Feb. 23, 2010

Complete Weekly Release

CATHEDRAL CITY CLASSIC - Cathedral City, Calif.

Thursday, Feb. 25
Pacific vs. No. 21 Tennessee (2010 - 5-2), 12:30 p.m.
Pacific vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (2010 - 8-1), 6:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 26
Pacific vs. No. 22 Northwestern (2010 - 5-5), 10:30 a.m.
Pacific vs. Colorado State (2010 - 4-5), 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 27
Pacific vs. Oregon (2010 - 8-4), 10:00 a.m.

Tournament Play Begins At The Cathedral City Classic: With their brief appearance at home over the weekend over, the Tigers return to the road for the start of non-conference tournament play with their trip to Cathedral City, Calif. to take part in the annual Cathedral City Classic (formerly the known as the Palm Springs Invitational). After jumping into the win column for the first time in 2010 last weekend, the Tigers will have a tough road in front of them as they look to continue their winning streak. While at the Classic Pacific will face off against some of the top teams in the nation playing five contests over three days, three of which come against top-25 teams. While in Cathedral City the Tigers will take on: No. 21 Tennessee, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 22 Northwestern, Colorado State and Oregon.

Home sweet Home Nets Pacific A Pair Of Wins: After coming off a tough weekend to open the season, the Tigers rebounded with a pair of shutouts over Santa Clara last weekend as they opened their home schedule at Bill Simoni Field. In the two games, Pacific was impressive in all three aspects of the game, outplaying the Broncos in the field, in the circle and at the plate. Pacific's captain, senior Karie Wilson, led the way for the Tigers from behind the plate and in the box as she guided junior Shaina Brock to her first win at Pacific while throwing out three would-be base stealers and blasting what would be the game-winning two-run home run in the fifth to give the Tigers the win in the opening contest. In game two, youth was served as sophomore Gabby McDaniel followed Brock's lead and threw her own complete game shutout, this time to freshman Amy Moore behind the plate. Offensively, the game-winning runs were driven in by freshman Nikki Armagost in the first inning of play. Junior Nicole Matson put the icing on the cake in the third when she uncorked a 250 foot, two-run shot to left field to seal the win for McDaniel.

Hom Picks Up First Player of The Week Award: Just two weeks into her collegiate career, freshman Megan Hom (Irvine, Calif.) has had no trouble adjusting to the college game as she earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award for the week ending on February 21. The award was the first of the season for a Tiger and the team's first since junior Nicole Matson (Castaic, Calif.) earned the award on March 2, 2009.
Hitting in the No. 2 spot for the Tigers, Hom's phenomenal weekend helped guide Pacific to its first two wins of the 2010 season as the Tigers downed Santa Clara, 5-0 & 6-0 in double-header action on Saturday, February 20. In the two games against the Broncos, Hom picked up six hits in just eight at bats (.750 avg.) as she collected six consecutive hits in her first six at bats. While on base, Hom put herself in position to score for the Tigers as she notched three of Pacific's 11 runs of the weekend. Additionally, she picked up her first career RBI and first career double.
For the season, the freshman center fielder is hitting .476 with 10 hits in 21 at bats. She has scored four runs while driving in one run. She currently holds a five game hitting streak, which is tied for the team lead.

Pierce Finding Her Groove At The Top Of The Lineup: After batting in the No. 9 spot for the Tigers last season, junior Lindsey Pierce has found a comfortable new home at the top of the Tigers' order this season, proving to be at ease as the Tigers' newest table-setter. After a tough start in the season opener, Pierce has responded with an impressive five game stretch in which she has posted multiple hits in each of Pacific's games. In the five games, Pierce has hit .524 knocking out 11 hits in 21 at bats. Additionally, Pierce has posted a pair of extra-base hits as she has tallied both a double and triple on the year. On the base paths, Pierce has tallied two stolen bases in three attempts and accounted for five of the Tigers' 16 runs on the year.

Pacific's Pitching Comes Out Strong To Begin The Year: In the first two weeks of the 2010 season, the Tigers have found themselves in possession of an outstanding stable of arms that has proven to be a major strength of the team. After suffering four close losses to start the year, Pacific's pitching staff responded by blanking Santa Clara in back-to-back contests last weekend to pick up their first two wins of the year. Junior Shaina Brock got the ball rolling for the Tigers with the first shutout of the year, allowing just four hits and striking out seven in her first complete game shutout at Pacific. In game two, sophomore Gabby McDaniel matched her teammate with her first complete game shutout of the year as she allowed five hits and struck out seven as well. For they year, Brock has posted a 1.40 ERA and leads the team with 20 strikeouts while McDaniel's 0.48 ERA tops the staff.
Alongside the duo, freshman Nikki Armagost, who did not pitch over the weekend, showed why she was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas last season as she mowed through the Fresno State batting order in her first collegiate start two weeks ago, allowing just four hits in eight innings and just one earned run.

Double Watch In The Middle: Batting back-to-back in the heart of the Tigers' order, junior Nicole Matson and senior Kellee Wilson are both steadily creeping up on the top-10 for doubles in Pacific's history. Entering the week, the duo have each tallied 22 doubles in their respective careers, falling just six shy of tying for No. 10 all-time. On the year, Matson has posted three doubles while Wilson is still looking for her first. The all-time mark is held by Barbara Moody (2000-03) who finished her career with 69 doubles.
In addition to doubles, Matson is looking to make her mark even further into the Tigers' record books as she sits in the top-10 all-time for home runs at No. 8 with 13. After blasting her first of the season last weekend, Matson need just two more to tie for No. 7 all-time, a mark held by former Tiger all-around great, Brandee McArthur (1996-99). The all-time mark is held by Jennifer Curtier (2004-07) who finished her storied career with 42 round-trippers.

Tigers Slotted 7th In Preseason Poll: Looking towards the new 2010 softball season which starts in two weeks, the Pacific softball team was picked seventh in the annual Big West coaches poll as announced on Tuesday, February 2. After an injury riddled season in 2009 in which the Tigers went 3-18 in conference play and finished in eighth place, Pacific returns to the field eight letterwinners and five starters from last season. Joining the eight returning letterwinners, the Tigers have brought in five freshmen, one sophomore walk-on and a junior transfer from Baylor University.

No Breaks In Store For Pacific In 2010: Continuing the trend that marks a Kolze-coached team, the Tigers enter 2010 with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Heading into the year, the Tigers are slated to take on 17 teams that are either inside of, or receiving votes in the preseason top-25 softball polls of the NFCA and the ESPN/USA softball. Of the nine teams in the top-25 to start the season, the Tigers will face four top-five teams in No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Arizona State and No. 10 (NFCA) Stanford and (ESPN/USA) Oklahoma. Most of the Tigers' top notch opponents will come in tournament play when the Tigers take part in the Palm Springs Classic, DeMarini Tournament, Diamond Devil Invitational and the Stanford Tournament. Prior to the tournaments, the Tigers kick off the season on Saturday, February 13 at Fresno State when they take on the No. 24 ranked Bulldogs as well as Sacramento State in doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday. After putting the tournaments behind them, Pacific will head into Big West Conference play, where they will look to get back into the fray for the conference title. The Tigers begin conference play at Long Beach State on Friday, March 31, to face a 49er squad who received votes in the preseason polls. Pacific will take on four teams receiving votes in the preseason polls in conference action as Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly all enter the season looking to crack the top-25. Pacific finishes its regular season against Cal Poly on May 14-15, as it takes on the defending Big West champion Mustangs at Bill Simoni Field.

Five Sign For 2011: Pacific softball head coach Brian Kolze has announced the signings of five student-athletes to national letters of intent for the 2011 season during the early signing period that ended on Wednesday, November 18. The Tigers have added Megan Foglesong (Valencia, Calif.), Gabby Goyette (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), Taylor Petty (New Caney, Texas), Kelsey Rodriguez (Chandler, Ariz.) and Tori Shepard (Lodi, Calif.).