April 26, 2000
ON TAP: The fourth-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (38-11, 6-6 Pac-10) will head to the Northwest to face 17th-ranked Oregon (32-18, 4-6 Pac-10) on Friday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. The Sun Devils will then travel over to Corvallis to take on 12th-ranked Oregon State (33-13-1, 3-7 Pac-10) on Saturday, April 29 at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 30 at 1:00 p.m. Friday's game against Oregon State will be televised to a national audience on FOX Sports Net (shown locally on cable channel 34).
NEW PAC-10 FORMAT: Except for ASU's last conference match up against Stanford on May 13, this year all Pac-10 games will be single games (Fri., Sat., Sun.) instead of the traditional doubleheaders. Also, instead of the usual 28 game format, Pac-10 teams will now play 21 conference games.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Sun Devils split a pair at home against second-ranked Arizona, winning the first game, 3-1, and dropping the second 3-0. In the first game, a three-run home run to left center field in the fourth inning by senior Jamie Hlebechuk sealed the win for ASU, its first win over rival Arizona in 38 games. Sophomore pitcher Kirsten Voak notched the win, limiting the UA to one run on four hits, while striking out seven and allowing no walks. In the fourth, with two outs, Stacey Farnworth was hit by a pitch and then advanced to second by a Jennifer Forner single to left field. Hlebechuck then stepped to the plate and nailed the Jennie Finch offering over the fence to break the scoreless tie. Each team would load the bases in the first two innings, but either team could manage to get a run across. The Sun Devils left six runners on base, while the Wildcats left four. In the seventh inning, UA posted its sole run to end Voak's bid for the shutout. Game two featured a pitcher's dual between Voak and UA starter Becky Lemke, as the two teams combined to produce only seven hits. Arizona State had chances to score early in the first and fourth innings with two on and no outs, but could not plate a runner. In the fifth inning, UA scored once by a double and a single (all with two outs), breaking the scoreless tie. Again with two outs, the Wildcats would put two more runs on the board in the seventh inning, off of a two-run home run. ASU would get two runners on in the seventh, but again failed to push a run across. The Sun Devils left six runners on base, while the Wildcats stranded two. Combined over the two game set, ASU and UA each had eight hits, but ASU stranded 12 runners to UA's six.
GRAND SLAMMIN': So far this season, ASU has hit four grand slam home runs by three different players. Erica Beach with two, Andrea Rodgers and Jamie Hlebechuk each with one.
HEAD COACH LINDA WELLS: Arizona State's storied tradition of softball excellence has flourished under the tutelage of 11th-year head coach Linda Wells, one of the most prominent and successful coaches in NCAA history. Wells, who is currently the 10th-most successful active coach in NCAA Division I history, claimed her 700th win at this year's Fiesta Bowl Tournament as ASU defeated Cal State Fullerton, 8-3. Wells, who holds a 732-576-1 career record, has led the Sun Devils to seven NCAA Regional appearances in 10 seasons, including her first trip to the College World Series in 1999. While at Arizona State, Wells has compiled a record of 381-282 and has had five players earn a total of seven All-American awards.
LIFE'S A BEACH: Sophomore pitcher/designated player Erica Beach is building on her successful freshman campaign that saw her garner NFCA first-team All-American honors. This year in the circle, Beach is 12-6 with six shutouts, a 1.69 ERA and 59 strikeouts. Against Portland State, Beach set a new career-high in strikeouts with seven. At the plate, Beach is batting .357 with seven home runs, including two grand slams and a team-high 42 RBIs. She is batting .431 with runners in scoring position and has posted 11 multi-hit games, including a career-high 4-for-4 performance against CS Fullerton. Beach also has 10 multi-RBI games, including one five RBI game. Beach was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week (3/17) after batting .500 with seven RBIs, helping ASU win the NIST. With her seven home runs this year, Beach is now tied for the all-time single-season mark at ASU. Also her 12 career home runs are good for third all-time, while her 81 career RBIs is good for eighth all-time. Additionally, Beach's 42 RBIs has already surpassed her total from last year (39). She needs only four more to set a new single-season record at ASU.
VOAK'S RESUME: Sophomore All-American pitcher/designated player Kirsten Voak is also picking up where she left off last season. After an ASU record-setting 24 win, 314 strikeout season last year, Voak keeps setting a new mark this year as posted her 26th win against Arizona. Voak is currently 26-5 with 11 shutouts, a 0.93 ERA and 249 strikeouts. Voak fired her first no-hitter of the season (third career) against Simon Fraser and struckout a season-high 15 against Oregon, which also ties her career-high. Voak has also earned three Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors (2/22), (3/17), (4/3), with her latest coming against the Oregon schools. Voak posted a 2-0 record, picking up wins over 11th-ranked Oregon State and 23rd-ranked Oregon. Against Oregon, Voak tied her career-high for strikeouts in a game with 15, while not walking a batter. To begin the game, Voak struck out eight of the first 11 batters, while striking out the side two times. Additionally, Voak struckout every Oregon batter at least once, while four batters struckout two or more times. Against OSU, Voak limited the Beavers to three hits, one run, while posting nine strikeouts ... After recording four wins in the Louisville Slugger Tournament where she pitched 24 innings, allowed only three runs, no walks, while striking out 30 ... Voak again earned the honor after posting a 5-0 record, including three shutouts at the NIST. She pitched in six games, totaling 33 innings, allowed only three runs, while striking out 42. For her efforts, Voak earned her second NIST All-Tournament honor. Voak was also named to her second NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team as she recorded three shutouts, pitched 27.1 innings, allowed only eight hits, no earned runs, four walks, while striking out 31. Voak's averaging 8.3 strikeouts per game and holding opponents to a .167 average. At the plate, she is batting .349 with a home run, seven doubles, 26 runs, 18 RBIs and has walked 30 times. Voak has a career total of 563 strikeouts, good for second all-time in ASU history and 50 wins, good for fourth all-time.
Voak's Career Double-Digit Strikeout Games (15): 15 - Oregon, 7 innings (4/2/00) 15 - Central Michigan, 8.1 innings (5/20/99) 14 - Utah, 7.1 innings (3/13/99) 13 - Santa Clara, 7 innings (3/10/00) 13 - Florida Atlantic, 7 innings (5/22/99) 12 - UNLV, 7 innings (3/26/00) 12 - Iowa, 7 innings (3/17/00) 12 - Portland State, 7 innings (2/26/00) 12 - Nebraska, 7 innings (2/13/99) 12 - Oregon State, 6 innings (4/24/99) 12 - Washington, 8 innings (4/10/99) 11 - Utah, 7 innings (3/10/00) 11 - Illinois State, 7 innings (2/20/00) 10 - Oregon, 7 innings (4/25/99) 10 - Utah, 7 innings (3/18/99)
JUNIOR OLYMPIAN TRIO: Leading Team USA with the most players on its roster, Arizona State sophomore's Missy Hixon and Kirsten Voak, along with freshman Kara Brun collected silver medals at the 1999 International Softball Federation Junior Women's World Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. Hixon, who played and started in seven games, finished with a .400 batting average (10-25) and was second on team with nine RBIs and three doubles. Hixon also finished third in runs scored (9) and fourth in hits (10) and batting average. Brun played in six games, starting five and also batted .400 (6-15). She finished tied for second on the team in doubles (3) and third in RBIs (8). Voak tied for the team-high in wins with three, recorded a team-second best 33 strikeouts and had a 0.35 ERA. In 20 innings pitched, opponents batted a miniscule 0.76, both team-highs. Voak combined with teammate Keira Goerl to no-hit Chinese Taipei, 4-0. Voak fired the first four innings, striking out seven while giving up only one walk for her first win. Against Venezuela, Voak struckout 12 batters in six innings for her second win. She then propelled Team USA into the gold medal game by throwing her second complete game, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 against Taipei. Voak also posted a save against New Zealand, pitching three innings of no-hit ball.
BRUN'S A HIT: Freshman shortstop Kara Brun has made an immediate impact this year, offensively and defensively. At the plate, Brun is batting .351, leads the team in hits (53), doubles (12), total bases (86), and is second in RBIs (31) and runs scored (35). Brun is also tied for the team-high with seven home runs, three coming the way of game-winners. She needs one more long ball to set the single-season record (8). Brun has posted 13 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games and held a team-high 16 game hitting streak. On the field, the strong-arm shortstop leads the team in assists (101) and has committed only three errors for a .982 fielding percentage.
ASU'S NATIONAL RANKING: Individually: Voak is fifth in most pitching victories (26), 17th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3) and 19th in ERA (0.93). As a team: Arizona State is ninth in fielding percentage (.973), 11th in winning percentage (.776), 13th in pitching ERA (1.20) and 16th in batting average (.303).
CAREER MILESTONES: Head Coach Linda Wells needs 18 wins to reach 750 ... Erica Beach needs three more home runs to move into second all-time ... Beach needs four RBIs for the single-season record ... Voak needs 65 strikeouts to re-set her single-season mark at ASU, and 243 strikeouts for the all-time record ... Missy Hixon needs 17 more doubles for the all-time record ... Kara Brun needs six more doubles for the single-season record ... Arizona State, as a program, needs 34 more wins to reach 900 in its history ... ASU needs six more wins to set a new single-season record (44).
DYNAMIC DUO: Sophomores Missy Hixon and Nichole Thompson, who play second base and center field respectively, each contribute in similar ways. Hixon has started and played in all 49 games with Thompson starting and playing in 46 ...Thompson's hitting a team-high .367, Hixon .321 ... Hixon and Thompson each have 51 hits ... Thompson has scored a team-high 37 times, Hixon 25 ... Hixon has 16 RBIs, while Thompson has produced 14 ... Hixon has 10 doubles, Thompson has seven ... Hixon leads the team with 16 multi-hit games, Thompson has 15 multi-hit games ... Hixon and Thompson have each posted three multi-RBI games ... combined the two have struckout only 15 times in 298 at bats (once per 20 at bats) ... each has walked 12 times ... Hixon has produced two home runs from the leadoff spot ... Thompson had a team-high 16 game hitting streak ... Thompson was also named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team by batting .500 (9-18) with six runs scored and two stolen bases.
DEVIL NOTES: ASU has hit 25 home runs (including four grand slams) this year by eight different players (all-time mark of 26 total HRs in '99) ... ASU has outscored its opponents 226-79, including 73-19 in the first and second innings combined ... Beach and Voak are combining to limit opponents to one walk a game, while striking out nearly seven ... opponents are batting only .188 against ASU ... 13 players have at least two RBIs, including 10 in double-digits ... most of the time, ASU starts eight underclassmen ... ASU's longest winning streak of the year - 9 games (3 times) ... ASU has allowed one sacrifice fly this season, while the Sun Devils have posted 12 ... ASU is averaging just under five runs a game, while holding opponents to just over one run ... ASU has recorded 17 games with double-digit hits.
| Name | Yr. | Pos. | B/T | Avg. | Notes | |
| Erica Beach | So. | P/DH | L/L | .357 | 12-6 record, has 46 hits, 7 home runs and 42 RBIs | |
| Kirsten Voak | So. | P/DH | R/R | .349 | 26-5 record with 249 Ks, one no-hitter, 11 shutouts | |
| Sara Kahler | Fr. | C | L/R | .346 | Has tallied 27 RBIs with one home run, 5 k's in 107 at bats | |
| Erin Wardein | So. | 1B | R/R | .163 | 3 home runs and 17 RBIs, had game-winning home run vs. UCLA | |
| Missy Hixon | So. | 2B | L/R | .321 | 51 hits, 2 home runs and 10 doubles from the leadoff slot | |
| Kara Brun | Fr. | SS | R/R | .351 | 7 home runs, 31 RBIs, 35 runs, team-high 53 hits, 12 doubles | |
| Stacey Farnworth | Jr. | 3B | R/R | .235 | 1-for-3 with a RBI against Oregon | |
| Nichole Thompson | So. | OF | L/R | .367 | Team-leading 37 runs scored, 51 hits, 7 doubles, 5 stolen bases | |
| Jamie Hlebechuck | Sr. | OF | R/L | .310 | 3 home runs, 1 grand slam, game-winning home run vs. Arizona | |
| Jennifer Forner | Fr. | OF | L/L | .200 | 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs against Oregon, has 11 total runs scored | |
| Lesley Murphy | Sr. | 1B | L/L | .185 | 1-for-2 with a run scored against Oregon | |
| Devyn Braga | Jr. | OF/3B | R/R | .150 | 1-for-2 with a double and 2 RBIs against Portland State | |
| Jen Langenhuizen | Jr. | OF | L/R | .208 | 1-for-2 against California, has scored 4 runs | |
| Andrea Rodgers | Sr. | C | R/R | .250 | Hit first career home run (grand slam) against Michigan State | |
MEDIA INFORMATION: All publicity for the ASU softball team are coordinated by Assistant Media Relations Director Will Phillips at (480) 965-1237. Any interviews with ASU softball players or coaches should be arranged through Phillips with at least 48 hours notice.