May 9, 2008

LMU senior pitcher Tiffany Pagano has been named the 2008 Pacific Coast Softball Conference Pitcher of the Year for an unprecedented third time, the conference office announced Friday as part of its annual awards recognition. In voting conducted by the six PCSC head coaches, Pagano was named the Pitcher of the Year while Sacramento State's Jamie Schloredt and Kathy Strahan took home Player and Coach of the Year honors, respectively. Arielle Wiser from Portland State was named Freshman of the Year. The All-PCSC teams will be announced later.

Pagano, a native of Temecula, CA, capped a phenomenal career by becoming the first player in conference history to be named the Pitcher of the Year three times and first to do so in back-to-back seasons, having taken home the award as a freshman in 2005 and last year as a junior. Pagano earned PCSC Pitcher of the Week accolades six times in 2008, giving her a conference-record 16 such honors for her illustrious career.

In 2008, Pagano led the PCSC in wins, ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games, opponent batting average, and innings pitched. She went 23-11 for her second straight 20-win season and posted a career-best 1.45 ERA. Her 274 strikeouts over 241 2/3 innings broke her own school record of 227 strikeouts set last season and she completed her career owning the top three single-season strikeout marks in LMU history. This season in conference play, she was 8-6 with a 1.47 ERA while registering 11 complete games and three shutouts in 12 starts.

Pagano finished her career with a record of 72-43 with a 1.85 ERA, and holds six Loyola Marymount career records. In addition to setting school career marks for wins, she also occupies the top spot for games started (119), complete games (87), shutouts (34), innings pitched (778.1) and strikeouts (820).

LMU went 38-18 in 2008, finishing second in the PCSC with a 13-7 mark, one game behind champions Sacramento State.