May 6, 2004

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The Record
UC Santa Barbara enters its weekend series against Long Beach State with an overall record of 29-26 and a Big West mark of 11-4. The Gauchos are in second-place in the league.

This Week's Schedule
At No. 18 Long Beach State
Friday, May 7 (DH) at 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.

Climbing Back to the Top
UC Santa Barbara moved into a tie for second-place in the Big West Conference with Cal State Northridge after sweeping Utah State this past weekend and downing UC Riverside in a make-up game earlier this week. Taking home all four victories, the Gauchos improved their record to 11-4 in the Big West and 29-26 overall. Junior pitcher Lindsey Herrin earned UCSB's first victory in the series, as the Gauchos won game one 8-2 thanks to a 4-run first inning that was capped by Herrin's ninth homerun of the season to tie Santa Barbara's single season record. And freshman Kendra Singley added her seventh homerun of the season in the sixth inning to finish out the Gauchos' scoring. Games two and three proved less exciting offensively as the Santa Barbara came away with a 2-0 decision to end Saturday's play and finished out the series with a 2-1 win in 16 innings on Sunday. UCSB then traveled to UCR this past Tuesday to play the final game of that conference series, making up for the rainout last month the Gauchos down the Highlanders 2-0. Freshman Jennifer Davis has picked up each of the last three wins in the circle for UCSB and set a team season-high by striking out 16 batters in the 2-1 victory over the Aggies.

Mining the 49ers
Currently ranked 18th in the nation in the NFCA Coaches Poll and sitting in first place in the Big West, Long Beach State presents the Gauchos with their toughest conference competition of the season. UCSB can control its own destiny this weekend as the 49ers sit just two games ahead of Santa Barbara with a Big West record of 13-2 heading into the three-game series. Long Beach State has had a banner year this season with an overall record of 43-10 coming off of its series sweep of then No. 24 Pacific and having won 26 of its last 29 games. The strength of the 49ers all season has been its pitching staff and its solid play in the field. LBSU currently leads the Big West Conference with a 1.08 team ERA and .978 fielding percentage. Junior transfer Marcel Torres has fit right in with sophomore pitching sensations Lindsey Knoff and Meredith Cervenka on the Beach's staff. Cervenka leads the team with a 17-5 record, while Torres and Knoff each have 13 wins, but it is Torres whose 0.77 ERA which paces the squad. Jamie Farnworth has been the biggest threat at the plate for the 49ers this season, currently amongst the top ten in the conference in almost every offensive category. Her .353 batting average, five homeruns, and 24 walks are all team-highs. Long Beach State downed a young Gaucho squad in week one of the season 8-1 in UCSB's Early Bird Tournament, but overall the past four years have been fairly even. In the last ten meetings the 49ers hold a slight 6-4 edge.

Leaving Them Blank
Freshman pitcher Jennifer Davis has been on a tear the past two weeks, culminating in earning herself her second Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week honors this past week. Against Utah State this weekend, Davis pitched in two games, and game away with two wins, while striking out 23 batters in 12 2/3 innings of work. In game two of the series she struck out a season-high 16 batters, throwing the complete game shutout, her seventh of the season, while allowing only one hit. For her second win of the weekend, Davis came in to pitch the final 5 2/3 innings of UCSB's 16-inning game, shutting out the Aggies while allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Then against UCR Davis picked up her second consecutive complete-game one-hit shutout, striking out ten, to improve to 13-13 on the season. She is now just one win away from the Gauchos' single season Top 10. Currently leading the Big West, Davis has now tallied 173 strikeouts in her freshman campaign, placing her 4th all-time at UCSB in a single season. And dating back to the Gauchos' game against Cal Poly on April 25th, she has not allowed a run in her last 24 innings pitched and has struck out 38 batters and has given up just five hits. With her recent this success, the Gauchos hope that Davis has returned to the form that she started out the season 3-0 with and earned her the conference's pitcher of the week honors in week one. Davis has now won five out of her last 6 decisions.

Double-Edged
Junior pitcher/infielder Lindsey Herrin continued to swing for the fences again this past weekend, as she hit her ninth home run of the season. Herrin is now tied with Tonya Dias and Mandy Edwards for the Gauchos' single season home run record, and with at lease six games remaining on the season, she has a good chance of putting herself alone at the top of the list. Herrin also had a powerful weekend in the circle for Santa Barbara, earning herself another win to improve to 7-1 on the year, and 5-1 in Big West play, after the Gauchos' 8-2 win over Utah State. Herrin's current 2.13 ERA in conference action is second to Lindsey Sommer's team-leading 1.15 Big West ERA, although she leads the squad with a 2.23 overall ERA. At the plate for the Gauchos Herrin is hitting .275 with a team-high 29 RBI's and 20 walks.

Hensler Don't Play That
The skill of freshman catcher Shelby Hensler has continued to be a major reason for the Gauchos' success this season. Her strong play behind the plate is shown in her having allowed just one stolen base in the last nine games, a total of 72 innings, although three have tried only one has succeeded. Overall she has thrown out four of eight potential base stealers Big West play. Hensler has also been a rock defensively having allowed only three passed balls all season in 53 games played. And she has committed just three errors in 346 chances thus far in her first collegiate season. And she gets the job done at the plate as well for Santa Barbara as she is second on the team with a .327 batting average in conference play.

By the Numbers
Preparing to face 18th ranked Long Beach State, UCSB has won five of its last six games against ranked opponents. On March 21st, the Gauchos posted a 3-1 win over sixth-ranked Stanford. UCSB then proceeded to win two of three from 19th-ranked Pacific and then the Gauchos swept a twinbill from 11th-ranked Fresno State.

Jennifer Davis has recorded 173 strikeout on the season, 47 more than the next closest player in the Big West. She needs 11 to move into third on UCSB's all-time single-season list.