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May 5, 2005

The Schedule
Games No. 43, 44, 45
@ Long Beach State 49ers (33-14, 13-2)
49er Softball Complex
Saturday, May 7, 2005
Game 1 - 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 - 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 8, 2005
Game 3 - 1:00 p.m.

The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters this week's matchup with Long Beach State with an overall record of 26-16 and a 9-6 mark in the Big West after sweeping Cal State Northridge over the weekend. The Gauchos rallied from a three-run deficit to win the opener, 7-6 in ten innings before defeating the Matadors 3-1 in the nightcap. Santa Barbara then shutout CSUN and scored nine runs in five innings Sunday to complete the three-game sweep. UCSB has won four in a row and 12 of its last 15 games heading into the final two weeks of the season. The team is currently fourth in the Big West Conference standings and looks to do some damage this weekend when they square off with the 49ers.

Lovin' the Long Ball
UCSB has been absolutely crushing the ball lately, hitting 13 homeruns in their last nine games. They hit a total of six against Cal State Northridge accounting for ten of their 19 runs. As a team, the Gauchos have belted a total of 36 homers in 2005, which is tops in the Big West Conference.

JD Gets it Done
Jennifer Davis leads the squad with a 1.88 ERA, 175 strikeouts and 141.1 innings pitched. Her 13 wins is also tops on the squad. The Whittier, Calif. native continued her attack on the record books with five strikeouts this week, giving her 374 for her career--third all time on UCSB's career Top Ten list. She has posted eight shutout wins in 2005 and has a career count of 15, which is fifth all-time. With 175 strikeouts this year, Davis leads the Big West Conference and can surpass her 2004 strikeout total of 199, which is second on UCSB's Season Top Ten list. Her 1.88 earned run average ranks fourth the conference. In addition, she is now ninth all-time in complete games after going the distance in 19 out of her 22 starts, bringing her career total to 35. At the plate, she is fifth on the team in batting at .256 and second in homeruns with eight and slugging percentage at .545. Davis' 26 RBI are also second on the squad. She hit a two-run double in game two against CSUN and hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Sunday's finale.

Let Me Hear You Say Hejna
Sophomore left fielder Jessica Hejna had a big weekend at the plate for Santa Barbara, hitting .636 (7-for-11) for the series with six runs scored, a homerun and four RBI. She drove in the winning run in Saturday's 7-6 win in the tenth inning and continued her onslaught in the nightcap, scoring two of the Gauchos' three runs. Hejna went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBI, leading UCSB to victory in the finale. With a runner on, the Orange, Calif. native hit her third homer of the year in the fifth inning--a shot down the right field line that ended the game as the Gauchos mercied the Matadors 9-0. Hejna is hitting .296 with 22 runs, three homers and 17 RBI in 2005. She leads the team with a .429 batting average, an on base percentage of .491 and 13 RBI in Big West Competition. She is hitting .565 over the last seven games.

Sommer Forecast: No Signs of Cooling Off
Sophomore hurler Lindsey Sommer started two games against Northridge, and earned the victory in both outings. After a nearly four hour marathon in the opener, she made quick work of the Matadors in game two, allowing one unearned run on four hits while striking out six. Sommer got the nod in Sunday's televised finale and shined once again . She held CSUN scoreless on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. With the victories Sommer improved to 10-5 on the year. The San Diego, Calif. native is second on the squad with an ERA of 1.91, 81 strikeouts, 23 appearances and 113.1 innings pitched. Her 1.95 opponent's batting average is third best among Big West pitchers.

Hit Away Herrin, Hit Away
Lindsey Herrin, who led the team and set the UCSB single season homerun record a year ago with ten, broke the record for the second straight year April 17 against UC Davis. She currently leads the Gauchos with 12 homers, 35 RBI and a slugging percentage of .698 and is second in batting at .302. The Coalinga, Calif. native is now second all-time on the UCSB softball career chart with 22 homers and she is just two round trippers shy of passing Tonya Dias (97-00) as the school's career homerun leader in only her second season as a Gaucho. Her 12 homers are second-most in the Big West. In addition, Herrin has moved into the sixth spot on the all-time career RBI list with 70 and is already fourth on the season RBI chart in 2005 with six games to play. The Gauchos' only senior went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in Sunday's win.

The Singley Watch
Second baseman Kendra Singley has been one of the Gauchos' top performers at the plate this season and is near the top in every offensive statistical category. The Irvine, Calif. native is hitting .317 with 28 runs scored, four homers, 23 RBI and a slugging percentage of .496. She leads the team in batting, is second in runs and third in RBI and homers. Singley is also another Gaucho making noise on the pages of the school record books. With four long balls this season, the sophomore has a total of 11 for her career--fifth place all-time on UCSB's career homerun list. She has also moved into a tie for sixth place on the career triples list with three this year, giving her a total of five for her career. In addition, Singley has moved into the eighth spot on the UCSB career RBI chart with 56. She went 2-for-4 with two runs and hit a two-homer in the opener.

Positively Putich
Sophomore shortstop Brittany Putich led off the first and last games against the Matadores with a homerun. Hitting in the leadoff spot for most of the season, Putich leads the Gauchos with 29 runs, six stolen bases and 132 at bats. The speedster is second with a .390 on base percentage and 38 hits and third with four homers. Her .288 batting average is fourth and her 16 RBI are fifth best on the squad. After scoring two runs against CSUN, Putich has moved into the ninth spot on the season runs scored list at 29.

Freshman Firepower
Freshman right fielder Danielle Meyers had another impressive series at the plate against the Matadors this weekend, hitting .500 with five RBI. The Lodi, Calif. native went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the first game and hit a two-run jack in the fourth inning on Sunday. Meyers was the only Gaucho to drive in a run in each game of the series. She is tied for third on the squad with four homers and leads all UCSB freshmen in virtually every offensive category, hitting .245 with 24 hits, eight runs and 17 RBI.

The Scoop on Schroeder
Kristy Schroeder is in her fourth season as the head coach of the UC Santa Barbara softball program. In 2004, she led the Gauchos to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Schroeder took a team with eight freshmen and guided them to a 32-31 overall record and a 14-7 conference mark, which was tied for second in the Big West and was the highest league finish in UCSB history. In addition, the Gauchos won 30-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever as a Division I program. In 2003 she guided the team to the best record in program history at 34-22 and had a school-record nine players named All-Big West, with two receiving All-Region accolades. In 2002, her first season at UCSB, she was named the Big West's Co-Coach of the Year, after Santa Barbara finished the season with a 27-36 overall record. In six-plus seasons as head coach at UCSB and Division II Truman State, Schroeder has a career record of 252-127-4 (.657), while her mark with the Gauchos is 119-107 (.526). She notched her 100th victory as head coach at UCSB February 26 against Saint Mary's.

Probable Gaucho Starters - Notes
C - Brenda Lira - Went 1-for-3 in Saturday's game two win
1B - Lindsey Herrin - Leads team with 12 homers, 35 RBI and a .400 on base percentage
2B - Kendra Singley - Team leader with .317 batting average and 39 runs
SS - Brittany Putich - Hit two homeruns against the Matadors
3B - Karyna Wilkerson - scored the winning run in the tenth inning of game one
LF - Nicole Churnock - Hit .400 with a run scored in two starts this weekend
CF - Jessica Hejna - Went 7-for-11 with six runs scored and four RBI against CSUN
RF - Danielle Meyers - Hit .500 and drove in five against the Matadors
DP - Alexandra Kinney - Leads Gaucho reserves with 12 runs scored

Gaucho Reserves - Notes
CF - Liz Walters - Started 38 games this year

Injury Report - Notes
C - Shelby Hensler - The Gauchos' starting catcher is out for the season with a leg injury
IF/P - Megan Ochylski - out with a knee injury

49er Factoids
Long Beach State enters this week's series with an overall record of 33-14 and a 13-2 Big West Conference mark after winning two of three vs. Cal Poly last weekend. The 49ers fell to the Mustangs 2-0 in Saturday's opener, before rebounding to win the next two, 5-2 and 6-0. LBSU is led offensively by senior Marcel Torres, who is batting a team-high .329 with an on base pecentage of .372. Torres has eight homeruns and has driven in 38. Close behind is senior center fielder Lauren Johnson, hitting .320 with 37 runs, 11 homers and 36 RBI. As a team, Northridge is batting .279 while their opponents are hitting a mere .182. In the circle, the 49ers look to Meredith Cervenka who leads the Big West with a 1.49 ERA and 182.2 innings pitched. The senior hurler has 170 strikeouts and a record of 20-8 on the year. Torres is also a force in the circle, posting a 13-6 record, with an ERA of 1.53 and 121 strikeouts in114.2 innings pitched. Long Beach State leads the conference with a 1.59 team ERA.

Series History
Long Beach State leads the overall series 58-21-1 and took two of three from UCSB last year at the LBSU Softball Complex. Jennifer Davis picked up the win as the Gauchos won the final game of the series 4-1 after dropping the first two, 5-0 and 1-0.