ON TAP: The seventh-ranked Arizona State softball team (10-1, 0-0 Pac-10), riding an eight-game winning streak, will hit the road for Columbus, Georgia to participate in the third annual NFCA Leadoff Classic. The three-day tournament, beginning Friday, February 27 thru Sunday, March 1, will be comprised of 20 teams, 12 of which are ranked in the top 25. The format will consist of pool play followed by five different brackets. There will be five pools of four teams each with each team playing their respective pool, as well as one wild card game, which will be played against another team from a different pool.
DEVILS AT THE CLASSIC: Arizona State, after jumping 16 slots in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll, will face some stiff competition early on. ASU is featured in Pool 3 with nationally ranked foes Michigan (#3), Texas A&M (#22) and unranked Nicholls State. The Devils will play two games on Friday, starting with Texas A&M at 6 p.m. (est) followed by the wild card game against Florida State at 8 p.m. On Saturday, ASU will face Michigan at Noon and finish with Nicholls State at 2 p.m. Sunday's games will be broken into bracket play and will be determined after the Saturday games.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: Arizona State hosted its annual ASU Classic Tournament and came away with a perfect 4-0 record. The Sun Devils were the only team to post an undefeated record, registering wins against fifth-ranked Iowa, 22nd-ranked Michigan State, Illinois State and Ball State. ASU outscored its opponents 26-4 and out hit them 38-16. Senior pitcher Carrie Breedlove fired her second no hitter of the season as ASU run-ruled Ball St. 10-0 in five innings. She nearly had a perfect game, however, she walked one batter in the second while striking out five on the night. The Devils pounded out 13 hits as they capitalized on eight Ball St. errors. At the plate, freshman Devyn Braga paced ASU, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, and senior Erin Hull went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Against the fifth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, senior pitcher Roxanne Tsosie threw a four hitter, striking out six as ASU shutout Iowa 4-0. The Devils scattered eight hits with Hull and sophomore Chris Gill knocking two apiece. Junior Holly Smith hit a timely two RBI triple in the third to bring in the winning runs. In the Devils 9-3 win over Illinois St., junior Jennifer Gall and sophomore Lesley-Ann Murphy each had two hits and an RBI apiece. Breedlove threw six and two-thirds, allowing six hits while striking out four. Against the Spartens, senior Raja Woods went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Tsosie went the distance, striking out three for her fifth win.
1997-98 Schedule
DATE OPPONENT (rank) TIME
Feb. 12 Tennessee (25) W, 7-2
Feb. 13 #Detroit W, 8-0 (5)
#Utah St. L, 0-1
Feb. 14 #Ohio St. W, 1-0
#Alabama W, 5-2
Feb. 15 #UNLV W, 6-0
#Cal State Fullerton W, 3-1
Feb. 21 %Ball St. W, 10-0 (5)
%Iowa (5) W, 4-0
Feb. 22 %Illinois St. W, 9-3
%Michigan St. (22) W, 3-1
Feb. 27 ^Texas A&M (22) 6 p.m.
^Florida St. (T 9) 8 p.m.
Feb. 28 ^Michigan (3) Noon
^Nicholls St. 2 p.m.
Mar. 1 ^TBA TBA
Mar. 1 ^TBA TBA
Mar. 13 &Centenary 11 a.m.
&San Jose St. 1 p.m.
&Drake 5 p.m.
Mar. 14 &TBA TBA
&TBA TBA
Mar. 15 &TBA TBA
Mar. 17 Iowa State 6 p.m.
Mar. 20 +Stephen F. Austin 5:30 p.m.
+New Mexico 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 21 +Stephen F. Austin 5:30 p.m.
+New Mexico 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 22 +Iowa St. Noon
Mar. 28 @ *Oregon St. (23) 1 p.m.
Mar. 29 @ *Oregon 1 p.m.
Apr. 3 *Washington (2) 6 p.m.
Apr. 4 *UCLA 6 p.m.
Apr. 10 @ *Arizona (1) 6 p.m.
Apr. 17 @ St. Mary's 1 p.m.
Apr. 18 @ *Stanford (17) 1 p.m.
Apr. 19 @ *California (8) 1 p.m.
Apr. 24 *Oregon St. 6 p.m.
Apr. 25 *Oregon 6 p.m.
Apr. 29 *Arizona 6 p.m.
May 1 *Stanford 1 p.m.
May 2 *California 1 p.m.
May 9 @ *Washington 11 a.m.
May 10 @ *UCLA 1 p.m.
* Denotes Pacific-10 Conference game
# Coca-Cola Tournament, Phoenix, Ariz.
% Arizona State Classic Tournament, Tempe, Ariz.
^ NFCA Leadoff Classic Tournament, Columbus, Ga.
& National Invitational Tournament, San Jose, Calif.
+ Diamond Devil Classic Tournament, Tempe, Ariz.
All times are local to site and subject to change.
All home games are bolded.
DID YOU KNOW... Head coach Linda Wells is currently ranked ninth among all Division I active coaches with 625 victories.
POWER CONFERENCE: Again this year, like many others in the past, the Pacific-10 Conference boasts some of the best softball in the country. Six of the eight schools in the conference are ranked in the top 25, with four schools ranked in the top eight. (#1 Arizona, #2 Washington, #7 Arizona State, #8 California, #17 Stanford, #23 Oregon State). To this point, the Pac-10 Conference has combined to post a 63-14 (82%) record against non-conference opponents
NATIONAL & PAC-10 HONORS: In the past two weeks of action, senior Carrie Breedlove has displayed one of the best pitching performances in recent Sun Devil history. Breedlove, a native of Sunland, Calif., has a 5-0 record while posting two no hitters in five starts this year. Through 30.2 innings of work, Breedlove has an unblemished 0.00 ERA, compiled four shutouts, allowed 15 hits, struckout 25 and only walked three batters. For her achievments, Breedlove was named the National Coaches Association Player of the Week for NCAA Division I softball. Additionally, Breedlove was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week. Her first no hitter came against the University of Detroit at the Coca-Cola Classic as the Sun Devils run ruled the Titans 8-0 in five innings. She fired her second no hitter at the ASU Classic against Ball State as the Devils run ruled the Cardinals 10-0 in five innings. Against UNLV, Breedlove had a perfect game into the seventh inning before surrendering one hit in the Devils 6-0 win. Versus Ohio State, she struckout a season-high seven as ASU blanked the Buckeyes 1-0.
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 conf. This season the Sun Devils are picking up where they left off having already swiped 18 of 21 bases. Seven different players have stolen at least one base with Raja Woods leading the way with 6 Erin Hull is also off to a perfect start, going 5-for-5. With the addition of catcher Andrea Rodgers, who possesses a strong and accurate arm, ASU's opponents are 1-for-3.
OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: Arizona State is batting .331 as a team compaired to .162 for its opponents ... ASU has seven players batting .320 or over with Raja Woods hitting at a .438 clip ... the Devils have outscored their opponents 56-10 ... nine players have at least one RBI, and as a team, ASU has 46 compaired to 8 for its opponents ... ASU has stolen 18 bases compaired to one for the other teams.
SPECIAL 'K': Senior Roxanne Tsosie continues to accumulate the Ks. So far this season, Tsosie has struckout 26 batters to raise her career total to 318. Tsosie is now third all-time in career strikeouts, and her 43 career wins places her fifth all-time in ASU history. Highlights this season include striking out a season-high six against Alabama and Iowa. Tsosie has also knotched complete game wins against 25th-ranked Tennessee, 22nd-ranked Michigan State and fifth-ranked Iowa (shutout).
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 274 wins. In her career, Wells has amassed 625 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 assistant Lisa Dacquisto. Also helping with coaching duties this year are graduate assistant Leah Beach and fifth year assistant Tina Ruff.
1998 Roster
1 Erin Hull/Sr./Outfield
.256, 10 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 8 R, 5 RBI, 5 SB
4 Andrea Rodgers/So./Catcher
.258, 8 H, 1 2B, 5 R, 6 RBI
5 Holly Smith/Jr./2B/SS
.344, 11 H, 1 3B, 4 R, 9 RBI, 2 SB
9 Jennifer Langenhuizen/Fr./OF
.320, 8 H, 6 R, 1 RBI
11 Devyn Braga/Fr./SS/OF
.324, 12 H, 1 2B, 9 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB
12 Roxanne Tsosie/Sr./Pitcher
5-1, 1.32 ERA, 26 Ks, 2 BB, 6 CG, 1 ShO
17 Lesley-Ann Murphy/So./1B/C
.333, 10 H, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI
first career homerun was a game winner
20 Carrie Breedlove/Sr./P/OF
5-0, 0.00 ERA, 25 Ks, 3 BB, 4 ShO
has pitched two no hitters this season
22 Melissa Miller/Jr./Outfield
.222, 2 H, 2 R, 2 SB
23 Raja Woods/Sr./OF/2B
.438, 14 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 8 R, 6 SB
24 Jennifer Gall/Jr./1B/SS/C
.370, 10 H, 1 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB
32 Kathy Ponce/Jr./P/OF
1 appearance
33 Chris Gill/So./3B/C
.394, 13 H, 1 2B, 7 R, 8 RBI, 1 SB
Pac-10 0-0
Non-Conference 10-1
Against Ranked Teams 3-0
Against Unranked Teams 7-1
Home Games 5-0
Road Games 0-0
Neutral Sites 5-1
Day Games 6-0
Night Games 4-1
Vs. Right Handed Starters 10-1
Vs. Left Handed Starters 0-0
Extra Innings 0-0
One Run Game 1-1
Two Run Game 2-0
Shutouts 5-1
ASU Scores First 9-0
Opponent Scores First 1-1
Out-Hit Opponents 10-1
Out-Hit by Opponents 0-0
February 10-1
March 0-0
April 0-0
May 0-0
Last 5 Games 5-0
Last 10 Games 9-1
Current Win Streak 8