Bakersfield Still Reigns in Softball

The Cal State Bakersfield softball program is a story of success. It is a perennial NCAA Division II force, winning three national titles from 1988 to ’90. Coach Kathy Welter has won eight California Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles and has averaged 41 wins in her 15 seasons.

It is no surprise that the Roadrunners are 32-8 overall and in first place in the CCAA at 20-4.

This past week provided the test of the season for Bakersfield, ranked seventh nationally. Six games against the three other chief competitors for the CCAA championship could have sealed first or put the conference race into disarray.

The result: Bakersfield survived, maintaining the two-game lead it had at the beginning of the week.

After Cal State Stanislaus had pulled within a game of first place Saturday, Bakersfield swept Chico State.

“We knew pretty much that we had to win out on Saturday,” said Welter, who earlier this season became the third coach in NCAA history to surpass 700 victories. The week started off ominously. On Tuesday, Stanislaus swept Bakersfield, 2-1 and 1-0. On Friday, the Roadrunners suffered a 1-0 loss to UC Davis for their first three-game losing streak of the season.

In addition, star pitcher Melanie Wood wouldn’t be available to pitch any more over the weekend after throwing 13 innings against the Aggies.

“We knew that this would be our first real test,” she said. “[The players] knew how important these games were.”

In the second game against Davis, Christi Abshire scored twice to put some life into the Roadrunners’ attack. Bakersfield scored five runs in the first three innings and junior pitcher Adriana Cisneros held the lead in a 5-4 win.

The next day, with Chico State looking at an opportunity to jump into a tie for first, Cisneros shut out the Wildcats on four hits for her 13th win. Bakersfield won the second game, 7-2, as second baseman Regan Hanes went three for four with two runs batted in and shortstop Alicia Castro hit a two-run triple.

“The good thing was we had built ourselves a little bit of a cushion but when we lost that doubleheader, that cushion was gone,” Welter said. “Saturday did become more of a do-or-die situation.”

Welter knows the Renegades’ work isn’t finished with eight CCAA games remaining.

“We’ve got a couple of weeks off [from the conference schedule],” Welter said. “You just never know what’s going to happen.. . . .

“I think we’re in a good position.”

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Azusa Pacific, No. 3 in the NAIA, has won 11 straight softball games after sweeping a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader, 4-0 and 9-2, against Cal Baptist on Saturday. The Cougars are 34-9 overall and a conference-leading 13-3. Jodi Miller pitched her 11th shutout in the first game.

Auvin Sierra pitched a five-hitter and struck out a career-high 17 in pitching Cal State L.A. past UC Riverside, 7-1, Thursday. It was only the second win of the season for Sierra, who struck out the last six batters he faced. The 17 strikeouts tied a school record.

Loyola Marymount took third place at the Women’s Western Water Polo Assn. tournament. Redlands finished fourth and Cal State Bakersfield fifth.

UNIVERSITY DIVISION

Six of the eight berths in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball tournament have been decided and Pepperdine, USC, UCLA and Long Beach State have locked up spots.

Tournament seedings, along with MPSF divisional titles are still up for grabs in the final week of the regular season.

First-place Pepperdine, which leads UCLA by one game in the Mountain Division, seemingly has an easier road to the title with matches tonight at UC Irvine and Saturday at Loyola Marymount. UCLA, which defeated the Waves in four games over the weekend, needs to win at Long Beach tonight, beat UC Irvine at home on Friday and hope for a Pepperdine loss.

In the Pacific Division, Long Beach can lock up the division and the conference’s No. 1 seeding against UCLA tonight. If the 49ers lose, their match Saturday at USC could be for the division title.

Before that, the Trojans must get through Loyola, which ended UCLA’s 59-match home winning streak last week.

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UCLA will attempt to win its second national women’s gymnastics title when it competes in the NCAA championships beginning Thursday at Boise, Idaho.

Only four schools--UCLA, Alabama, Utah and Georgia--have won titles in the 18-year history of the event. The Bruins are seeded second behind Alabama.

Senior Heidi Moneymaker will try to defend her NCAA vault title. Junior Mohini Bhardwaj has all-around titles in her last three meets, including one two weeks ago at the regionals at Oregon State.

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USC earned its seventh top-10 women’s golf finish in eight tournaments by placing fourth at the Ping/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. Freshman Candie Kung shot 220 to finish in a tie for eighth. UCLA was seventh overall. Senior Amanda Moltke-Leth was sixth individually with a two-over-par 218 score.

Top-seeded Pepperdine won the West Coast Conference men’s tennis title with a 6-1 win over Santa Clara. The Waves also won the women’s WCC title at St. Mary’s with an 8-1 win over San Diego. Sophomore Al Garland was named WCC men’s player of the year.

UCLA finished third and USC fourth at the MPSF Women’s Water Polo Championships. The Bruins won the third-place match, 7-4, as Jessica Lopez and Kelly Heuchan each scored two goals. USC’s Nina Wengst and Aniko Pelle were named to the MPSF first team. Stanford won the conference title, 6-4, over California.

No. 3-ranked UCLA will play its first softball games at Easton Stadium in nearly two months when it hosts second-ranked Arizona on Friday and fourth-ranked Arizona State on Saturday and Sunday. UCLA is 8-0 in Pacific 10 play, Arizona is 6-1 and Arizona State 4-4.