USA Softball

Alabama is No 1

May 01, 2007

The battle for No. 1 in the regular season top 25 poll and the champion of the Southeastern Conference will be decided this weekend as Alabama travels to Knoxville for a three game series against the Lady Volunteers. Alabama, Tennessee and LSU are all currently tied for lead in the SEC. In conjunction with leading the SEC, they also represent three of the top five teams in the nation in this week’s poll.

It was a tough week for those at the top with nine of last week’s top ten being upset at least once. Oklahoma (49-6), with a first place vote, remains at No. 3 this week despite a loss at Kansas (32-19-1) while LSU moved up one spot to No. 4 after its series win over Tennessee. Arizona (35-10-1) dropped back to No. 5 after losing on the road to Stanford (31-14-1). The second game of the Arizona-Stanford series was called after 12 innings at a 0-0 tie, the first tie for Arizona since 1986.

The SEC and Big 12 Conference continue to dominate in the top 10 this week with each Conference being represented by three teams. The SEC has three teams ranked in the top four while the Big 12 has No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 Texas A&M (39-8) and No. 7 Baylor (43-12). Rounding out the top 10 is the Pac 10, represented by No. 5 Arizona and No. 9 Arizona State (45-13), and the Big Ten, represented by No. 8 Northwestern (41-10) and No. 10 Michigan (40-9).

Hawaii (45-9), who cracked the Top 25 for the first time in school history back on February 27 of this year, continues its climb this week to No. 14 in the country. Missouri (36-20), currently tied with Baylor atop the Big 12 Conference standings, achieves its highest ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll this week at No. 18.

Oregon (39-14) had the most significant drop of the week falling three spots to No. 20 after losing to UCLA (33-13) and being swept by Washington (32-13).

ABOUT ASA 

The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 84 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com. 

ABOUT USA SOFTBALL 

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive.

LSU’s Emily Turner Selected USA Softball National Player of the Week

May 01, 2007

The senior from Chula Vista, Calif., went a perfect 2-0 this weekend, moving the Tigers into a first-place tie in the Southeastern Conference standings. Turner is credited for all of the Tigers’ wins over No. 1-ranked team in school history, defeating Tennessee twice this year and top ranked Arizona last year in the NCAA Super Regionals. She became the first pitcher of the season to defeat the Lady Vols twice and doubled the number of losses they had all season dropping them to 51-4 overall.

“What a great honor for Emily at this unique time in the season,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “This is an honor not only for her, but for our entire program and our fans after the fantastic atmosphere that was created by them against Tennessee. Emily begged me for the ball all week and was very confident in her ability to match up with the Vols.”

She held the nations fifth-best team in batting average to a mere .196, down from their season average of .334. She allowed a run in the first inning of game one before throwing 10 consecutive scoreless innings against the Lady Vols before giving up a run in the fifth inning of her second appearance on Sunday. In 13.1 innings pitched over the weekend, Turner gave up only one extra base hit, a double, to earn her 80th career win.

“This honor is a reflection of the team’s performance all weekend,” said Emily Turner. “The games were so close and without the run support I received and the resilience of this team, this award would not have been possible. We also had amazing fan support. Beating the No. 1 team in the country in front of the best fans in the nation made this weekend the best of my life. I will always remember this weekend and hopefully we can keep the good things coming.”

Turner received her first USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week honor during the 2006 season.

April 2007 Rule Clarifications and Plays

April 30, 2007

Emergency Rule Change – Rule 2, Section 3 C

Washington’s Dena Tyson Selected Player of the Week

April 24, 2007

Washington’s Dena Tyson Selected Player of the Week

The senior led the 11th-ranked Washington Huskies to a 2-1 record over the weekend with a .667 average, 2.000 slugging percentage and perfect fielding percentage at first base. She scored five runs and drove in six more of the team's total of 18 runs over the weekend. Tyson led Washington to a seventh-inning come from behind victory against California, hitting a lead-off home run to cut the Golden Bear's lead to 2-1. She then drove in the winning run with an RBI-single in the eighth inning. She followed up that performance with a home run shot against Stanford, drawing two walks in her next two at-bats, with one intentional.

“This is such an honor, especially considering the high caliber of athletes playing college softball these days. I never thought I'd received an award like this and I'm really flattered even to have been considered,” said Tyson of her first-time honor. “While getting awards and accolades is always nice the best part of this season has been that our team has been playing well and winning ballgames. I just hope our success continues on through the remainder of the Pac-10 season and on into the NCAA Tournament.”

On Sunday, she wrapped up the weekend with a 2-for-3 performance with two home runs and an intentional walk in Washington's 12-1 six-inning route of Stanford. Tyson has now homered at least once in each of the last six games and has seven home runs total in that span. She now has 16 home runs on the season, tying for ninth on the UW all-time single-season list.

“This is a great honor, not only for Dena but for our program as a whole. A lot of players put up big numbers on any given weekend but Dena has consistently been doing this for our team week after week,” said head coach Heather Tarr. “To receive an award such as this not only does an individual need to play well but her team needs to play well so this is a testament to what our entire team has been able to accomplish. I am so proud of Dena and each of our players.

Since the Pac-10 season has started, Tyson has increased her average from .418 to .490. She is leading the team with a .625 (20-for-32) average, including eight home runs with 12 runs scored and 14 RBIs with a 1.375 slugging percentage and .700 on-base percentage. She has also walked eight times, including three intentionally.

Arizona State’s Burkhart Selected National Collegiate Player of the Week

April 17, 2007

Arizona State’s Burkhart Selected National Collegiate Player of the Week 

The junior put on an impressive show on the mound as the Sun Devils swept Cal, 8-0 (5), and Stanford, 7-0, 8-2. In Burkhart’s first outing of the weekend, she threw a dominating one-hit complete game shutout over the Cal Bears, striking out 12, and allowing only two runners to reach base all night as the Sun Devils won 8-0 in five innings. Burkhart really came out to shine in her second outing as she threw 6 1/3 perfect innings against then 12^th-ranked Stanford Cardinal. A double to left that just fell fair robbed her of a perfect game, which would have been her second of the season. She closed out the game striking out 10 Cardinal batters as ASU cruised to the 7-0 win.

“I’m elated and it’s amazing to be awarded with an honor like the USA Softball Player of the Week”, said Burkhart of this honor. “It’s flattering, but I know I’m only one component of the team. If the defense wasn’t as strong as they were behind me then it would be another story and same for our offense which has really came to shine this last week. I have a phenomenal team behind me, which gives me confidence on the mound that they have my back, and in turn I have theirs by playing my hardest. Everyday that I take the field with my team I have the assurance of their best effort and support, which has been epic in my collegiate career.”

She also entered the game in relief in game three of the weekend after Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings. Burkhart came in and shutdown the Cardinal offense as she retired the final 15 batters, striking out four to grab her third win of the weekend as the Sundevils went on to win 8-2. She compiled a perfect 0.00 ERA in 16.2 innings of work over the weekend while striking out nearly half of the batters she faced. She fanned 26 of the 55 batters she faced while holding opponents to a .036 batting average.

“Katie is a phenomenal young lady who has truly grown into one of the premier pitchers in softball. Her work ethic and drive brought her to this level of performance, while making her unflappable and composed on the mound”, said head coach Clint Myers. “Last weekend she had an outstanding week and her numbers speak for themselves. Throwing a one-hitter to both Cal and Stanford and then coming in as relief to no-hit the Cardinal, proves her talent against two solid Pac-10 schools. We’re excited to see what she can become and how she can help lead this team for the remainder of this season and for her senior campaign as well.”

This is a first-time honor for not only Burkhart but also for Arizona State, which has never had a player earn Player of the Week in the five-year history of the award.

Tennessee ties Record

April 17, 2007

Arizona’s Mowatt and Tulsa’s Lawrence Selected as Co-National Players of the Week

April 10, 2007

Mowatt pitched her best back-to-back games as a Wildcat, hurling a pair of shutouts against No. 9 Arizona State this past weekend. Mowatt opened the weekend on Friday by no-hitting the Sun Devils in a 1-0 Wildcat victory. She took a perfect game into the sixth inning, when it was broken up by a Wildcat throwing error. Aside from the defensive blemish and a seventh-inning walk, no other ASU batter reached base in her 11-strikeout performance. This was the fourth no-hitter of Mowatt’s career and second of the year. Previous no-hitters have come against UNLV and Cal State Northridge in 2006 and against Texas Tech earlier this season.

“She threw as well as we have seen her throw,” said Arizona Head Coach Mike Candrea. “She had great command of her pitches and great off speed pitches. She was huge for us this past weekend. To throw a no-hitter against such a great offensive team as Arizona State, who hits over .300, was key for us. “ASU’s Katie Burkhart is a good pitcher in her own right and it was a pitching duel. I am really proud of Taryne. She was as confident as I have seen her in an Arizona uniform and this win will hopefully be a step in the right direction for us.”

The junior from Corona, Calif., followed the no-hitter with a two-hit shutout on Saturday in front of a national audience on ESPN2. Once again, Mowatt made up for a lack of offensive support with some stifling pitching that resulted in 10 strikeouts without allowing a walk. She threw 14 shutout innings, allowing only two hits and one walk. She also limited the No. 9 Sun Devil offense, which entered the weekend averaging six runs a game and was hitting over .300 as a team, to a .045 batting average.

“I am incredibly honored that USA Softball has selected me for this award,” Mowatt said. “These were two critical wins for our program, and I was pleased with both my and our team’s ability to execute the game plan set forth by the coaching staff. We have to be ready mentally and physically to play every Pac-10 game, no matter the opponent. I think that these two wins demonstrate that we were able to do that this past weekend.”

Lawrence, a freshman from Indianapolis, Ind., made a huge contribution towards the success of the Tulsa program this past week after hitting an astounding .933 (14-for-15) with a 1.267 slugging percentage. She entered last week with only three hits on the season, but registered eight consecutive hits to begin the week. Her eight consecutive hits is tied for fourth in NCAA history and helped move Tulsa into third place in the Conference USA standings.

"I am still a little shocked by this, but it is wonderful to get any national award," said Lawrence. "I am thankful that Coach Bargfeldt had the confidence in me to put me back into the lineup. Every at-bat, I was just thinking 'we need to score this run, we need to score this run', it certainly seemed to help me. Once the momentum got rolling, it just kept rolling."

She led her team in hits, RBI, slugging percentage and on-base percentage as the Golden Hurricane went 5-0 last week with a series sweep of C-USA foe Memphis and a pair of wins over Central Arkansas. Lawrence added three doubles and a triple on the week, while registering at least two hits in all five contests. She led her team with 11 RBI, including four in game two against Central Arkansas. She ended the week with a new streak of six consecutive hits.

"Obviously this is a great honor for not only Jackie but our program," said Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt. "It is a big credit for all her hard work this season to make it into the lineup as a freshman. It is also great to have national recognition for Jackie and our program here at Tulsa."

The native of Indiana also pitched 3.2 innings and did not give up a run, while striking out five batters.

This is the first-time Mowatt and Lawrence has been honored as the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week.