Softball News Updates

The Huskies went 5-0 at the Husky Softball Classic, extending their winning streak to 17, the fourth-longest streak in school history. Pitcher Danielle Lawrie was perfect in the first game with a 3-0 shutout over Miami, Ohio and earned two wins on the weekend. She almost had back-to-back perfect games, retiring the first 19 hitters against Portland State finishing the game with 13 strikouts, no walks and a two-hit shutout win, her ninth win of the year. Lawrie had retired an unbelievable 41-consecutive bat¬ters dating back to the final inning of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational on March 7 and now has three perfect games and six no-hitters in her career, both school records. Over the weekend she also passed the 1,500-strikeout mark for her career.

Arizona senior shortstop K’Lee Arredondo was named Pac-10 Player of the Week and freshman teammate Kenzie Fowler was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for March 8-14, 2010. Arredondo, a native of Tempe, Ariz., batted .600 with nine hits for nine RBI in five wins during the Arizona’s Wildcat Invitational over the weekend. The senior hit her first two home runs of the season, with a 1.000 slugging percent¬age, while also drawing four walks. In a win over North¬ern Colorado, Arredondo went 3-for-3, knocking in three runs, drawing a walk and scoring twice. Against Illinois-Chicago, Arredondo also went 3-for-3, adding one home run and three putouts defensively. She upped her season batting average from .333 to .389 on the weekend, helping Arizona maintain a winning streak that now stands at 15 games.
Fowler pitched four shutout games in a 6-0 week for the Wildcats. The Tucson, Ariz. native struck out a combined 33 batters, while only allowing nine hits and three walks to the opposition. She held opponents to a .118 batting average, while her offense backed her up with 39 runs. Against Creighton, Fowler had her best game of the week¬end, striking out 17 batters, one short of her career high and allowing only one hit in an Arizona win. She capped off her stellar weekend with a five-strikeout, one-hit win over Minnesota. Overall Fowler’s record sits at 15-0 on the season. For her outstanding weekend, Fowler was named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.

The Oregon State softball team (10-11) will begin their Spring Break at the San Diego Classic II followed by completing the suspended game from Sunday, March 7th at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday evening. The Beavers face the Long Beach State 49ers (10-12) and the UMass Minutewomen (11-4) first on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, the team takes on the UIC Flames (6-13) and the San Diego Toreros (5-13) at 9:00 and 11:30 a.m. Oregon State wraps up the tournament against the San Diego State Aztecs (15-8) on Monday evening at 6:00 p.m.

Fresno State’s Andrea Ortega and Mackenzie Oakes have been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 8-14. This is the first-ever honor for both.
Ortega, a sophomore outfielder from Scottsdale, Ariz., hit .478 with a .696 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage over seven games last week. She was 11-for-23 with two doubles, a home run and nine RBI. During the five games of the Bayer CropScience Tournament, she hit a team-high .500 with nine hits and eight RBI. She had at least two hits in each of the last four games. She had one walk, no strikeouts and no errors as the ‘Dogs went 4-1 at the tournament. She was the leading overall hitter for the tournament and was named to the all-tournament team.
Oakes, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., went 2-0 in 17.2 innings. For the week, she allowed just 10 hits, five runs and three walks and struck out 13 batters. She was named MVP of the Bayer CropScience Tournament after throwing the first perfect game of her career in a 3-0 win over Georgetown. It was the first perfect game by a Bulldog pitcher since March 25, 2005. It was the second no-hitter of the season for Oakes.

Sophomore Mary Claire Brenner hit three home runs in a game to break the previous school record of two home runs in a single game. Brenner was a perfect 3-for-3 at the pate against Southern Utah as Oregon State won 11-0 in five innings during play at the Kajikawa Classic.

Carson City, Nevada - Western Nevada College’s softball team finished with a 1-5 record ending a difficult weekend in Henderson, Nevada on a positive note. The Wildcats lost their first five straight games including their season opener against the defending 2009 NJCAA Division I national champions, Yavapai College of Arizona. WNC fell to Yavapai, 12-2, Arizona Western College, 7-1, Central Arizona College, 7-4, South Mountain College, 8-1 and Pima Community College, 9-1, before earning a 12-0 shutout of Gateway College. First-year Wildcats Coach Leah Wentworth said her team performed well despite the losses. “There were a lot of positives,” as WNC scored in every game, and three Wildcats players batted .500 or above for the weekend against “really good competition,” she said. “These are year-round teams that have been practicing outside” while the Wildcats have been working indoors and waiting for the snow to melt on Edmonds Park Field A in Carson City, where they will play home games this year. The second year team includes eight freshmen and seven sophomores. Wentworth said her team made significant progress to build on before heading into Scenic West Conference play in a few weeks. “There were things we needed to work on, defensively, and we were putting the ball in play,” she said. “I feel good about where we started and where we are going.” The Wildcats next head to St. George, Utah for doubleheaders against Salt Lake Community College (Feb. 10-11) and Colorado Northwestern Community College (Feb. 12-13).

Nevada senior pitcher Katie Holverson, the 2009 WAC Pitcher of the Year, has been named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2010 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Holverson is 61-31 with a 2.23 ERA in her career at Nevada. Last year, she went 28-11 with a 1.70 earned-run average in leading the Wolf Pack to its second straight WAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance. This award, which is considered the most prestigious honors in Division I women’s collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. The 2010 Pre-Season Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 35 schools and 14 different NCAA Division I Conferences. The list includes 27 seniors, 17 juniors and six sophomores. The list will be cut to 10 on May 12 and the final three finalists will be announced on May 26. The winner of the 2010 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be announced prior to the start of the 2010 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.