March 19, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
Riding a season-high five-game winning streak, LMU continues its 21-game home stand with a pair of double headers this week. On Wednesday, the Lions host UNLV, followed by New Mexico State on Thursday. After those games, the Lions will take a 10-day break from competition before returning to the field on March 30.

Follow The Lions Live On The Web!
All LMU home games will be available for fans on Gametracker through the LMU website at www.LMULions.com. Select road contests can also be followed on Gametracker. Notice will be given for these games.

Media Guide
The 2008 LMU softball media guide is available for download at www.LMULions.com. This is the only source of copies for the guide.

LMULions.com Gets Facelift
Be sure to visit www.LMULions.com for all the up-to-date information on the Lions. The site recently underwent an overhaul and visual upgrade. Log on for the latest news, stats, scores, photos, and player bios for your Lions.

Last Week Recap: Lions Go Undefeated
Last weekend, LMU hosted a four-team, 10-game home tournament against Bucknell, UC Santa Barbara, and Illinois-Chicago, going a perfect 5-0. Senior Tiffany Pagano was particularly brilliant, gaining four of the wins, three via shutout. She started the week with 12 strikeouts in a 3-0 Thursday shutout of Bucknell. On Saturday morning, sophomore Melissa Dykema helped LMU gain revenge on an earlier loss to UC Santa Barbara with an 11-4 victory as the Lions scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back. Pagano returned to the mound to beat Bucknell again, 3-1, behind freshman Amy Charpentier's first career home run. On Sunday, Pagano notched back-to-back 2-0 shutouts of Illinois-Chicago, the latter of which was scoreless until sophomore Christine Foley blasted a two-run walk-off homer to keep the Lions undefeated on the weekend.

About UNLV (19-13-1)
UNLV has won four of its last five after sweeping three games from Utah Valley State and splitting two against Nebraska on Sunday. The Rebels have five players hitting over .300 but rely on strong pitching with four hurlers combining for a 2.41 ERA. Last year, UNLV went 37-27, finishing second in the Mountain West with a 12-8 record. The Rebels have won four of five all-time meetings against the Lions, including their last meeting in 2005. The Lions are 1-2 at home.

About New Mexico State (15-19)
New Mexico State went 2-2 last weekend at the San Diego State Tournament, losing its first two games to Long Beach State and San Diego State before defeating Iowa State and San Diego. Stephanie Herrera leads three Aggies who are hitting over .300 with a stellar .468 average. NMSU went 31-27 in 2007, placing third in the Western Athletic Conference with a 9-9 mark. The Lions and Aggies have met seven times in their histories, with LMU winning four. Last season, NMSU dealt LMU an 8-6 defeat in Las Cruces.

Lions Fast to 20 Wins
In beating Illinois-Chicago on March 16, this year's squad won its 20th game of the year in just 29 games. The 20-9 start is the second-best, following the 21-8 opening to 2004, and gaining the 20th victory on March 16 is the second-earliest date for winning #20, behind last year's on March 13.

Foley, Pagano Take PCSC Honors
On the heels of LMU's 5-0 weekend, two players who were integral to the Lions' success were lauded with PCSC weekly honors. Sophomore Christine Foley was the co-Player of the Week while senior Tiffany Pagano won her second consecutive Pitcher of the Week honor. Foley hit safely in all five of LMU's games last week to extend her hitting streak to a PCSC-best 15-games. She capped the week with a two-run walk-off home run in the Lions' 2-0 win over Illinois-Chicago in the nightcap of last Sunday's doubleheader. For the week, Foley hit .375 (6-16) with a double, home run, four RBI and three runs scored. In the circle, Pagano was dominant, claiming four of LMU's five wins, including three via shutout. She had double-digit strikeout performances in each of her first three starts, tying her season-high with 12 strikeouts in a one-hitter against Bucknell. She also had two two-hitters and beat Illinois-Chicago twice on Sunday.

Dynamic Duo
In senior Tiffany Pagano and sophomore Melissa Dykema, the Lions have arguably the best pitching combination in all of Division I. Last season, the pair combined for all 47 LMU victories and were one of five sets of teammates nationwide to win 21-or-more games. This year, only two teams return a pair of 20-game winners.
Neither disappointed coming out of the gates in 2008. Dykema went 3-1 over the season's first weekend and Pagano was 1-0 with a 0.94 ERA. Both were virtually un-hittable as Dykema set a new single-game record with 16 strikeouts against Rhode Island and Pagano twice had a dozen strikeouts in the season's opening weekend.
In Riverside, Pagano tossed three complete games and twice struck out nine without issuing any walks (Northern Colorado and UC Riverside).
Together, the duo are numbers one and two in the PCSC in wins, ERA, and opponent batting average. Both have also racked up the awards in the first month, with Dykema earning PCSC Pitcher of the Week honors for February 5-11 and Pagano following suit the next two weeks and three times total.

No-No for Pagano
With two career no-hitters under her belt, senior Tiffany Pagano recorded the hat trick by holding North Dakota hitless on March 8. Despite some first inning wildness that saw her walk two batters and hit two more, resulting in a 2-0 deficit, Pagano settled down to retire 14 of the last batters she faced. It was her first no-no since February 12, 2007 (Northern Colorado) and she also had one on March 23, 2005 against UC Santa Barbara. Pagano's no-hitter helped earn her PCSC co-Pitcher of the Week honors for March 11 as she also tossed a two-hitter against Loyola-Chicago. It was Pagano's third PCSC Pitcher of the Week award this season and 13th of her career, extending her conference record. She also won back-to-back awards for February 18 and 25 and also March 18.
The PCSC Pitcher of the Year in two of her three seasons at LMU, Pagano has been making her case for a third honor this season. The senior is 12-4 with a 1.31 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 123.1 innings, all of which lead the conference. She is also the PCSC leader in opponent batting average, stifling foes at a .157 clip. She has seven double-digit strikeout games on the year and 19 career.
Already LMU's career leader in shutouts (30) and strikeouts (705), Pagano is second in saves (six), complete games (72) and wins (61), and is third in innings pitched (660.0).

Don't You Forget About Me
Not to be overlooked by the performances of Pagano has been the play of her running mate, sophomore Melissa Dykema. Dykema is 8-5 with a 2.39 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 73.1 innings.
During the season's opening weekend, she was 3-1 to earn PCSC Pitcher of the Week honors. Against Rhode Island, she set a new LMU single-game record with 16 strikeouts, one of two outings this year that she has had double-digit strikeouts.
In less than two seasons, Dykema is already in the LMU top-five in strikeouts (271, fourth) while she is tied for fifth with 36 complete games and is three wins away from that lists.

Slouber Sets the Table
You would want your leadoff hitter to get on base and, so far, junior Kirsten Slouber has obliged. The 2007 All-PCSC First Teamer hit safely in each of the season's first 12 games (the longest streak in the PCSC) and is leading the conference with 40 hits while tying for the league lead with seven stolen bases (in 10 attempts). She is second on the team among regulars with a .374 average and has delivered multiple hits in a game 15 times, tops on the team. She is tied for third with 16 runs scored. Slouber picked up her second PCSC Player of the Week award in her career when she got the season off to a blazing start, batting .455 (10-22) and hitting safely in all five games, including four multiple-hit outings, at the Red Desert Classic.

Tysdal Tees Off
Junior Chelsie Tysdal has provided much of the fireworks this season, leading the Lions with five home runs and 24 RBI, both of which also lead the PCSC. Tysdal is among the league leaders in batting average (.372 - sixth), hits (35 - second), slugging percentage (.638 - tied for third), and runs scored (17 - tied for eighth). Defensively, she has picked off four runners and thrown out an additional four trying to steal.
Tysdal was on fire to gain her first Player of the Week recognition on February 26. The catcher batted .615 (8-for-13) and hit safely in all four of LMU's games to extend her hitting streak to a season-high eight games. She started with an explosive 5-for-7 outing that featured six RBI and three home runs in the Lions' double-header sweep of Northern Colorado. On the weekend, she went 1-for-3 against Colorado State and 2-for-3 with a double vs. Nevada. For the week, she hit .615 with three home runs, six RBI, and three runs scored. She slugged 1.385 and had an on-base percentage of .643.

Hey J.J.
The breakout player of the year so far for the Lions has to be sophomore J.J. Hartung. As a freshman, Hartung hit .200 in just 40 at-bats and was used primarily as a pinch-runner. This season, she is LMU's starting third baseman and is leading the team with a .415 average. She is tied for the team and conference lead with seven stolen bases (in nine attempts) and is among the league leaders in batting average, hits (34), and on-base percentage (.435). She has 10 multi-hit performances, second on the squad.

Mia not M.I.A.
Junior MiaSarah Cesena has taken on a definite leadership role with the Lions, both vocally and with her play. A career .254 hitter, on the field she is off to a hot start, batting .324 with 14 RBI, both of which are among the PCSC leaders. She has shown her willingness to do whatever the team needs by laying down a team-high six sacrifice bunts. Her versatility shines through when you see her name among the PCSC leaders in batting average, hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, RBI, and stolen bases.
Cesena had a big weekend at UTEP, driving in three of LMU's four runs against UC Riverside and two more against Binghamton.

A for Ackerman
Junior Megan Ackerman broke out of her early-season slump with career-highs of two home runs and seven RBI against North Dakota on March 8. After leading the team with nine homers in 2007, Ackerman was slowed in the first month by injury but is starting to show a return to form.

Foley, Foley, Foley, Foley!
Also beginning to come around at the plate is sophomore Christine Foley. The 2007 PCSC Player of the Year has the longest active hit streak on the team at 15 games, which has helped raise her average to .330 as she is hitting .413 over the life of the streak. She has also driven in 16 runs, second on the squad.
Foley doesn't hit many home runs but she does hit them in clutch spots as her second homer of the year was a two-run walk-off shot to beat Illinois-Chicago on March 16, earning her PCSC Player of the Week honors.

Freshmen Come Through
Head Coach Gary Ferrin started three freshmen in the season opener and they responded with Priscilla Satete driving in the year's first run and Amy Charpentier providing the walk-off hit against Southern Utah.
Through the season's first 29 games, Charpentier leads the rookies with a .310 average and leads all Lions with 12 walks and 18 runs scored. Her gritty play was personified against Loyola of Chicago when the 5-1 Charpentier ran over the much bigger catcher to score the second of LMU's runs and start the rout. She also hit her first career home-run in the second win over Bucknell.
Two other freshmen have seen considerable playing time. Brittany Mayers has started 12 games while Satete has 22 starts and six RBI. Added into the mix is classmate Alex Mead, who came off the bench against Northern Colorado to go 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.

LMU Receives Votes in Preseason Poll
For the first time in program history, LMU opened its season receiving votes in the national poll. LMU received eight votes to finish 13th among "Others Receiving Votes", translating to a ranking of 38th in the preseason NFCA Top 25 poll, released January 24. The Lions claimed their third PCSC tile in five seasons in 2007 and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, hosted by UCLA.

ESPN.com Shows Some Lion Love
In his season preview on ESPN.com, columnist Graham Hays listed LMU as one of the top mid-major programs to keep an eye on in 2008. Hays wrote, "Coach Gary Ferrin's team lost a lot of offense with the graduations of Margo Pineda and Kylie Conroy, but Christine Foley (.416, 37 RBI) returns to anchor the batting order and Tiffany Pagano and Melissa Dykema return to the circle after 200-strikeout seasons. Pagano, in particular, has the potential to shine on the national stage as a senior if she cuts her walk rate. In the elimination game against the Bruins last season, Pagano showed what she can do when she's in control, striking out six and allowing just four hits and two walks in a complete-game win."