Feb. 19, 2010
At The Plate USD will hit the road this weekend to take part in the Lousiville Slugger Desert Classic hosted by UNLV. The Las Vegas trip features five games over the course of three days for the Toreros, with opponents including BYU, UNLV, Boise State, Hawai'i, and Oregon.
Last Time Out The Toreros jumped out to their best four-game start since 1994 by taking three of the four games against UC Riverside and Boise State this past weekend. USD took both games against Boise State, beating the Broncos 6-5 in Saturday's nightcap and trumping them again 4-3 Sunday morning. San Diego was powered by a three-run fourth inning to pull ahead of Boise State in the 6-5 victory on Saturday while a four-run third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from C Taylor Hensley, provided all the scoring the Toreros needed in the 4-3 win. Against UC Riverside, the two teams split the pair of games, with the Toreros handling the Highlanders 7-4 on Saturday. P Jennifer Ellenbeck pitched a complete game in the 7-4 victory, striking out eight and walking one. In the lone defeat from the weekend, USD fell behind 6-0 after the first four frames and picked up their only run on the afternoon when 3B Mickell Escobar drove in a run with a bases-loaded groundout in the sixth inning.
On Deck Following the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic this weekend, the Toreros will have 11 days off before returning action at the USD Softball Complex for the San Diego Classic I. USD will play another slate of five games during the tournament that runs March 5th through the 7th, taking on Buffalo, Wisconsin, Oregon, Cal Poly, and Long Beach State.
League Standouts USD's 3-1 record in the young season is not only the program's best four-game start in six years, but the three wins are also the most among the Toreros' counterparts from the Pacific Coast Conference. Four other teams in the PCSC have two wins.
Award Time Senior P Jennifer Ellenbeck was named the PCSC Coastal Division Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday. Ellenbeck picked up wins in both of her complete game starts against UC Riverside and Boise State. She struck out 11 batters, including eight punch-outs against UC Riverside in the first game of the season. USD's all-time career strikeout leader now has 335 strikeouts in 91 games, and is coming off a 2009 season in which she struck a career-high 144 opponents.
Scouting Report: BYU A 2009 NCAA Regional participant, BYU has started the 2010 season with a 5-0 record after capturing the Red Desert Classic tournament championship, beating the likes of Tulsa, University of Maine, UC Santa Barbara, Seattle University, and San Jose State and outscoring the five opponents 41-18. The Cougars are hitting a collective .378 this season and have slugged 12 home runs. Angeline Quicho is tied for the team-lead with eight hits and eight RBI while Paige Affleck leads the BYU pitchers with a 3-0 record, 3.44 ERA, and 20 strikeouts.
Scouting Report: UNLV Another 2009 NCAA Regional team, UNLV bounced back from an 8-0 season-opening loss to Illinois by winning their next four games during the Sportco Kick-Off Classic to improve their record to 4-1. The Runnin' Rebels are batting a collective .314 from the plate, averaging 6.8 runs per game. Marissa Nichols owns a team-best .429 batting average, clubbing four extra-base hits and scoring seven runs. The UNLV pitching staff has a 2.94 ERA, with Kylie Wagner contributing a 2.50 ERA over her two complete-game starts this season.
Scouting Report: Boise State The Broncos are 1-3 in 2010, claiming the lone victory against UC Riverside on February 13th. Boise State softball is in its second year of existence, going 21-28, including a 4-16 record in the WAC, during its inaugural season in 2009. A duo of senior Kathy Cox and sophomore Christina Capobianco are the sources of offensive output for the Broncos as the two have combined to slug three homers and drive in eight runs thus far in 2010.
Scouting Report: Hawai'i The University of Hawai'i softball team is 3-2 on the young season coming off an Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic title this past weekend. To capture the tournament's title, the Rainbow Warriors upset No. 10 Stanford in the championship game by hitting four home runs to solidify an 11-5 final result. Senior 1B Amanda Tauali'i, leads the team with a .462 (6-of-13) batting average. Kaia Parnaby powers the Hawai'i pitching staff with her 2-0 record, ERA of zero in 12.0 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts.
Scouting Report: Oregon The University of Oregon is 4-2 in 2010, currently riding a two-game winning streak. The Ducks offense that is averaging 4.2 runs per game is led by freshman OF Sam Pappas, who is 7-of-18 from the plate with a team-leading three home runs, as well as four RBIs, four runs scored, and two stolen bases. The pitching staff owns a 1.44 ERA, with sophomore Sam Skillingstad and junior Brittany Rumfelt contributing with their 1.37 and 0.00 ERA's, respectively. The two have combined to strike out 29 batters in a combined 6 games (3 starts).
The Series San Diego owns a 3-4 all-time record against BYU, with the Toreros deating the Cougars 4-3 in 8 inniings on 3/18/04 in the last meeting...This is the first meeting between USD and UNLV...USD owns a 3-1 record against Boise State, with the Toreros beating the Broncos twice in 2010...USD is 1-2 against Hawai'i since 1994 with Hawai'i defeating San Diego 2-1 in the last meeting on 3/25/01...USD is 0-3 against Oregon (Last: L, 2-0 on 2/28/08).
