spartens recorded a 47-22 record last year on their way to the NCAA Regional 6 Tournament. Senior Stefanie Noffsinger is the top returnee after hitting .305 and posting a 5-5 record with a 2.04 ERA on the mound. Ball State tallied a 25-26 record last season and return five starters, including their top performer Heather Windes, who batted .315 with eight doubles and four triples. Illinois State is under the direction of 12th year head coach Melinda Fischer. The Redbirds posted a 28-21 overall record last year and a 14-2 conference mark. They return three players who hit over .300 with junior Heather Stella batting .343 with four homeruns and 34 RBIs. The Wisconsin Badgers, in only their fourth season of action, return all nine starters from a 32-25 team that broke over 40 individual and team records last season. Junior Pitcher Ashley Fauser posted a 19-14 record last season with a 2.30 ERA while striking out 170.
POWER CONFERENCE: Again this year, like many others in the past, the Pacific-10 Conference boasts some of the best softball in the country. Five of the eight schools in the conference are ranked in the top 25, with three schools ranked in the top seven. (#1 Arizona, #3 Washington, #7 California, #17 UCLA, #23 Arizona State). Through the first couple of weeks of action, the Pac-10 Conference has combined to post a 36-8 record against non-conference opponents
DEVILS AT THE ASU CLASSIC: Arizona State will play five games in three days, beginning on Friday with games against Michigan State (3:30 p.m.) and Illinois State (5:30 p.m.). On Saturday, ASU takes on Ball State (5:30 p.m.) followed by Iowa (7:30 p.m.). Sunday, the final day of the ASU Classic, the Sun Devils will end the tournament with a single game against Wisconsin (Noon).
PAC-10 HONORS: Over the past weekend, senior Carrie Breedlove had one of the best pitching performances in recent Sun Devil history. Breedlove, from Sunland, Calif., was named the first Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for the 1998 season after posting three consecutive shutout wins, including her first career no-hitter against the University of Detroit. In her three shutouts, Breedlove allowed only nine hits, struckout 16 and only walked two batters. Against UNLV, Breedlove had a perfect game into the seventh inning before surrendering a hit in the Devils 6-0 win. Versus Ohio State, she struckout a season-high seven as ASU blanked the Buckeyes 1-0. In addition, Breedlove has already tied her career-high for shutouts and her ERA is still untouched at 0.00.
GOIN' YARD: Two Sun Devils blasted their first career homeruns at the Coke Classic. Junior Raja Woods set the tone early against UNLV when she went deep with a solo shot to rightfield. Sophomore Lesley-Ann Murphy's homer was a little more dramatic against Cal State Fullerton. With one out and the score knotted a one apiece in the bottom of the sixth, Murphy unloaded a two-run blast to rightfield to send the Sun Devils to a 3-1 victory over Fullerton. With the two homers, ASU has already tied its total from last season.
RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL: Last year the Sun Devils set a new school stolen bases record, swiping 107 out of 124 chances (86%). ASU finished second in the Pac-10 and had four players listed among the top 10 in the conference. This season the Sun Devils are picking up where they left off having already swiped 10-of-12 bases. Five different players have stolen at least one base with Raja Woods leading the way with 4. With the addition of catcher Andrea Rodgers, who possesses a strong and accurate arm, ASU's opponents are 0-for-1.
WOODS' ON FIRE: Senior Raja Woods has been burning up the plate as of late. Woods is currently hitting at a .476 clip (10-21) with two doubles, one triple and one homerun. She has hit safely in six of ASU's seven games and has posted three multiple hit games. Against UNLV, Woods just missed hitting through the cycle as she went 3-for-4 with a single, double and a homerun. Additionally, Woods has an incredible .810 slugging percentage and a .542 on base percentage
SPECIAL 'K': Senior Roxanne Tsosie continues to accumulate the Ks. So far this season, Tsosie has struckout 17 batters to raise her career total to 309. Tsosie is now third all-time in career strikeouts, and her 41 wins ties her for fifth all-time in ASU history. Highlights this season include striking out a season-high six against Alabama and five against 25th-ranked Tennessee.
A COACHING ICON: Head coach Linda Wells, one of the winningest active coaches in the NCAA, enters her ninth year at the helm of the Sun Devil softball program. Wells has led the Sun Devils to five NCAA regional appearances in eight seasons, while compiling 270 wins. In her career, Wells has amassed 621 victories, placing her in an elite group of Division I coaches. During her tenure at ASU, Wells has coached three players, earning a total of five All-American awards. Two of the three players are currently on Wells' coaching staff; assistant coach Ann Pedersen, in her fourth year and fifth year senior Lisa Dacquisto. Also helping with coaching duties this year are graduate assistant Leah Beach and fifth year senior Tina Ruff.
1998 Player Breakdown
1 Erin Hull/Sr./Outfield
.167, 1 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI
4 Andrea Rodgers/So./Catcher
.300, 6 H, 1 2B, 2 R, 6 RBI
5 Holly Smith/Jr./2B/SS
.348, 8 H, 3 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB
9 Jennifer Langenhuizen/Fr./OF
.316, 6 H, 4 R
11 Devyn Braga/Fr./SS/OF
.318, 7 H, 1 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI
12 Roxanne Tsosie/Sr./Pitcher
3-1, 1.67 ERA, 17 Ks, 0 BB, 4 CG
17 Lesley-Ann Murphy/So./1B/C
.200, 4 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI
first career homerun was a game winner
20 Carrie Breedlove/Sr./P/OF
3-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 Ks, 2 BB, 3 ShO
pitched first career no-hitter against Detroit
22 Melissa Miller/Jr./Outfield
.143, 1 H, 1 R, 2 SB
23 Raja Woods/Sr./OF/2B
.476, 10 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 SB
24 Jennifer Gall/Jr./1B/SS/C
.333, 5 H, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
32 Kathy Ponce/Jr./P/OF
DNP
33 Chris Gill/So./3B/C
.409, 9 H, 5 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB