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Utah Prepares for WAC Softball Championships
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 1999
THIS WEEK: Utah (24-25, 8-11 WAC) plays in the 1999 Western Athletic Conference Softball Championship Tournament, Thursday through Saturday at Fresno Stateis Bulldog Diamond (5,467) in Fresno, Calif.
UTAH UPDATE: The Utes finished the regular season with a 24-25 overall record and placed fifth in the Western Athletic Conference with an 8-11 record. Last week, Utah concluded its regular-season by losing two of three games at UNLV
Sophomore pitcher/designated player Sarah Farnworth leads the team in hitting with a .327 average and has six home runs. Junior catcher Sunny Smith is second on the team in hitting with a .321 average, and also has a team-best eight home runs and 25 RBI. Junior outfielder Jenny Monson has a team-best 27 RBI, as well as six home runs. Freshman Molly McLean leads the team with 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Farnworth leads the pitching staff with a 2.24 ERA and a 15-11 record. She also has a 3.7-to-1 strikeouts to walks ratio.
AFTER THIS: The winner of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on Sunday (May 16) at 6:00 p.m. MDT. NCAA regional play takes place May 21-23 at sites to be determined. The NCAA College World Series is May 27-31 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
M WAC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
UTES IN THE WAC TOURNAMENT: Utah (24-25, 8-11 WAC), the fifth seed, will open Western Athletic Conference play against fourth-seeded San Diego State (23-22, 16-8 WAC) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Should the Utes defeat the Aztecs, they will face top-seeded Fresno State on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. PDT. Should the Utes lose in the first round, they will play in an elimination game on Friday at 12:00 p.m. PDT.
WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES PACIFIC):
THURSDAY, MAY 13
Game 1 - Hawaiii (No. 3) vs. UNLV (No. 6), 12:00 p.m.
Game 2 - San Diego State (No. 4) vs. Utah (No. 5), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 - New Mexico (No. 2) vs. Winner Game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Game 4 - Fresno State (No. 1) vs. Winner Game 1, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 14
Game 5 - Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 12:00 p.m.
Game 6 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 5:00 or 7:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 6, 5:00 or 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 15
Game 9 - Semifinal Game (Necessary only if the winner of Game 5 defeats the winner of Game 4 in Game 7), 12:00 or 2:30 p.m.
Game 10 - Semifinal Game (Necessary only if the winner of Game 6 defeats the winner of Game 3 in Game 8), 12:00 or 2:30 p.m.
Game 11 - Championship Round (Winner of Game 7 or 9 vs. Winner of Game 8 or 10, 1:00 p.m. (if no semifinal games) or 6:00 p.m.
Game 12 - (If Necessary)
Game 13 - (If Necessary)
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs are 23-22 overall and finished tied with Hawaiii for third place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 16-8 record. San Diego State is seeded fourth because it lost two of three games against Hawaiii this season. Last week, SDSU swept a three-game series from San Jose State, winning 15-3, 7-6 and 8-0.
Outfielder Kellie Labor leads the team in hitting with a .315 average, and also has two home runs and 14 RBI. First baseman Erryn Gutjahr is second on the team in hitting with a .311 average. She leads the Aztecs with seven home runs and 32 RBI. Sandra Durazo leads the pitching staff with a 17-11 record and a 1.75 ERA. Head coach Kathy Van Wyk has a 77-87 record in her third season at SDSU.
San Diego State swept the three-game series with Utah this season, March 6-7 in San Diego, Calif. The Aztecs won 2-1, 3-2 and 3-0.
UTAH IN THE POST-SEASON: The Utes have an all-time record of 51-42 (.548) in post-season play. Utah advanced to the AIAW College World Series once (1976), and has appeared in the NCAA College World Series on four occasions (1982, 1985, 1991, 1994).
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS: The Utes are 26-12 in conference tournaments. Utah posted a 19-11 record in the High Country Athletic Conference Tournament, winning the championship in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Utah is 7-1 in Western Athletic Conference Tournament play, wining the title in both appearances in 1991 and 1992. This is the third year that the WAC has sponsored a post-season softball tournament.
M UTAH TEAM NOTES
UNLV REWIND: In a series of one-run games, Utah took one of three contests from UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev., last Friday and Saturday.
The series opener was decided in the bottom of the ninth inning when the Rebels strung together three singles with one out off Ute starter Sarah Farnworth. Keao Chang drove in Charelle Ainslie from third with the game winning run. Farnworth went 2-for-4 at the plate and struck out 11, but also gave up two earned runs off of eight hits.
UNLV jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Fridayis night cap and held on for a 3-2 win. Ute starter Kristin Arbogast lasted just two innings, giving up three earned runs and four hits to fall to 9-14. Nicole Wilkinson and Michele Larsen both scored unearned runs for the Utes in the top of the fifth. Gency Orris struck out six in seven innings to get the win for UNLV.
Jenny Monson hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to give Utah a 6-5 win over UNLV in Saturdayis series finale. After Utah scored a run in the top of the third, UNLV got four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Both teams scored a run each in the fourth inning before Utah started its comeback with two runs in the top of the sixth. Sunny Smith then singled to lead off the seventh inning to set the table for Monson, who hit her sixth home run of the season. Utah outhit UNLV 14-7. Monson, Lisa Hashimoto, Sara Farnworth, Molly McLean and Stacey Farnworth each accounted for two hits in the game. Sarah Farnworth pitched the entire seven innings for Utah to improve to 15-11. She gave up seven hits and five earned runs, but also struck out eight.
WAC TEAM STATISTICS (Released May 10)
Batting 5th (.264) Pitching 6th (2.69) Fielding 5th (.953)
WAC INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS (Released May 10)
Hitting Sarah Farnworth 12th (.327)
Sunny Smith 15th (.321)
Home Runs Sunny Smith 3rd (8)
Sarah Farnworth 10th (6)
RBI Jenny Monson 11th (27)
Doubles Sunny Smith 2nd (15)
Triples Lisa Hashimoto 6th (3)
Stolen Bases Molly McLean 5th (14)
Lisa Hashimoto 7th (12)
Slugging Percentage Sunny Smith 5th (.600)
Sarah Farnworth 8th (.551)
ERA Sarah Farnworth 10th (2.24)
Wins Sarah Farnworth 7th (15)
Kristin Arbogast 10th (9)
Saves Sarah Farnworth 4th (2)
Strikeouts Sarah Farnworth 3rd (171)
Appearances Sarah Farnworth 1st (36)
Complete Games Sarah Farnworth 2nd (22)
Innings Pitched Sarah Farnworth 1st (200.0)
Kristin Arbogast 10th (125.0)
Strikeouts/7 Inn. Sarah Farnworth 6th (5.99)
Hits/7 Innings Sarah Farnworth 8th (6.44)
Walks/7 Innings Sarah Farnworth 7th (1.61)
Oppon. Batting Avg. Sarah Farnworth 8th (.242)
HEAD COACH MONA STEVENS... is in her third season as Utahis head coach. Stevens owns an 104-64 overall record and a 48-32 mark against Western Athletic Conference teams. Stevens posted her 100th career win with a 6-5 victory over Hawaiii on April 16, reaching the 100 win plateau quicker than any coach in school history.
In her first season, Stevens led Utah to the NCAA Tournament and a third-place finish in the WAC. Last year, Stevens guided a Utah team that started seven freshmen to a 36-21 overall record and a third-place finish in the WAC at 19-13. Stevens hasnit slowed down during the off-season. Last fall, she was named head coach of the USA Softball Junior National Team that will compete in the 1999 World Games in Taipei, Taiwan, June 17-27.
The former Ute player and assistant coach came home in September of 1996 following a two-year stint at the University of Massachusetts. Stevens was the associate head coach for the Minutewomen during the 1995 and e96 seasons, and was named UMassi head coach in June of e96, three months prior to being hired by her alma mater. In each of her two seasons at UMass, Stevens helped the Minutewomen reach the NCAA Tournament and win the Atlantic-10 Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
Stevens began her coaching career as an assistant at Utah from 1981-84. In addition to her collegiate coaching portfolio, Stevens has been a nationally recognized pitching instructor over the past 14 years. She has also worked internationally, and was the owner of Mona Stevens Enterprises from 1989-99.
QUOTING STEVENS: On the WAC Tournament - iWeire looking forward to playing San Diego State in our first game. We did not play well against them when they swept us at their place earlier in the year. We were supposed to play them again at the Kia Klassic, but they chose not to play us. Our kids are anxious to play them, and they are out for revenge. I know that they are a very good team, but weire starting to play well. We may have lost two games to UNLV this past weekend, but those were, honestly, three of the most exciting games Iive been involved in all year. Both teams played great. Itis amazing how well you can play when your back is against the wall. Both us and UNLV were playing for a spot in the WAC Tournament, and both of us got in. Should we best San Diego State, we would then play Fresno State. Sure, we would be playing on their home field, but I think our kids would feel confident going that game against them. We got a lot of hits and scored some runs against them here. On any given day, we feel like we can beat anybody. Sara (Farnworth)is throwing the ball very well, and weire hitting well as a team. We are looking forward to this week. It is a strong field, but that is what you would expect in this conference, and weire very happy to be there. Fresno State is without a doubt the favorite, but anybody can win this thing.i
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY: Utah lost nine games overall and five conference games this season due to wet playing conditions. The Utesi home opener with Colorado State, originally scheduled for April 2-3, was snowed out and rescheduled for April 20-21. One game of the rescheduled series was then rained out. Utahis second weekend of home games against New Mexico, originally scheduled for April 10-11, was also snowed out. The rescheduled series, April 27-28, was then rained out. Utah was originally scheduled to host Utah State for a twin bill on Apr. 28, but those games were canceled to make room for the New Mexico series.
Utah also lost three road games due to weather. The second game of a doubleheader at Southern Utah on March 31 was snowed out and the first game was called after five innings. Scheduled single games at Oklahoma State (April 23) and at Tulsa (April 25) were also rained out.
UTES IN TOURNAMENT PLAY IN 1999: Utah has competed in four tournaments. The Utes went 2-3, facing four Top 25 teams, at Arizona Stateis Fiesta Bowl Tournament, Feb. 12-14 in Tempe, Ariz., to open the season. Utah tied for third place, posting a 3-3 record at New Mexico Stateis Troy Cox Softball Classic, Feb. 26-28.
During its Spring Break trip, Utah finished third at San Jose Stateis NIST Tournament, March 12-14. The Utes also lost all four games at the Kia Klassic, March 18-20 in Fullerton, Calif.
WAC PRE-SEASON POLL: Utah was picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference softball race this season in a poll of the leagueis coaches. The Utes received 52 points in the voting. Fresno State, the defending NCAA champion, was picked first with 64 points and garnered eight of the nine first-place votes. Hawai'i received the remaining first-place vote was placed second with 54 pointsojust two more than Utah. Colorado State was picked to finish fourth with 40 points, followed by UNLV (35), San Diego State (30), San Jose State (21), New Mexico (14) and Tulsa (14).
UTAH Batting Order:
Pos. No. Player B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) LF 3 Lisa Hashimoto L/R Jr. Brigham City, Utah (Box Elder HS) 2B 12 Stacy OiFarrell L/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Ricks JC) C 32 Sunny Smith R/R Jr. Pleasant Grove, Utah (Pleasant Grove HS) CF 4 Jenny Monson R/R Jr. South Jordan, Utah (Bingham HS) P 7 Sarah Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) 3B 16 Lyndsey Trevis R/R Fr. Glendora, Calif. (Glendora HS) SS 23 Michele Larsen R/R Fr. Eugene, Ore. (Chuchill HS) DP/P 10 Stacey Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) RF 13 Molly McLean L/R Fr. Riverton, Utah (Bingham HS) 1B 39 Nicole Wikinson R/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Louisiana State)
Pitching Rotation:
Pos. No. Name B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) (1) 7 Sarah Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) (2) 24 Kristin Arbogast R/R So. Eugene, Ore. (North Eugene HS) (3) 00 Jeanette Herbert R/R Fr. West Valley, Utah (Granger HS)
Off the Bench:
Pos. No. Name B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) 2B 18 Carrie Kosderka R/R So. Roseburg, Ore. (Roseburg HS) RF 21 Amberly Johnson L/R So. Sandy, Utah (Alta HS) C/OF 22 Stephanie Johnson R/R Fr. Rockford, Ill. (Guilford HS)
M STANDINGS
(As of May 10)
WAC Overall
W-L Pct. W-L-T Pct.
1. Fresno State 24-0 1.00 57-8-0 .876
2. New Mexico 14-7 .667 42-12-0 .778
3. Hawaiii 16-8 .667 30-19-0 .612
San Diego St. 16-8 .667 23-22-0 .511
5. UTAH 8-11 .421 24-25-0 .490
6. UNLV 8-16 .333 18-29-0 .383
7. Colorado St. 6-14 .300 17-24-0 .415
8. Tulsa 6-17 .261 19-39-0 .328
9. San Jose St. 2-19 .095 13-47-0 .217
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