CSUDH Softball Weekly Release
April 24, 2002

THIS WEEK IN TOROS SOFTBALL
April 26 - UC San Diego North Rosedale Park/Bakersfield, CA 4:00
April 26 - San Francisco St. North Rosedale Park/Bakersfield, CA 6:00
April 27 TBD North Rosedale Park/Bakersfield, CA TBD
April 28 TBD North Rosedale Park/Bakersfield, CA TBD

TOROS IN ACTION AT MOUNTAIN DEW CLASSIC The Toros are in action this weekend as they travel to Bakersfield to take part in the Mountain Dew Classic, hosted by CS Bakersfield. Although it is not a CCAA event, the Toros will see some familiar faces as they take on CCAA foes UC San Diego and San Francisco State in opening round action of the nine team tournament. CSUDH will open play with UC San Diego on Friday at 4:00 p.m. at Rosedale Park. The teams last met last Saturday, when the Tritons swept the Toros. CSUDH will then face San Francisco State at 6:00 p.m. The Toros results from day one will determine their seeding for the rest of the tournament.

HEAD COACH JIM MAIER Head coach Jim Maier is in his second season at the helm of the Toros softball program. Last year, in his first year as head coach, Maier led the squad to an 36-27 record, tying a CSUDH record for the most wins (36) in a season. In the tough CCAA conference, Maier guided the squad to a 16-16 ledger, good enough for a fifth place finish. Last season, Maier had three players, shortstop RoAna Lutz, outfielder Sasha Shell and pitcher Patrina Smith earn all-conference accolades. Maier picked up his first win as a collegiate coach when the Toros defeated Cal State Bakersfield 3-1 in the 2001 season opener.

TOROS HAVE TOUGH TIME AGAINST TRITONS The 1-7, 0-2 losses to UC San Diego this past weekend marks the first time that the Toros have been swept in a doubleheader by an opponent all season.The Toros have either swept their opponents or split the series with them. The Toros longest winning streak so far this season was four at three times. Their longest losing streak has been two games which has occurred on four occasions so far.

DOUBLE VISION Senior RoAna Lutz had double vision in last weekend's play. In four games, the third baseman had three doubles to bring her season total to 11. Last season, Lutz set the CSUDH season record for doubles in a game with 15. With the regular season winding down, she has a few more opportunities to break that record once again.

SHELL SHOWS THEM HOW IT IS DONE Not only is Sasha Shell leading the team in batting average, hits, total bases, on base percentage, and stolen bases this season, she is also leading the team in triples. The senior has five triples so far this year, which is half of the team's triple total.

TOROS ARE SHUTTING THEM OUT The Toros have been involved in 20 games that have ended in shutouts. CSUDH has won 15 of those and lost five, for a .750 winning percentage. Val Long has thrown for four shutouts, while senior hurler Patrina Smith has shutout teams five times.

SHE STOLE, SHE STOLE, SHE STOLE SECOND BASE Sasha Shell cannot be stopped when it comes to stealing bases. The senior centerfielder has swiped 21 bases on the season in 26 attempts. In fact, Shell has stolen 37% of the Toros 54 swiped bases on the season. She has only been picked off in five of her 26 attempts. Shell looks to break the CSUDH record of 25 that she set last year.

IN THE GAME.... With the regular season coming to an end, only two Toros have seen action in all of their 47 games this season. Sasha Shell and RoAna Lutz are the only two Toros to play in all in all 47 games this season. In her two years as a Toro, Lutz has played in 110 games in a Toros jersey. In four years at CSUDH, Shell has played in 209 games. The CSUDH record for most games in a career is 229, set in the 1987-90 seasons.

A LITTLE BETTER THAN LAST YEAR At this point in the season, the Toros stats are looking a little better than they did at the end of last season. The 2002 Toros already have more triples and homeruns and a better slugging percentage than the 2001 squad did. In 2001, there were nine triples, six homeruns and a .319 slugging percentage. This year, they have ten triples, eight homeruns and a .321 slugging percentage. This years squad has a little work to do in the other categories though. The 2001 Toros had 202 runs in 63 games to average 3.2 runs per game. This year's team has 144 runs in 47 games for an average of 3.0 runs per game. But this year's team, which is batting .261 is on the heels of last year's squad who batted .263.

TOROS REMAIN IN SECOND AFTER GOING 2-2 Even with a 2-2 performance this past weekend, the Toros are still in second place in the CCAA all by themselves.UC Davis still owns the top spot in the conference. With their sweep of the Toros, the Tritons of UC San Diego took the third spot in the conference. The Toros will be in action this weekend at the Mountain Dew Classic, where they will be facing West regional and CCAA opponents. The Toros will look to hold tight onto their sixth place ranking in the regional, which could spell a postseason bid. CSUDH will wrap up the regular CCAA season with a home game vs. Cal State Bakersfield on May 4.

Current CCAA Season Standings

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