No. 5 Arizona State Softball Travels To No. 2 Arizona

April 3, 2000

TEMPE, Ariz. - The fifth-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (34-6, 2-1 Pac-10) will travel to Tucson to play second-ranked Arizona (39-3, 3-0 Pac-10) on Tuesday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. The Sun Devils will play only one game in Tucson against the Wildcats before returning back to Tempe for a weekend series against Stanford and California.

NEW PAC-10 FORMAT: Except for the Sun Devils last conference match up against Stanford on May 13, this season all Pac-10 Conference games wil be single games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) instead of the traditional doubleheaders. Also, instead of the usual 28 game format, Pac-10 teams will now play 21 conference games.

AIR TIME: Arizona State will have five games televised the year by two different stations. Local cable outlet, COX channel 9 will air four games (UNLV (3/24), California (4/8), Arizona (4/21) and UCLA (5/5)), while FOX Sports Net will carry the Oregon State game (4/29) in Corvallis.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Arizona State tallied a 2-1 record during the opening weekend of Pac-10 play. ASU opened with a 6-1 win over 11th-ranked Oregon State and split against 23rd-ranked Oregon, falling 10-0 in the first game and winning 7-3 in the finale. In the first game, Oregon State scored first, however, the Devils made a comeback in the fifth inning. The inning started with Jamie Hlebechuk getting hit by a pitch, and continued with Missy Hixon doubling to right center to put two on. After a walk by Nichole Thompson, pitcher Kirsten Voak doubled to center field, clearing the bases for three RBI's. In the sixth inning, Hixon, Thompson and Voak all hit consecutive singles, then Erica Beach, Sara Kahler and Kara Brun all knocked in RBI's to bring the score to 6-1. Voak gave up only three hits, while striking out nine. In the first game against the Ducks, ASU suffered its worst set back of the year by dropping a 10-0 decison. The game stayed scoreless until the fifth inning when Oregon posted four runs. The Ducks would tag on three more in the sixth and three more in the seventh. ASU had a chance to score first in the fourth inning with the bases loaded, but were unable to plate any runners. Again in the fifth inning, the Devils tried to make a comeback, but ended by stranding two. Arizona State was led by second baseman Missy Hixon, going 2-for-3 on the night including a double. Erica Beach suffered the loss. The Sun Devils would bounce back in the final game on Sunday, highlighted by Voak's 15 strikeout performance. Voak tied her career-high strikeout record, while racking up her seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season. Voak also hit well on the afternoon going 1-for-2, scoring twice. Three hits in the first inning started the Devils off, leading to two runs. Arizona State continued to hit well, tallying 11 hits for the game as well as having nine different Devil batters contribute hits to the total. Right fielder Jennifer Forner went 2-for-2 on the day with two RBI's. Shortstop Kara Brun also hit well going 2-for-4 with one RBI.

GRAND SLAMMIN': So far this season, ASU has hit FOUR grand slam home runs by three different players. Erica Beach with two, Andrea Rodgers and Jamie Hlebechuk each with one.

HEAD COACH LINDA WELLS: Arizona State's storied tradition of softball excellence has flourished under the tutelage of 11th-year head coach Linda Wells, one of the most prominent and successful coaches in NCAA history. Wells, who is currently the 10th-most successful active coach in NCAA Division I history, claimed her 700th win at this year's Fiesta Bowl Tournament as ASU defeated Cal State Fullerton, 8-3. Wells, who holds a 728-571-1 career record, has led the Sun Devils to seven NCAA Regional appearances in 10 seasons, including her first trip to the College World Series in 1999. While at Arizona State, Wells has compiled a record of 377-277 and has had five players earn a total of seven All-American awards.

LIFE'S A BEACH: Sophomore pitcher/designated player Erica Beach is building on her successful freshman campaign that saw her garner NFCA first-team All-American honors. This year in the circle, Beach is 11-4 with six shutouts, a 1.29 ERA and 55 strikeouts. Against Portland State, Beach set a new career-high in strikeouts with seven. At the plate, Beach is batting .383 with seven home runs, including TWO grand slams and a team-high 41 RBIs. She has posted 11 multi-hit games, including a career-high 4-for-4 performance against CS Fullerton, and has had 10 multi-RBI games, including one five RBI game. Beach was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week (3/17) after batting .500 with seven RBIs, helping ASU win the NIST. With her seven home runs this year, Beach is now tied for the all-time single-season mark at ASU. Also her 12 career home runs are good for third all-time, while her 80 career RBIs is good for ninth all-time. Additionally, Beach's 41 RBIs has already surpassed her total (39) last year. She needs only five more to set a new single-season record at Arizona State.

VOAK'S RESUME: Sophomore All-American pitcher/designated player Kirsten Voak is also picking up where she left off last season. After an ASU record-setting 24 win, 314 strikeout season last year, Voak holds a 23-2 record this season with 10 shutouts, a 0.73 ERA and 206 strikeouts. Voak fired her first no-hitter of the season (third career) against Simon Fraser and struckout a season-high 15 against Oregon, which also ties her career-high. Voak has also earned THREE Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week (2/22), (3/17), (4/3) honors, with her latest coming this past weekend against the Oregon schools. Voak posted a 2-0 record, picking up wins over 11th-ranked Oregon State and 23rd-ranked Oregon. Against Oregon, Voak tied her career-high for strikeouts in a game with 15, while not walking a batter. To begin the game, Voak struck out eight of the first 11 batters, while striking out the side two times. Additionally, Voak struckout every Oregon Batter at least once, while four batters struckout two or more times. Voak went 1-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored and two walks. Against Oregon State, Voak limited the Beavers to three hits, one run, while posting nine strikeouts ... After recording four wins in the Louisville Slugger Tournament where she pitched 24 innings, allowed only three runs, no walks, while striking out 30 ... Voak again earned the honor after posting a 5-0 record, including three shutouts at the NIST. She pitched in six games, totaling 33 innings, allowed only three runs, while striking out 42. For her efforts, Voak earned her second NIST All-Tournament honor. Voak was also named to her second NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team as she recorded three shutouts, pitched 27.1 innings, allowed only eight hits, no earned runs, four walks, while striking out 31. Voak's averaging 8.8 strikeouts per game and holding opponents to a .160 average. At the plate, she is batting a team-high .408 with one home run, seven doubles, 25 runs scored, 18 RBIs and has walked 27 times. Voak now has a career total of 520 strikeouts, good for second all-time in ASU history and 47 wins, good for sixth all-time.

Voak's Career Double-Digit Strikeout Games (15):
15 - Oregon, 7 innings (4/2/00)
15 - Central Michigan, 8.1 innings (5/20/99)
14 - Utah, 7.1 innings (3/13/99)
13 - Santa Clara, 7 innings (3/10/00)
13 - Florida Atlantic, 7 innings (5/22/99)
12 - UNLV, 7 innings (3/26/00)
12 - Iowa, 7 innings (3/17/00)
12 - Portland State, 7 innings (2/26/00)
12 - Nebraska, 7 innings (2/13/99)
12 - Oregon State, 6 innings (4/24/99)
12 - Washington, 8 innings (4/10/99)
11 - Utah, 7 innings (3/10/00)
11 - Illinois State, 7 innings (2/20/00)
10 - Oregon, 7 innings (4/25/99)
10 - Utah, 7 innings (3/18/99)

JUNIOR OLYMPIAN TRIO: Leading Team USA with the most players on its roster, Arizona State sophomore's Missy Hixon and Kirsten Voak, along with freshman Kara Brun collected silver medals at the 1999 International Softball Federation Junior Women's World Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. Hixon, who played and started in seven games, finished with a .400 batting average (10-25) and was second on team with nine RBIs and three doubles. Hixon also finished third in runs scored (9) and fourth in hits (10) and batting average. Brun played in six games, starting five and also batted .400 (6-15). She finished tied for second on the team in doubles (3) and third in RBIs (8). Voak tied for the team-high in wins with three, recorded a team-second best 33 strikeouts and had a 0.35 ERA. In 20 innings pitched, opponents batted a miniscule 0.76, both team-highs. Voak combined with teammate Keira Goerl to no-hit Chinese Taipei, 4-0. Voak fired the first four innings, striking out seven while giving up only one walk for her first win. Against Venezuela, Voak struckout 12 batters in six innings for her second win. She then propelled Team USA into the gold medal game by throwing her second complete game, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 against Taipei. Voak also posted a save against New Zealand, pitching three innings of no-hit ball.

CAREER MILESTONES: Head Coach Linda Wells needs 22 wins to reach 750 ... Erica Beach needs three more home runs to move into second all-time ... Beach needs five RBIs for the single-season record ... Voak needs 109 strikeouts to re-set the single-season mark at ASU, and 286 strikeouts for the all-time record ... Voak needs two more wins to re-set last year's single-season record ... Missy Hixon needs 19 more doubles for the all-time record ... Kara Brun needs seven more doubles for the single-season record ... Arizona State, as a program, needs 43 more wins to reach 900 in its history.

DYNAMIC DUO: Sophomores Missy Hixon and Nichole Thompson, who play second base and center field respectively, each contribute in similar ways. Hixon has started and played in all 40 games with Thompson starting and playing in 37 ...Thompson's hitting .385, Hixon .323 ... Thompson has 45 hits, Hixon with 42 ... Thompson has scored 37 times, Hixon 24 ... Hixon has 16 RBIs, while Thompson has produced 14 ... Hixon has nine doubles, Thompson has seven ... Thompson has 14 multi-hit games, while Hixon has 13 ... Hixon and Thompson have each posted three multi-RBI games ... Hixon has produced two home runs from the leadoff spot ... Thompson had a team-high 16 game hitting streak ... Thompson was also named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team by batting .500 (9-18) with six runs scored and two stolen bases.

TOUGH SCHEDULE/TOUGHER CONFERENCE: As in any season, Arizona State will face some of the nation's top programs. So far, ASU has posted a 13-6 record against top-25 teams. The Sun Devils have also played in five tournaments this season. After hosting the Fiesta Bowl and Louisville Slugger Tournaments, ASU played in the NFCA Leadoff Classic (Columbus, Ga.), National Invitational Softball Tournament (San Jose, Calif.) and the KIA Klassic (Fullerton Calif.). Within the toughest conference in the nation, the Pacific-10, ASU will face a nationally-ranked ranked team every time out. All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top-25, including the top five positions, while six of the eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top-10. Pac-10 teams hold a 243-41-1 (.854) record against non-conference opponents and have won 16 tournament titles. Last year all eight Pac-10 teams made it to regional action, with five of the teams advancing to the College World Series.

DEVIL NOTES: ASU has hit 20 home runs (including four grand slams) this year by eight different players (26 total HRs in '99) ... ASU has outscored its opponents 216-59, including 71-11 in the first and second innings combined ... Beach and Voak are combining to limit opponents to less than one walk a game, while striking out seven ... opponents are batting only .184 against ASU ... 13 players have at least two RBIs, including 10 in double-digits ... ASU has started eight underclassmen at one time ... ASU's longest winning streak of the year - 9 games (three times) ... ASU has not allowed a sacrifice fly this season, while the Sun Devils have posted 12.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All publicity for the ASU softball team are coordinated by Assistant Media Relations Director Will Phillips at (480) 965-1237. Any interviews with ASU softball players or coaches should be arranged through Phillips with at least 48 hours notice.