Roger Kirk, Assistant AD for Media Relations | Office: (562) 985-7565 | Cell: (562) 505-0975 Email: [email protected] • www.longbeachstate.com February Saturday 27 Sacramento State CNCLD 27 at Fresno State CNCLD Long Beach State CS Fullerton Sunday 28 Sacramento State CNCLD 28 at Fresno State CNCLD Beach Titans March (30-9, 22-2 Big West) (38-12, 21-0 Big West) Thursday 4 at San Diego L, 4-0 4 at San Diego L, 3-2 Saturday 6 #4 UCLA PPD Tuesday 9 San Diego W, 4-2 LEADING OFF 9 San Diego W, 2-0 Sunday 14 Loyola Marymount W, 9-1 (6) • Long Beach State returns to the postseason after a one-season absence, making a 25th total 14 Loyola Marymount W, 8-0 (6) NCAA appearance. The Beach earned the right with a three-game sweep of Cal State Fullerton Tuesday 16 at California Baptist L, 2-1 to capture a ninth Big West Conference Championship with a 22-2 league record, and will start 16 at California Baptist L, 5-4 Sunday 21 • UC Riverside W, 3-1 the Los Angeles Regional with a rematch against No. 2 UCLA. 21 • UC Riverside W, 13-2 (5) Monday 22 • UC Riverside W, 7-3 • The Beach will head to UCLA for the eighth time in their postseason history, and will face off Saturday 27 • at UC Davis W, 8-3 with more familiar foes in the regional. Long Beach State has played UCLA 84 times, Fresno 27 • at UC Davis W, 2-0 Sunday 28 • at UC Davis L, 3-2 State 55 times and Minnesota on 13 occasions. April • The Bruins won the two previous meetings this season against LBSU in Long Beach, while the Friday 2 • at CSUN W, 9-0 (5) Saturday 3 • at CSUN W, 9-1 two games against the Bulldogs to start the season were scratched due to a COVID-19 pause 3 • at CSUN W, 6-3 within the LBSU program. The Beach has also played Minnesota three times in the last five Saturday 10 • UC San Diego W, 12-0 (5) years, going 2-1 against the Golden Gophers. 10 • UC San Diego W, 3-0 Sunday 11 • UC San Diego W, 7-6 11 UC San Diego W, 14-4 (5) • Long Beach State was one of the final programs to get started in 2021 due to local health reg- Friday 16 • at UC Santa Barbara W, 7-3 ulations. LBSU had its first practice on February 15, and due to an early pause, played its first Saturday 17 • at UC Santa Barbara W, 8-2 game on March 4. After splitting the first eight games of the season, Long Beach State has gone 17 • at UC Santa Barbara W, 5-4 26-5 since March 21. Sunday 18 at UC Santa Barbara W, 11-3 (6) Saturday 24 • Cal Poly L, 5-1 24 • Cal Poly W, 9-3 • Kim Sowder’s efforts in navigating the 2021 season earned the skipper in her 15th season Big Sunday 25 • Cal Poly W, 4-2 West Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in her career. Closing in on 500 career wins, Friday 30 • at Hawai’i W, 10-2 (5) 30 • at Hawai’i W, 8-1 Sowder won her 200th Big West game last weekend and has guided the Beach to eight postseason appearances. May Saturday 1 • at Hawai’i W, 17-9 (5) • Senior Kellie White was honored as the Big West Pitcher of the Year, the 13th player from 1 at Hawai’i W, 15-3 (5) Wednesday 5 #2 UCLA L, 5-1 LBSU to earn that honor. Facing a critical series against the Titans, White pitched every inning, 5 #2 UCLA L, 10-2 (5) including a 1-0 complete game shutout in a must-win game to lead Long Beach State to the title. Saturday 8 California L, 7-1 White finished the regular season with an ERA of 1.94 and 1.54 in Big West play, and led the 8 California W, 3-2 (9) Friday 14 • Cal State Fullerton 1 p.m. league in conference wins with 14 and was second in conference strikeouts with 85. Additionally, 14 • Cal State Fullerton 3 p.m. Shannon Haddad was named the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, going 8-0 with 64 Saturday 15 • Cal State Fullerton 1 p.m. strikeouts in 13 appearances prior to a season-ending injury. 15 Cal State Fullerton CNCLD NCAA Los Angeles Regional Friday 21 at #2 UCLA 7:30 p.m. • In total, Long Beach State also had seven other players earn All-Big West honors. In addition Saturday 22 NCAA Regionals TBA to White and Haddad, Alyssa Gonzalez, Suzy Brookshire, Naomi Hernandez and Breezy Wise Sunday 23 *NCAA Regionals TBA were all named First Team All-Big West. Additionally, catcher Justine Briones, second baseman Emily Salazar and outfielder Lilyanna Martinez all earned Honorable Mention. All Times Pacific Home Games in BOLD at LBSU Softball Complex • White and Wise were named the Big West Pitcher and Player of the Week for the final week • Designates Big West Opponent of the season for their role in sweeping the Titans and taking home the championship. White’s three wins are noted above, while Wise hit .556 against the Titans and had at least one RBI in each game, hitting a two-run homer in game two and drawing the game-winning walk in the 1-0 game three victory. Upcoming Games: Friday, May 21 - LBSU at UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, StatBroadcast) Saturday, May 22 - NCAA Regionals Los Angeles, Calif. TBA (ESPN Family, StatBraodcast) *Sunday, May 23 - NCAA Regionals Los Angeles, Calif. TBA (ESPN Family, StatBraodcast) BEACH NOTEBOOK PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP University Information Quick Hits: It’s trip No. 25 to the postseason for Long Beach State, who are looking to make a run and advance Name of School ........................................ Long Beach State Location ....................................................Long Beach, Calif. to the Women’s College World Series for the sixth time in program history. Big West Pitcher of the Year Kellie Founded ........................................................................1949 White leads the pitching staff, while the Beach have four hitters hitting over .380 in Alyssa Gonzalez, Enrollment ..................................................................39,360 Suzy Brookshire, Naomi Hernandez and Breezy Wise. Additionally, the Beach have seven hitters batting over Nickname.....................................................................Beach .300, an offense that will hope to support White and Samantha Fowler. School Colors ................................................Black and Gold Conference ..............................................................Big West Position-Player AVG H RBI NOTES Facility (Capacity) ...................LBSU Softball Complex (500) C- Justine Briones .288 15 19 Hit game-winning triple game one vs. CSUF President ...............................................Jane Close Conoley 1B- Alyssa Gonzalez .418 51 33 LBSU career leader in batting average Athletics Director ....................................................Andy Fee 2B- Emily Salazar .303 27 17 Had 12-game hitting streak in 2021 SWA .....................................................................Ashlie Kite 3B- Suzy Brookshire .417 48 49 Broke BW record with 3 HRs in one game Athletic Communications SS- Cam Cecil .310 27 18 Started every BW game at SS Assistant AD/Media Relations ..............................Roger Kirk LF- Breezy Wise .381 43 40 BW Player of the Week after Fullerton series Office Phone ................................................. (562) 985-7565 CF- Sara Olson .240 18 6 Freshman plays multiple OF positions Cell Phone .................................................... (562) 505-0975 RF- Naomi Hernandez .400 46 16 2-time First-Team All-Big West selection Email....................................................roger.kirk@csulb.edu DP- Kyra Snyder .273 12 3 Had walkoff hit in win over Cal Website.........................................www.longbeachstate.com UTL- Rylie Seip .229 11 2 Played in 30 games in 2021 Twitter ...........................................................@LBSUSoftball Instagram......................................................@LBSUSoftball Starting Pitchers W-L ERA IP/K NOTES Kim Sowder Coaching Facts Kellie White 16-6 1.94 130.0/116 Pitched all 21 innings in sweep of Fullerton Head Coach.......................................Kim Sowder, 15th year Samantha Fowler 4-2 2.45 40.0/51 Struck out 8 in nine-inning CG win over Cal Alma Mater ....................................Long Beach State (1993) Shannon Haddad 8-0 2.05 65.0/64 Out since 4/17 Career Record ............................................... 437-295-1 (13) School Record ..............................................................Same NCAA Tournament Appearances ........................................7 COACHES: Big West Championships ....................................................3 Head Coach: Kim Sowder (15th year, 470-305-1 record) Associate Head Coach: Panita Thanatharn Softball Information Assistant Coach: Kevin Castillo 2020 Record .................................................................13-12 Volunteer Assistant Coach: Mariah Ramirez 2020 Conference Record/Finish .................................0-0/NA Letterwinners R/L ...........................................................13/5 Starters R/L ......................................................................7/2 PLAYER NOTES Starting Pitchers R/L.........................................................1/1 • A first-team All-Big West selection, Alyssa Gonzalez hit .463 and didn’t strike out in 24 games of Big Pitchers R/L ......................................................................4/2 West competition. In all games, Gonzalez led the Big West with a .418 batting average and has started Newcomers........................................................................11 every game for Long Beach State, hitting seven home runs with 33 RBI while primarily batting third. Program History The junior is graduating in May and is the LBSU career leader in batting average. First Season ..................................................................1981