CENTURY CLUB
Cal State Fullerton is already in a class of its own in Big West history with eight league titles, 20 NCAA appearances and a national title as a member of the conference, but a milestone the Titans are set to hit this season may shine above them all. With 18 more wins this year, CSF will be the first team in league history to get to 1,000 victories. The Titans are 86 wins ahead of second place Long Beach State in conference lore and with their win over Southern Utah last week, recorded the 1,200th win all-time in program history.

SHE PLANNED A GRAND DEBUT
UC Santa Barbara freshman Kelly McDonald picked a pretty good time for her first career home run. Playing in her first collegiate softball contest, McDonald came up in the bottom of the seventh inning against Northern Colorado with the bases loaded, no one out and UCSB down by two runs. All she did was hit a walk off grand slam to win the game for the Gauchos in the club’s season-opener. McDonald finished her first game 2-for-4 with the aforementioned grand slam and a stolen base.

SOOOO CLOSE......
Pacific finished its first weekend 0-4, but could’ve easily came away with a 4-0 record if some balls had bounced differently. The Tigers lost their opener to nationally-ranked Fresno State, 1-0, then fell in eight innings to area rival Sacramento State, then dropped another 1-0 contest to the Bulldogs and wrapped up the weekend with a one-run loss to the Hornets.

.....BUT SHE SHOWED SOMETHIN' IN THE CIRCLE!
Despite all the close losses suffered by Pacific, the club would have not been in that position had it not been for the efforts of Baylor transfer Shaina Brock. The new ace of the staff appeared in three of the four games, starting twice, and registered a 2.15 ERA in 13.0 innings. She showed great control by walking only three, struck out 13, allowed just five runs (four earned) and opposing hitters could only hit at a .212 clip against her.

ST. GERMAIN PROVIDES THE “O”
Aside from having quite the name, Nalani St. Germain showed to be quite a force in her first weekend of competition at the college level. The native of Chino Hills hit .538 (7-13) with two homers, six RBI, seven runs and a double in her four games at the SportCo Kick-Off Classic. Her batting average was the second-best showing in the Big West over the league’s first weekend of competition.

PLAY BALL...UNTIL YOU HAVE TO LEAVE
UC Davis thought it had just rallied in the seventh inning to take the lead in its final game at the SportCo Kick-Off Classic but then a quick look at the clock instead handed the Aggies a loss. Thanks to the “drop dead” rule that was agreed upon by both coaches prior to the start of the game, the game is determined by the score at the completion of the previous inning if one team has strick travel requirements. Since UCD had strict travel requirements, the game became a final after six innings with UNLV ahead 3-2

POWER SURGE
In the 2009 season, Cal State Northridge relied on small ball to score its runs, belting just nine homers in 50 games. Well 2010 looks to be slightly different as the Matadors smacked four home runs in their first five games. Two of the three players responsible for the roundtrippers equaled or surpassed their 2009 total, while the third is one away from tying her total from the previous season.

GOOD START FOR THE OFFENSE FOR UCR
It is early in the season, but the way that UC Riverside attacked opposing pitching staffs after the season’s opening is certainly cause for optimism. After scoring four or more runs just 15 times in 50 games a year ago, the Highlanders put up at least four runs in each of their four games last weekend. In all, UCR hit a robust .358, scored 23 runs, recorded 43 hits and slugged .458.

WE’LL TAKE OUT YOURS IF YOU TAKE OUT OURS
In one of the more bizarre statistical oddities from the first weekend of the season, Big West batters struck out 164 times, while Big West pitchers struck out, you guessed it, 164 opposing hitters. Cal State Fullerton batters fanned a league-high 35 times in 123 at-bats last weekend, while UC Davis’ pitching staff picked up 34 K’s in 127 at-bats.

JUST WAITING OUR TURN
Preseason Big West favorite Cal Poly was the lone team not to be in competition last week, but when the Mustangs take the field this weekend, they’ll have an interesting trend to keep an eye on. Under Jenny Condon, the Mustangs are 51-45 overall with a 23-16 mark in Big West play in even numbered years and 115-45 overall with a 47-13 mark in league games in odd years. Plus the only league titles and NCAA appearances for Cal Poly came in odd numbered years, 2007 and 2009.

NEW (OLD) VOICE IN THE DUGOUT
Cal State Northridge has a new voice at the helm of the program as associate coach Roni Sparrey takes over. Sparrey is a veteran of Big West battles as she played and coached at Cal Poly before joining the CSUN coaching staff prior to the 2007 season. In her three seasons as an assistant with CSUN, the Matador defense has posted an average fielding percentage of .966 and has finished among the top fielding teams in the Big West Conference and Division I. Sparrey also helped the 2009 Matadors lead the Big West in stolen bases, finishing the year with 62 stolen bases. She has also overseen several Matadors receive All-Big West Conference honors, ranging from First Team awards to Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

ANOTHER SEASON, ANOTHER COACHING MILESTONE FOR GROMACKI
A year ago, Cal State Fullerton head coach Michelle Gromacki became just the fourth coach in league history to win 350+ overall games and 150+conference outings during Big West membership. This season, Gromacki might not only lead the Titans to its 1,000th win as a member of the conference, but the 11th-year coach is also just 31 wins from 400 for her career.