May 14, 2003

Santa Barbara, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara softball's record setting 2003 season was capped by yet another school record, when seven Gauchos were named all-conference by the Big West. Highlighted by senior catcher Jami Trinidad, senior third basemen Chantal Pershing, and junior second basemen E.J. Lauchland on the first team, UCSB had never had more than four players named all-conference in a same season prior to this year's announcement. The Gauchos' seven honorees were the third most of any team in the conference, No. 6 Cal State Fullerton led the pack with nine.

Santa Barbara's dynamic pitching duo of senior Loren Thornburg and freshman Carly Harmon took home second team honors. While junior outfielder Leslie Simien and sophomore designated player Katie Oliver received honorable mention for UCSB. The All-Big West honors marked the third time Thornburg has been recognized, the second time for Trinidad, Lauchland, and Simien, and first time for Pershing, Harmon, and Oliver.

Trinidad ended the season with a .373 batting average and a .588 slugging percentage, both single season school records and third and fourth best in the Big West, respectively, at the conclusion of the regular season. In conference play, the Norwalk, Calif. native maintained a .765 slugging percentage and a .515 on-base percentage, amassing 19 hits, 21 RBI, five doubles, five homeruns and 16 base-on-balls in 51 at-bats.

Pershing and Lauchland anchored a strong Santa Barbara infield that turned nine double plays in 20 conference games. At the plate, Pershing led UCSB with 17 sacrifice bunts and 36 runs scored to finish second in the Big West in both categories at the conclusion of the regular season, her .315 batting average was seixth best in the conference. Lauchland, who also ended the year sixth in the Big West with a .315 average, was second on the team and eleventh in the Big West with 26 runs batted, nabbing 56 total bases.

One of the most lethal pitching tandems in the nation, Thornburg and Harmon guided the Gauchos' staff throughout the season to a team ERA that was ranked as one of the Top-30 in Division I more almost the entire 2003 season. Thornburg set a new UCSB record in leading the Big West with ten shutouts on the year, and she finished third in the conference with 167 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA. In her first collegiate season, Harmon finished third in the conference with 17 wins, just one short of tying the Gauchos' single season record. Harmon's 187.1 innings pitched were the second most of any pitcher in the Big West at the conclusion of the regular season.

Simien, who was named Verizon Academic All-District VIII for softball last week, helped her cause as an honorable mention setting a new Big West record for stolen bases in a career, ending her junior campaign with 86 to her name. And with 32 steals this year, she won her second consecutive Big West stolen base crown. Oliver picked up her honors with strong play in conference action, finishing second on the team with a .500 slugging percentage and three doubles, and third on the team with a .286 batting average and a .394 on-base percentage in Big West play.