Bulldogs Begin Defense
Fresno State began defense of its Western Athletic Conference title with a solid three-game sweep of Hawaii on the islands. Junior All-American shortstop Christina Clark went 6-for-14 last week, including a doubleheader split with then-No. 5 Stanford. Clark became WAC's all-time home run leader, hitting her 47th career long ball in a 5-3 victory over the Wahine.
a-MAIZE-ing
Top-ranked Michigan's Nicole Motycka continues to put together the best offensive season of her career after hitting a team-best .647 (11-17) this past week with three home runs and a slugging percentage of 1.235. The senior co-captain hit safely in all five games, including multi-hit games in four of the five and two three-hit efforts. Motycka set a new career high with her sixth home run of the season in a 3-1 win over No. 24 Iowa and then homered in both games of a doubleheader sweep the next day vs. Illinois. Her home run in the game one win over Illinois was the 51st of the season for the Maize and Blue which set a new single-season Michigan record. The previous mark of 50 was set in 2003. Her great week helped her up her season average to over .400 for the first time in her career. It now stands at .404.
Oli's Debut At the Beach
Oli Keohohou, who transferred from BYU to Long Beach State last season, made her 49er debut last week. The senior hit .636 (7-for-11) with two home
runs, five runs scored, and six RBI in Long Beach State's series sweep over
Utah State (Apr. 2-3). Oli hit her first career home run as a 49er in G1 of
the series and finished 3-for-4 with four RBI.
Great Week for Curtier
Pacific sophomore Jennifer Curtier recorded a .600 (9-for-15) batting average and a 1.467 slugging percentage with eight runs scored, a double, four home runs, 11 RBI, and two stolen bases at last weekend's University of Nevada Softball Tournament. The four home runs came in consecutive multi-home run games, her third and fourth multi-homer games of the season. Curtier\'s weekend performance moved her into third place on Pacific's career home run list with 21 (as a sophomore), and into seventh place on Pacific\s career RBI chart with 79. She is two home runs shy of matching the program\'s single season record. Curtier recorded the game-winning RBI in each of Pacific's three wins at the Nevada Tournament. She was flawless in 27 defensive chances as well. She is now batting .365 on the season with team-highs of 10 home runs and 37 RBI. She is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts for the year.
Another Great Week At Emporia
Emporia State's Melissa Stevens threw 16 and a third innings of shutout softball last week, striking out 35 and giving up just three hits and two walks. In the first game against Missouri-Rolla Friday she took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and
ended up striking out 16 and allowing just a single and two walks. She lowered her ERA to 0.21 and is 16-1 on the year. She has pitched 25 and two thirds consecutive innings of shutout baseball. After getting the win in the opener against UMR, Stevens pitched two and a third innings of relief in the second game, strking out five and allowing the Hornets to comeback as she earned the win. Tuesday against Northwest Missouri she struck out 14 and gave up a pair of hits as she earned the win.
Notable
Michigan's 32-game win streak was snapped with a 5-2 loss to Iowa on April 1 ... The Wolverines won three straight before dropping a game at Central Michigan on Wednesday ... Alabama and Tennessee became the first teams to win 40 games on the season ... UCLA began the Pac-10 season 0-3 for the second consecutive season. The Bruins started the 2004 league slate 0-5 but went on to win the national championship ... Missouri has lost four of its last six games ... Oregon State has won 16 consecutive games.
