University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Softball Opens Region 7 Play Against Pacific
5/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Files associated with this release:
2004 Softball NCAA Tournament Guide
Links associated with this release:
Live Audio Broadcast
Southern Miss Softball Opens Region 7 Play Against Pacific
NCAA Softball Region 7 Tournament |
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Heading into the 2004 regular season, the Southern Miss Lady Eagle softball team had hopes on returning to the top of Conference USA play and making a return trip to the NCAA postseason.
The Lady Eagles and Head Coach Gay McNutt accomplished the first of those goals two weeks ago, winning the regular season crown in C-USA action. Then, the team learned on Sunday that the second goal has been reached with its selection to compete in the NCAA Region 7 Tournament, hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.
Now, McNutt and company hope to keep their successes going in the regional tournament, which begins Thursday at Stanford's Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday.
"I'm excited heading into this game," McNutt said. "Pacific will be a tough team, but we match up well with them statistically. We are going to have to play our best to beat them, but we are very capable of doing that."
Fifth-seeded Southern Miss (32-24) opens play in the regional against No. 4 seed Pacific, which comes into the event with a 34-21 record. First pitch for the game is slated for 3 p.m., PT/5 p.m., CT. Thursday's meeting marks the first time the two schools have ever played against each other.
The winner of the contest moves on to face the winner between top-seeded Stanford and No. 8 seed Utah.
All Southern Miss games will be carried live on WUSM - 88.5 FM in Hattiesburg with Jason Baker handling the play-by-play duties. The broadcasts also will be available via the Internet by logging on to SouthernMiss.com and clicking on the button on the front page. Broadcasts will begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
The NCAA Regional berth marks the fourth postseason appearance in school history and the second under McNutt. The Lady Eagles own an 8-4 overall record in NCAA Regional events, winning the respective regions and advancing to the Women's College World Series in 1999 and 2000.
Conference USA Most Valuable Player and senior outfielder Auriel Jenkins heads the Southern Miss offense with a .382 batting average, 39 runs, 55 hits, eight doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBIs. All-Conference USA sophomore first baseman Ashley Davis ranks second on the squad with a .320 batting average, while sophomore second baseman Charity Butler is third with a .308 average. Senior Sarah Boyd paces the team with nine home runs, followed by Jenkins' eight blasts and All-CUSA performer Jessica Huerta's seven homers. Sophomore third baseman Ashley Brenan leads the team with 14 doubles and 29 RBIs.
All-Conference USA pitcher Jessica Holaway and sophomore hurler Danielle Wymer anchor the Lady Eagles' pitching rotation with 26 wins combined. Holaway leads the team with a 17-6 record, a 2.20 ERA, six shutouts and 124 strikeouts in 191.0 innings pitched. Wymer holds a 9-7 record and a 5.47 ERA, with 32 strikeouts in 87 innings of work. Senior Danielle Hatfield is 4-5 with a 3.89 ERA and 34 strikeouts, while freshman Jessica Saunier is 2-6 with a 7.00 ERA and 21 strikeouts.
Pacific finished with a 12-9 record in the Big West Conference and was ranked fourth among league teams. The Tigers will be without top player Gina Carbonatto, who was injured in the final regular season series of the year. She currently leads the team with a .449 batting average and holds the school record for hits in a season with 71. First baseman Jennifer Curtier follows with a .375 average and has 60 hits and a team-best eight home runs and 39 RBIs. Shortstop Michelle Anunciation is third with a .329 average and 55 hits.
Jennifer Dacre has a team-best 1.69 ERA and a 14-11 record with 82 strikeouts in 162.0 innings of work. Natalie King holds a 1.75 ERA, but leads the team in both win-loss record (15-5) and strikeouts (112) in 123.2 innings pitched. Kristen Allen also has seen time in the circle for Pacific, holding a 1-3 record and a 3.50 ERA.
"We have to be more aggressive at the plate, and that is something we have been concentrating on during the last couple of practices," McNutt said. "We also have to have a better performance out of Jessica Holaway, and I know that she is up to the challenge. Our hitting has been up and down, but I'm hopeful that it will be up tomorrow, and we will be ready to go."
Also competing in the tournament is host and No. 7 national seed Stanford (43-16) as the tourney's top seed, followed by Auburn (42-15) at No. 2, Fresno State (47-18) at No. 3, Southern Illinois (42-15) at No. 6, Hofstra (34-19) at No. 7 and Utah (23-31) at No. 8.
NCAA Region 7 Tournament
Hosted by Stanford
Palo Alto, Calif.
Thursday, May 20
Game 1 - #3 Fresno State vs. #6 Southern Illinois - 10 a.m. PT
Game 2 - #7 Hofstra vs. #2 Auburn - 12:30 p.m. PT
Game 3 - #4 Pacific vs. #5 Southern Miss - 3 p.m. PT
Game 4 - #8 Utah vs. #1 Stanford - 5:30 p.m. PT
Game 5 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 8 p.m. PT
Friday, May 21
Game 6 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 10 a.m. PT
Game 7 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 12:30 p.m. PT
Game 8 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 3 p.m. PT
Game 9 - Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 - 5:30 p.m. PT
Game 10 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 - 8 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 22
Game 11 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 1 p.m. PT
Game 12 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 3:30 p.m. PT
Game 13 - Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 - 7 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 23
Game 14 - Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13 - 1 p.m. PT
Game 15 - Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 - 3:30 p.m. PT (If necessary)
