May 7, 1998
ON TAP: The 16th-ranked Arizona State softball team (36-22, 8-16 Pac-10) will end its regular season on the road against fourth-ranked Washington (44-11, 17-7 Pac-10) on Saturday and UCLA (17-24, 7-15 Pac-10) on selection Sunday. The parings for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be announced during a press conference at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, May 10.
Sat., May 9 (4) Washington Seattle 11:00 a.m. Sun., May 10 UCLA Los Angeles 1:00 p.m.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Despite being swept by ninth-ranked Stanford, (1-4, 0-1) the Sun Devils stayed in the hunt for postseason by returning the favor against 21st-ranked California (2-0, 4-2). In the first game against the Cardinal, ASU loaded the bases in the third, but could only score once off a Jen Gall single. The game was tied at one apiece heading into the seventh, however, Stanford crossed the plate three times and ASU could not answer in the bottom half. Game two featured a pitchers duel between ASU's Roxanne Tsosie and Stanford's Becky Blevins. Each pitcher allowed four hits, but Tsosie made the only mistake of the game in the top of the seventh innning, serving up a solo home run for the only run of the game. But ASU and Tsosie bounced back against California the next day, sweeping the Golden Bears. In the first game, televised nationally on FOX Sports Net, Tsosie fired her second career no-hitter as she blanked Cal 2-0. For her effort, Tsosie earned Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors, her second of the season. Tsosie walked the first batter before shutting down Cal, striking out only two batters. Andrea Rodgers came up with a clutch hit in the second inning, knocking in the winning run. In the second game, ASU scattered 13 hits by eight different players. With Cal up 2-1 in the fifth, Rodgers again came through with a timley hit, driving in Erin Hull to tie the game. ASU then posted two more runs in the sixth to seal the win. Tsosie entered the game in the sixth and limited Cal to only one hit the rest of the way to earn her second win in as many appearances.
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... ASU leads the Pac-10 Conference in Pitcher of the Week honors with four. Tsosie (2)/Breedlove (2)
POWER CONFERENCE: Again this year, like many others in the past, the Pacific-10 Conference boasts some of the best softball in the country. Seven of the eight schools in the conference are ranked in the top 25, with four schools ranked in the top 15. (#1 Arizona, #3 Washington, #9 Stanford, #13 Arizona State, #19 California, #22 Oregon State, #25 Oregon).
1998 Player Breakdown 1 Erin Hull/Sr./Outfield .329, 54 H, 4 2B, 3 3B, 27 R, 14 RBI, 11 SB 4 Andrea Rodgers/So./Catcher .197, 27 H, 3 2B, 10 R, 18 RBI, 1 SB, 7 PO's 5 Holly Smith/Jr./2B/SS .260, 45 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 19 R, 32 RBI, 4 SB 9 Jennifer Langenhuizen/Fr./OF .263, 36 H, 1 3B, 19 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB 11 Devyn Braga/Fr./SS/OF .285, 45 H, 4 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 26 R, 16 RBI, 3 SB 12 Roxanne Tsosie/Sr./Pitcher 22-9, 1.30 ERA, 124 Ks, 29 BB, 28 CG, 7 ShO, 2 SV Reigning Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week 17 Lesley-Ann Murphy/So./1B/C .244, 33 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 R, 12 RBI 20 Carrie Breedlove/Sr./P/OF 14-13, 1.86 ERA, 144 Ks, 30 BB, 23 CG, 10 ShO Pitched two no-hitters this season 22 Melissa Miller/Jr./Outfield .253, 20 H, 10 R, 1 RBI, 6 SB 23 Raja Woods/Sr./OF/2B .319, 45 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 32 R, 16 RBI, 20 SB 24 Jennifer Gall/Jr./1B/SS/C .286, 46 H, 5 2B, 1 HR, 20 R, 20 RBI, 3 SB 32 Kathy Ponce/Jr./P/OF .248, 25 H, 3 2B, 5 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB 33 Chris Gill/So./3B/C .311, 46 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 28 R, 41 RBI, 3 SB
BIRD'S 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 1.86 ERA. In 176 innings of work, Breedlove has struckout 144 for 5.71 so/g. She is now fourth all-time in ASU history with 343 Ks. Breedlove's 50 career wins also placers her fourth all-time in ASU history. Additionally, Breedlove's 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 124 batters to raise her career total to 416. She is currently third all-time in ASU history in career strikeouts, and is second all-time in career wins with 60. Tsosie also became ASU's 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 last weekend. Tsosie is listed among the top 10 in every Pac-10 pitching category: Tied for second with two saves; Tied for second with 22 wins; Third with 205.1 innings; Tied for fourth with seven shutouts; Fourth with 1.30 ERA; Eighth in strikeouts/game with 4.23.
DIAMOND NOTES: ASU is third in the Pac-10 in fielding percentage at .969 ... ASU is third in the conference with a .275 team batting average ... the Sun Devils are 15-4 when they score more than five runs ... Erin Hull currently holds ASU's longest hitting streak this year at 11 ... 10 of ASU's 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 (50 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 year's 36 wins marks the most since the 1991 season (43).
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 ASU's left field scoreboard that was measured at 240 ft. (It's 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 ASU's all-time single-season leader in RBIs with 41 ... ASU has pitched three no-hitters this year.
ASU Record Breakdown
Pacific-10 8-16
Non-Conference 28-6
Against Ranked Teams 12-18
Against Unranked Teams 24-4
Home Games 16-10
Road Games 7-7
Neutral Sites 13-5
Day Games 24-15
Night Games 12-7
Vs. Right Handed Starters 33-20
Vs. Left Handed Starters 3-2
Extra Innings 4-2
One Run Game 10-8
Two Run Game 6-5
Five Run (+) Game 15-4
Shutouts 18-10
ASU Scores First 31-9
Opponent Scores First 5-13
Out-Hit Opponents 33-8
Out-Hit by Opponents 3-14
February 13-2
March 13-6
April 8-12
May 2-2
Last 5 Games 2-3
Last 10 Games 4-6
Current Win Streak 2
ASU Milestones in Reach
Carrie Breedlove
5 wins for 55
8 starts for 100
20 innings for 575
7 strikeouts for 350
Chris Gill
7 hits for 100
6 RBI for 75
Erin Hull
7 at-bats for 525
3 runs for 100
7 hits for 175
Holly Smith 8 hits for 100
8 RBI for 75
Roxanne Tsosie 5 wins for 65
3 complete games for 65
29 innings for 700
9 strikeouts for 425
Linda Wells 5 wins for 305 at ASU
4 wins for 655 career
Raja Woods 46 hits for 150
4 RBI for 50
10 runs for 75
4 stolen bases for 50