ARCATA – After weeks of practice and endless drills, the 2010 Humboldt State softball team opens the defense of its California Collegiate Athletic Association regular season championship at the Best of the West Invitational (BWI) in Turlock.
The Jacks will play six games over three days in the annual season opening tournament. Three of their opponents will be CCAA foes; San Francisco State (2/5 at 1:15 p.m.), Cal State Monterey Bay (2/5 at 3:30 p.m.) and host Cal State Stanislaus (2/7 at 2 p.m.). The other three are Davis & Elkins (2/6 at 10:45 a.m.), Central Washington (2/6 at 3:30 p.m.) and Grand Canyon (2/7 at 11:45 a.m.).
Live Stats
All Lumberjack softball home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature on hsujacks.com. Real time statistics, momentum tracker and other information are featured on the game viewer. The feature can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/humboldt/softball/.
Lumberjack Links
Following are links to more information on the Lumberjacks softball program:
Roster
Schedule
Head-to-Head
HSU lead San Francisco State 93-24 in the all-time series. The Jacks took 3-of-4 meetings last season in San Francisco including the final game 4-2. … CSU Monterey Bay won the final meeting last season 14-6, but Humboldt State took the season series 3-1 and leads the all-time series 13-4. … The Jacks and Davis & Elkins have met only once, in last season’s BWI. HSU won that game 4-0. … Central Washington trails the Lumberjacks 49-3 all-time and fell to HSU 4-0 in the 2009 BWI. … Humboldt State dropped 2-of-3 games to Grand Canyon last year, but won the last match-up 6-3 and lead the series 5-3. … The Jacks and Cal State Stanislaus met six times last season with HSU wining four games and taking a 89-9 lead in the all-time series. The last meeting was in the West Region championship. CSU Stanislaus won the game 8-0.
Lumberjack Notes
Humboldt State has been ranked No. 11 in the NFCA Division II Preseason Poll and were picked to win the CCAA regular season title by the conference’s coaches in their annual preseason poll. … The Jacks return 13 letterwinners from a squad that won 38 games last season and competed in the NCAA Division II West Region Championship. HSU has three returning All-CCAA performers; junior outfielder Nikki Ketteringham (.356 BA, 6 HR, 13 2B, 25 RBI, 45 R) and sophomore outfielder Felicia Viveiros (.299 BA, 7 HR, 4-for-4 SB, 25 RBI) both first-team honorees and sophomore pitcher Nichole Parada (12-5, 3.43 ERA, 122.1 INN, 48 SO), a second-team selection. Junior third baseman Lindsay Warren (.347 BA, 10 HR, 13 2B, 25 RBI), a Daktronics All-Region performer and junior shortstop Geneva Perrine (.307 BA, 6 2B, 4 HR, 10-for-10 SB, 24 RBI) return and solidify the defense on the left side and provide power on offense. Top newcomers that HSU is looking for immediate impact from include three freshman; pitcher Vaneza Hoover (Ceres, Calif./Ceres HS), first baseman Chrissy Stalf (Oakley, Calif./Freedom HS) and designated player Courtney Hiatt (Laguna Hills, Calif./Santa Margarita HS). … The Jacks have won the BWI three times (2009, 2005 & 1999) more than any other school and have a 39-17 overall record at the tournament. … Head Coach Frank Cheek enters his 22nd season at the helm of the Jacks. His teams have posted a 1018-264-1 overall record for a .794 winning percentage. In December he was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame after earning his 12th conference Coach of the Year honor and earning the 1,000 victory of his career.
Opponents Notes
SFSU finished the 2009 season with a 7th place finish in the CCAA. Their record was 13-19 overall, 7-9 in the conference. They return two All-CCAA performers from last year; Kendra Wood (first team) and Ashley Jackson (second team). Competing in their ninth BWI, the Gators have a 14-20 overall record. … Cal State Monterey Bay won the 2009 CCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II West Region championship after a 20-12 overall and 9-7 conference record. The Otters return one of four All-CCAA performers (Shae Olds) from last season. CSUMB has a 7-6 record in three BWIs. … The Davis & Elkins Senators are members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and have competed in the BWI twice. They have compiled a 1-8 record in the tournament. Last season the team went 15-37 overall and 11-17 in conference to finish in 11th place out of 15 teams. … Central Washington has been picked to finish third in the GNAC this season. The Wildcats finished last year at 33-20, 29-11 in conference, good for a second place finish in the GNAC. CWU’s top returners are senior outfielders Danielle Monson and Taylor Trautmann , who both garnered first-team all-GNAC accolades last season. This is the fifth time the Wildcats have competed in the BWI and come in with a 7-14 record in the tournament. … Grand Canyon University finished last season with a 37-27 overall record, 14-9 in the PacWest good for third in the conference. Their top returners are seniors Tracy Lubken, an outfielder, and Kelli Bridges, a shortstop. They have compiled a 6-13-1 record in the BWI. … Cal State Stanislaus finished last season in fifth place in the CCAA with a 17-15 conference mark, 35-21 overall. They were the only CCAA team to reach the Super Regional. They return only one of three all-conference selections from last season, senior infielder Erica McIntyre. In the BWI they have compiled a 28-24 record and were the champions in 2006 & 2007.
Head Coach Frank Cheek’s Comments
“We lost six four-year seniors from last years team, but were picked to win the conference and have been ranked 11th in the preseason. I think that shows the respect people have for our program. We aren’t going to be able to replace the leadership and hitting we’ve lost right away, but we will hit and we will continue to improve offensively and defensively.” … “It all starts this weekend. We expect to go to Turlock and come away with six wins. As far as the season goes, we expect to be playing in the West Regional in May.”