OCTOBER 11 LATE NIGHT
USA NATIONAL TEAM
Arioto records two home runs and six RBI as USA Softball defeats Houston 8-0 to close out Pan American Games preparation
HOUSTON, Texas — The USA Softball Women’s National team closed out its pre-Pan American Games exhibitions with an 8-0 victory on Tuesday evening over the University of Houston at Cougar Softball Stadium. Thanks to the swing of Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) who recorded two home runs including a grand slam, the U.S. came out swinging and never looked back over powering the Cougars with the victory.
Three pitchers split time for the Red, White and Blue with Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa) earning the start and victory tossing three complete innings with two strikeouts. Whitney Canion (Aledo, Texas) and Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif.) each contributed two innings with both retiring four batters via the strikeout.
The Red, White and Blue team jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning in exciting fashion. With bases loaded, Arioto send a towering shot over the fences to quickly take command of the game. Silenced through the next four innings, the Cougars made back-to-back errors before Arioto struck again with a two-run blast for the solid 6-0 lead.
Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) knocked in the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a double. Arioto cluttered the stat sheet going 2-for-2 with six RBI while Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) recorded two hits and Moultrie knocked in the other two RBI in the contest.
Houston left four runners stranded who reached on base hits. Starting pitcher Diedre Outon earned the loss for the hometown team completing five innings and allowing four earned runs.
Up next the U.S. will become “official” members of the U.S. contingent of all athletes of all sports for the Pan American Games after completing processing on Wednesday, October 12 with the United States Olympic Committee. On Thursday, they will depart to Guadalajara and get settled into village life. The team will practice and participate in Opening Ceremonies before competition begins on October 17 at 6:30 p.m. with a match-up against Venezuela. See below a complete schedule. USASoftball.com will host live stats for each game.
Oct. 17- 6:30 p.m. United States vs. Venezuela
Oct. 18- 11 a.m. United States vs. Dominican Republic
Oct. 18- 9 p.m. United States vs. Mexico
Oct. 19- 1:30 p.m. United States vs. Cuba
Oct. 19- 4 p.m. United States vs. Puerto Rico
Oct. 20- 2 p.m. United States vs. Canada
Oct. 21- 4:30 p.m. United States vs. Argentina
Oct. 22- Playoffs
Oct. 23- FINALS
USA Softball enters the Pan American Games following a Gold Medal finish at World Cup of Softball VI in Oklahoma City, marking the fifth straight World Cup title for the Americans. Team USA has won seven Pan American Championships (1979, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007) including the last six. The program has a record of 78-3 since softball debuted in the 1979 Pan American Games.
NPF vs LSU
Team NPF Tops LSU Softball, 4-1
BATON ROUGE (PRESS RELEASE)– The LSU softball team carried a one-run lead into the seventh inning and had Team NPF down to its final strike before the Tigers dropped a 4-1 decision to the professional team Tuesday in-front of 1,234 fans at Tiger Park.
“It was really important for me to let everyone have the experience,” Torina continued. “We got 21 out of the 22 players into the game in some way, shape or form tonight. That was really important for me too, to let them all feel like they have been a part of it.”
Brittany Mack was sensational in the circle for the Tigers and pitched 6.1 frames of two-hit ball. After getting out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning, Mack proceeded to retire 17 straight batters. The Round Rock, Texas, product finished with seven strikeouts against two walks.
“The off speed definitely kept them guessing. I don’t know if they have ever seen an off speed curve before. It was fun to throw that in there to some of them, but I definitely kept telling myself these are good hitters you can’t take it like you would some other teams. You have to take it like you would Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee but to the next level. You got to take them one at time, be focused and you got to make sure that you keep the pitches off the plate.”
Ashley Langoni provided offensive fireworks at the plate and a defensive web gem in the field. With two outs during the sixth inning, Langoni broke the scoreless tie and belted a 3-2 offering over the right field scoreboard to vault LSU ahead, 1-0.
“We went around the batting lineup twice,” Langoni said. “I laid off that outside pitch. She finally put it over the plate for me, and I went with it. Usually, I pull it over left field onto the berm and it felt good to go with it. I’ve been waiting for this game since they announced it last year. To play against a team like this is awesome, it was a great opportunity and I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
LSU recorded two outs in the seventh inning sandwiched between a walk and a hit batter. Rachele Fico relieved Mack, and had two strikes on Brittany McKinney before she drew a free pass to load the bases. Andrea Duran was hit-by-a-pitch and Caitlin Lowe coaxed a walk to put Team NPF up 2-1. Ashley Charters slapped a two-run single through the middle for the final margin of 4-1.
Lisa Norris carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Ashley Applegate singled to centerfield to open the fifth inning. Norris racked up 16 strikeouts and surrendered two hits in a 136-pitch effort.
The Tigers return to action this weekend playing host to Chipola CC [Saturday 2:30 p.m], Nichols State [Saturday 5 p.m.] and McNeese State [Sunday 3 p.m.] as part of the LSU Collegiate Fall Classic. All of LSU’s fall softball games have free admission at Tiger Park.
2010-11 NFCA Division I
All-Academic Teams
Division I Teams
| Rank | School | Head Coach | GPA |
| 1 | Tennessee Tech | Tory Acheson | 3.619 |
| 2 | Southern Illinois | Kerri Blaylock | 3.611 |
| 3 | Robert Morris | Craig Coleman | 3.553 |
| 4 | Houston Baptist | Mary-Ellen Hall | 3.551 |
| 5 | Bowling Green St. | Shannon Salsburg | 3.534 |
| 6 | Youngstown St. | Brian Campbell | 3.523 |
| 7 | Troy | Melanie Davis | 3.512 |
| 8 | Alabama | Patrick Murphy | 3.510 |
| 9 | East Tennessee St. | Brad Irwin | 3.495 |
| 10 | Eastern Michigan | Karen Baird | 3.477 |
| 10 | Stetson | Frank Griffin | 3.477 |
| 12 | Weber St. | Tina Johnson | 3.470 |
| 13 | South Dakota | Amy Klyse | 3.435 |
| 14 | Manhattan | Thomas Pardalis | 3.410 |
| 15 | Yale | Barbara Reinalda | 3.404 |
| 16 | Eastern Illinois | Kim Schuette | 3.400 |
| 16 | Harvard | Jenny Allard | 3.400 |
| 18 | Drake | Rich Calvert | 3.399 |
| 19 | Indiana St. | Shane Bouman | 3.380 |
| 20 | Utah Valley | Todd Fairbourne | 3.379 |
| 21 | New Mexico St. | Kathy Rodolph | 3.370 |
| 22 | Belmont | Chris Kuhlmeyer | 3.358 |
| 23 | Bradley | Amy Hayes | 3.356 |
| 24 | Campbell | Drew Peterson | 3.350 |
| 24 | Detroit | Sunny Jones | 3.350 |
| 26 | Michigan St. | Jacquie Joseph | 3.347 |
| 27 | Binghamton | Michelle Burrell | 3.345 |
| 28 | Florida | Tim Walton | 3.340 |
| 29 | Kent St. | Karen Linder | 3.339 |
| 30 | Indiana | Michelle Gardner | 3.335 |
| 31 | Arizona St. | Clint Myers | 3.330 |
| 32 | Iona | Roni Rivera | 3.320 |
| 32 | Mississippi St. | Vann Stuedeman | 3.320 |
| 32 | Monmouth | Louie Berndt | 3.320 |
| 32 | SIU Edwardsville | Sandy Montgomery | 3.320 |
| 32 | Valparaiso | Jordan Stevens | 3.320 |
| 37 | Delaware St. | Jeff Savage | 3.319 |
| 38 | Bryant | Lisa-Ann Wallace | 3.315 |
| 39 | Georgia St. | Roger Kincaid | 3.310 |
| 49 | UMKC | Meredith Smith | 3.310 |
| 41 | Butler | Scott Hall | 3.306 |
| 42 | Sacred Heart | Elizabeth Luckie | 3.300 |
| 42 | UTEP | Kathleen Rodriguez | 3.300 |
| 44 | Penn St. | Robin Petrini | 3.296 |
| 45 | Missouri | Ehren Earleywine | 3.290 |
| 46 | Saint Louis | Christy Connoyer | 3.285 |
| 47 | Louisiana-Monroe | Rosemary Holloway-Hill | 3.279 |
| 48 | Tennessee | Ralph & Karen Weekly | 3.279 |
| 49 | South Alabama | Becky Clark | 3.278 |
| 50 | Radford | Mickey Dean | 3.272 |
| 51 | Lipscomb | Kristin Ryman | 3.270 |
| 51 | Houston | Kyla Holas | 3.270 |
| 51 | Northern Iowa | Ryan Jacobs | 3.270 |
| 54 | Murray St. | Jay Pyron | 3.266 |
| 54 | Drexel | Kim Camara | 3.264 |
| 56 | Gardner-Webb | Tom Cole | 3.262 |
| 57 | George Washington | Stacey Schramm | 3.260 |
| 57 | Western Kentucky | Tyra Perry | 3.260 |
| 59 | Cornell | Dick Blood | 3.259 |
| 60 | Marshall | Shonda Stanton | 3.258 |
| 60 | Mississippi Valley St. | Lee Smith | 3.258 |
| 60 | Seton Hall | Ray Vander May | 3.258 |
| 63 | Baylor | Glenn Moore | 3.254 |
| 64 | Marist College | Joe Ausanio | 3.252 |
| 64 | Stanford | John Rittman | 3.251 |
| 66 | Illinois St. | Melinda Fischer | 3.250 |
| 66 | Dayton | Cara LaPlaca | 3.250 |
| 68 | Washington | Heather Tarr | 3.240 |
| 69 | Iowa St. | Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler | 3.237 |
| 70 | Connecticut | Karen Mullins | 3.233 |
| 71 | East Carolina | Tracey Kee | 3.232 |
| 72 | Bucknell | Heather Rakosik | 3.230 |
| 72 | New Mexico | Erica Beach | 3.230 |
| 74 | Western Illinois | Holly Van Vlymen | 3.221 |
| 75 | Fresno St. | Margie Wright | 3.215 |
| 76 | Liberty | Paul Wetmore | 3.210 |
| 76 | Kentucky | Rachel Lawson | 3.210 |
| 78 | Pacific | Brian Kolze | 3.209 |
| 79 | Presbyterian | Kama Tucker | 3.208 |
| 80 | Purdue | Kim Maher | 3.200 |
| 80 | Toledo | Tarrah Beyster | 3.200 |
| 82 | Louisiana- Lafayette | Stefni Lotief | 3.198 |
| 83 | Arkansas | Mike Larabee | 3.191 |
| 84 | Southeast Missouri St. | Lana Richmond | 3.190 |
| 84 | Tennessee St. | Jeff Dabney | 3.190 |
| 84 | UNC Wilmington | Kelly Van Houten | 3.190 |
| 87 | UT Martin | Donley Canary | 3.182 |
| 88 | Miami | Kelly Kovach Schoenly | 3.180 |
| 88 | St. John’s (NY) | Amy Kvilhaug | 3.180 |
| 89 | Rutgers | Jay Nelson | 3.178 |
| 91 | Oakland | LaDonia Hughes | 3.170 |
| 91 | Providence | Kerri Jacklets | 3.170 |
| 93 | Canisius | Michael Rappl | 3.165 |
| 94 | South Florida | Ken Eriksen | 3.160 |
| 95 | Nebraska | Rhonda Revelle | 3.151 |
| 96 | Evansville | Mark Redburn | 3.149 |
| 97 | Georgetown | Patricia Conlan | 3.145 |
| 98 | Jackson St. | Rick Fremin | 3.144 |
| 98 | Oklahoma St. | Rich Wieligman | 3.144 |
| 100 | Coastal Carolina | Kelley Green | 3.135 |
| 101 | Middle Tennessee St. | Sue Nevar | 3.133 |
| 102 | Delaware | Jaime Wohlbach | 3.130 |
| 103 | Fairleigh Dickinson | Dale Martin | 3.125 |
| 103 | Rhode Island | Erin Layton | 3.125 |
| 105 | Villanova | Maria Di Bernardi | 3.122 |
| 106 | Akron | Julie Jones | 3.119 |
| 107 | Winthrop | Mark Cooke | 3.114 |
| 108 | Lehigh | Fran Troyan | 3.110 |
| 108 | Tulsa | John Bargfeldt | 3.110 |
| 108 | Western Michigan | Kathy Leitke | 3.110 |
| 111 | Long Island | Roy Kortmann | 3.109 |
| 112 | Austin Peay St. | Casey Dickson | 3.102 |
| 113 | Virginia | Eileen Schmidt | 3.100 |
| 114 | Fairfield | Julie Brzezinski | 3.092 |
| 114 | Syracuse | Leigh Ross | 3.092 |
| 116 | Central Florida | Renee Gillispie | 3.080 |
| 116 | Minnesota | Jessica Allister | 3.080 |
| 118 | Missouri St. | Holly Hesse | 3.070 |
| 118 | UNC Greensboro | Jennifer Herzig | 3.070 |
| 120 | UAB | Marla Townsend | 3.068 |
| 121 | Saint Joseph’s | Terri Adams | 3.060 |
| 122 | Southern Mississippi | Kirsten Voak & John Malgradi | 3.058 |
| 123 | Col. of Charleston | Shelly Hoerner | 3.048 |
| 124 | North Carolina A&T | Mamie Jones | 3.030 |
| 125 | North Carolina St. | Lisa Navas | 3.015 |
| 126 | IUPUI | Maggie Calcaterra | 3.014 |
| 127 | Eastern Kentucky | Jane Worthington | 3.012 |
| 128 | Northern Colorado | Mark Montgomery | 3.010 |
| 129 | Utah St. | Carissa Kalaba | 2.994 |
| 130 | Florida St. | Lonni Alameda | 2.983 |
| 131 | Ohio St. | Linda Kalafatis | 2.978 |
| 132 | UCLA | Kelly Inouye-Perez | 2.970 |
| 133 | Central Connecticut St. | Jeffrey Franquet | 2.920 |
