The top honors of the 2007 Big West softball season were announced today and the awards had a distictive Mustang feel. Cal Poly’s Lisa Modglin won the Player of the Year award, teammate Krysten Cary was honored as the Co-Freshman Field Player of the of Year and head coach Jenny Condon was awarded the Coach of the Year. In the other major awards, UC Santa Barbara’s Jennifer Davis won Pitcher of the Year accolades, Christina Saenz of Cal State Northridge was named the Co-Freshman Field Player of the Year and Bridgette Pagano of Long Beach State was Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
Modglin became the first Cal Poly player to win a Player of the Year award since Desarie Knipfer won Pitcher of the Year honors in 1997 and 1998. The first team All-Big West selection had a truly outstanding offensive season, leading the Big West in batting (.488), home runs (16), slugging percentage (.951), hits (80) and runs scored (56). She was also in the top five in the conference in RBI (44), doubles (14) and walks (35). She is just two runs shy of tying the conference all-time single season record, ranks third in conference single season history in home runs and is currently the Big West’s all-time leader in single season batting average. She also led the country in batting average and slugging percentage in recent weeks and currently ranks second in both categories in the latest NCAA report.
Davis cemented her place in Big West history with a truly dominating season. The senior, who earned first team All-Big West honors, is 14-14 with a 1.35 ERA in 191.1 innings pitched. She leads the Big West in ERA, is fourth in innings pitched and fifth in wins. In addition, she leads the Big West in opponents’ batting average (.164) and her 203 strikeouts rank second on the conference leaderboard. This season Davis became the conference’s all-time strikeout leader when she struck out 15 batters in a series against Cal Poly, giving her 801 for her career and passing former Mustang Desarie Knipfer’s career total of 798.. She became the only pitcher in Big West history to surpass the 800-strikeout barrier.
Saenz was named the Co-Freshman Field Player of the Year after helping Cal State Northridge to its first NCAA appearance since 2004. She batted a team-best .375 in her rookie campaign, adding five home runs and 26 RBI. She was especially hot in conference play with a .380 average, four home runs and 18 RBI. She was recognized as the Field Player of the Week twice this season, the only freshman field player to be honored with the weekly award.
Cary proved to be a top-notch player for the league champion Cal Poly in her first season with the club. The first baseman hit .286 with five home runs and 31 RBI, fourth on the Mustangs in both categories. She recorded 12 games of multiple hits and 10 games of multiple RBI. Despite her inexperience, she also showed a selective eye at the plate, walking 30 which ranks third in the Big West.
Pagano continued the tradition of stellar 49er pitchers, but rarely has one been this good this early. The first team All-Big West selection won 20 games in her inagural campaign, tossing 10 shutouts and recording a 1.55 ERA in 208 innings of work. She ranks second in the Big West in ERA, third in opponents’ batting average (.217), tops in innings pitched, fourth in strikeouts and leads the league in wins. Pagano’s ERA is 44th in the country in the lastest NCAA stats and she is also the first Long Beach State freshman to be named to the all-Big West first team since Stacy Van Essen accomplished the honor in 1991 as a utility player.
Condon has found success as Cal Poly’s coach since the moment she stepped on the San Luis Obispo campus. Now in her third season, Condon owns a record of 101-54 (.652) and a 40-17 (.702) mark in conference play. She led the Mustangs to their first Big West conference championship, a school Division I record 39 victories and the second most conference wins (14) in program history this season. Among active Big West coaches, her overall and conference winning percentage is second, while her winning percentage in Big West play ranks fourth all-time in conference history.
For the fourth time in their careers, Pacific’s duo of Jennifer Curtier and Gina Carbonatto received first team All-Big West accolades. The became the third and fourth players achieve the honor four times and the first pair of teammates to claim four first team honors in league history. In addition, Cal State Fullerton’s Candice Baker became just the second player in league history to be named first team All-Big West in two positions in back-to-back seasons. Former Titan Gina Oaks is the only other player in league history to claim such an honor. Seven seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and one freshmen comprised this year’s All-Big West First Team. The complete Big West All-Conference teams are listed below.
2007 BIG WEST SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
| FIRST TEAM |
| Player |
School |
Pos |
Pos |
Ht. |
Year |
Hometown |
| ^Candice Baker |
Cal State Fullerton |
P |
R-R |
5-8 |
Senior |
Buena Park, Calif. |
| Jennifer Davis |
UC Santa Barbara |
P |
R-R |
5-6 |
Senior |
Whittier, Calif. |
| Bridgette Pagano |
Long Beach State |
P |
R-R |
5-10 |
Freshman |
Temecula, Calif. |
| Kiki Munoz |
Cal State Fullerton |
C |
R-R |
5-9 |
Junior |
Orange, Calif. |
| ^Amanda Peek |
Cal State Northridge |
C |
R-R |
5-5 |
Sophomore |
La Crescenta, Calif. |
| +Jennifer Curtier |
Pacific |
1B |
L-L |
5-7 |
Senior |
Lancaster, Calif. |
| Christine Ramos |
UC Santa Barbara |
2B |
L-R |
5-7 |
Sophomore |
Long Beach, Calif. |
| Melissa Pura |
Cal Poly |
SS |
R-R |
5-9 |
Sophomore |
Salinas, Calif. |
| Tisha Duran |
UC Santa Barbara |
3B |
L-R |
5-5 |
Junior |
Ventura, Calif. |
| +Gina Carbonatto |
Pacific |
OF |
L-R |
5-6 |
Senior |
Lake Stevens, Wash. |
| ^Lisa Modglin |
Cal Poly |
OF |
R-R |
5-4 |
Senior |
Simi Valley, Calif. |
| ^Ashley Van Boxmeer |
Cal State Fullerton |
OF |
R-R |
5-10 |
Senior |
Orange, Calif. |
| ^Candice Baker |
Cal State Fullerton |
UT |
R-R |
5-8 |
Senior |
Buena Park, Calif. |
| Sarah Iwata |
Cal Poly |
DP |
R-R |
5-5 |
Junior |
Torrance, Calif. |
| SECOND TEAM |
| Player |
School |
Pos |
Pos |
Ht. |
Year |
Hometown |
| Chelsea Engle |
Pacific |
P |
R-R |
5-8 |
Sophomore |
Folsom, Calif. |
| Robyn Kontra |
Cal Poly |
P |
R-R |
5-9 |
Junior |
Valencia, Calif. |
| Jenna Maiden |
Cal Poly |
P |
R-R |
5-8 |
Sophomore |
Santa Maria, Calif. |
| Jackie Gehrke-Jones |
Cal Poly |
C |
L-R |
5-7 |
Senior |
Rancho Cordova, Calif. |
| Krysten Cary |
Cal Poly |
1B |
R-R |
5-9 |
Freshman |
Mission Viejo, Calif. |
| Jessica Hejna |
UC Santa Barbara |
1B |
L-L |
5-2 |
Senior |
Orange, Calif. |
| Jaclyn Rymer |
Cal State Northridge |
1B |
L-L |
5-6 |
Freshman |
Bakersfield, Calif. |
| Casey Goldsand |
Pacific |
2B |
L-R |
5-3 |
Sophomore |
Scottsdale, Ariz. |
| Jessica Beaver |
Long Beach State |
SS |
R-R |
5-6 |
Junior |
Hemet, Calif. |
| Kelly Zakosek |
Cal State Northridge |
3B |
R-R |
5-6 |
Senior |
Northridge, Calif. |
| Tricia Adgar |
UC Riverside |
OF |
R-R |
5-5 |
Sophomore |
Alameda, Calif. |
| Lauren Lupinetti |
Cal State Fullerton |
OF |
R-R |
5-10 |
Sophomore |
Long Beach, Calif. |
| Lacy Tyler |
Long Beach State |
OF |
R-R |
5-11 |
Junior |
La Mirada, Calif. |
| Alyce Jorgensen |
Pacific |
UT |
R-R |
5-7 |
Junior |
Los Altos, Calif. |
| Christina Saenz |
Cal State Northridge |
DP |
L-R |
5-3 |
Freshman |
San Jose, Calif. |
| HONORABLE MENTION |
| Player |
School |
Pos |
Pos |
Ht. |
Year |
Hometown |
| Emily Hively |
Cal Poly |
P |
R-R |
5-7 |
Senior |
Fullerton, Calif. |
| Mercedes Lovato |
Cal State Northridge |
P |
L-R |
5-6 |
Junior |
Simi Valley, Calif. |
| Brooke Weekley |
Cal State Fullerton |
P |
R-R |
5-10 |
Senior |
Mission Viejo, Calif. |
| Whitney Radcliff |
Long Beach State |
2B |
L-R |
5-5 |
Junior |
Tustin, Calif. |
| Lizzie Hagen |
Pacific |
SS |
R-R |
5-8 |
Senior |
Anaheim, Calif. |
| Jessica Doucette |
Cal State Fullerton |
3B |
R-R |
5-7 |
Junior |
El Segundo, Calif. |
| Panita Thanatharn |
Long Beach State |
3B |
R-R |
5-2 |
Senior |
Chino Hills, Calif. |
| Jenna Maiden |
Cal Poly |
OF |
R-R |
5-8 |
Sophomore |
Santa Maria, Calif. |
| Tiffany Wright |
UC Santa Barbara |
OF |
R-R |
5-9 |
Sophomore |
Corona, Calif. |
| Marissa Alvidrez |
UC Riverside |
UT |
R-R |
5-6 |
Freshman |
Bakersfield, Calif. |
| Jenna Maiden |
Cal Poly |
UT |
R-R |
5-8 |
Sophomore |
Santa Maria, Calif. |
| Marissa Alvidrez |
UC Riverside |
DP |
R-R |
5-6 |
Freshman |
Bakersfield, Calif. |
+Four-time first team all-conference selection
^Two-time first team all-conference selection
2007 FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lisa Modglin, Cal Poly |
2007 FRESHMAN CO-FIELD
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Krysten Cary, Cal Poly
Christina Saenz, Cal State Northridge |
2007 PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Jennifer Davis, UC Santa Barbara |
2007 FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Bridgette Pagano, Long Beach State |
2007 COACH OF THE YEAR
Jenny Condon, Cal Poly |