A Look Back at the 2009 Big West Softball Season

UC Santa Barbara's Christine Ramos

Cal Poly's Melissa Pura

Cal State Fullerton's Lauren Lupinetti

Another year of highs and accomplishments is in the books for Big West softball, a solid campaign that will go down as one of the more exciting seasons in conference history.

Cal Poly regained its perch atop the Big West mountain, going 41-12 with an 18-3 record in league play. The Mustangs were the league’s dominant bunch from the get go, posting two win streaks of 13 and 14 games, amassing an incredible 18-1 record at home and losing only one conference series during the Big West schedule. The club also set new program standards for overall wins, conference wins and home winning streak (18), and won its first postseason contests as a member of Division I. The squad had its share of awards which included Jenny Condon named Coach of the Year for the third time in five seasons and Anna Cahn heaped with the Big West Pitcher of the Year and first team NFCA All-West Region honors.

Cal State Fullerton had its usual strong season under Michelle Gromacki, going 30-21 and finishing just a game behind Cal Poly with a 17-4 mark. Included in that conference record was a series win over the eventual league champion Mustangs. The 2009 edition of the Titans was an interesting tale of two seasons as they started out with a 5-11 mark but closed the season on a 25-10 run on the way to yet another NCAA Tournament appearance. To illustrate how consistent CSF has been over the years, its seven-game losing skid earlier in the season is the longest in program history.

Rounding out the top three clubs in 2009 was Long Beach State, who finished the year with a 35-21 record, which included a 15-6 mark in Big West games. LBSU also advanced to the NCAA Tournament where it was paired in a regional with longtime nemesis UCLA and former Big West members Fresno State and UNLV. LBSU also picked up two Big West softball awards for the second straight year as Jennifer Griffin was named Co-Field Player of the Year and Taylor Petty was named Co-Freshman of the Year. Petty’s award marked the third consecutive season that the Freshman Pitcher of the Year had come from LBSU.

UC Riverside had arguably its most successful Big West campaign as a member of the conference as the Highlanders won seven games against conference rivals, the most wins during the conference slate for UCR as a member of the Big West. The resurgence of the Highlanders is more impressive considering that just two years ago, UCR went winless in 18 conference outings.

In all, the Big West performed extremely well in non-conference play. The league went 135-114 in non-conference play, won 13 games against ranked non-conference opposition and had a winning record against three of the six BCS conferences. In addition, 2009 marked the first time since the 1999 season that all of the league’s postseason participants won at least one NCAA contest.

There were also many notable achievements by individuals during the 2009 campaign.

Big West Co-Freshman Pitcher of the Year Krista Cobb had the first big-time performance of the season as she registered a perfect game against Wagner on February 7 in the first collegiate start of career. Cal State Northridge's Micah Putnam also recorded her own bit of history as she tied a Big West single-game record with five hits against Cal State Bakersfield on March 21.

Cal Poly senior slugger Melissa Pura became the program’s all-time RBI leader early in the season and wrapped up her distinguished career with 135 RBI, fifth on the all-time Big West ledger. She also finished tied for third on the home run list with 34 career jacks, one of just six players all-time to surpass 30+ career home runs.

Pura wasn't the only player to land on an all-time list. UC Santa Barbara's Christine Ramos wrapped up her season as one of the top hit collectors of Big West lore, climbing to sixth on the all-time hits list with 258 base knocks.

Notable performances also extended to the single-season Big West lists as several players etched their names along the best in conference history. Long Beach State's Jennifer Griffin found herself on two lists as she cracked the doubles and walks ledgers. Griffin's 18 doubles tied her for seventh on the single-season list, while her incredible 50 walks is fourth all-time. She is the fourth player in the history of the conference to be given 50+ free passes in a season. Cal Poly's Krysten Cary also finished on a single-season list as she tied for fifth all-time in homers with her 14 roundtrippers.

It was also the year of the coach on the Big West calendar as several managers reached significant milestones during the course of the 2009 season. Cal State Fullerton head coach Michelle Gromacki entered an elite group of coaches in Big West history with her 150th conference win, making her just the fifth manager in the 24-year plus history of Big West softball to record at least 350 career wins and 150 conference wins at a league school. The other members of the select club are former Long Beach State skipper Pete Manarino (791, 393), former Titan great Judi Garman (581, 302), current Pacific head coach Brian Kolze (519, 210) and Shan McDonald (350, 190) of former league member UNLV. Cal State Northridge head coach Barbara Jordan also joined select company with her 200th career win. Jordan became the 10th coach in Big West history to win 200 games at a member school and stands just 25 victories shy of moving into ninth place on the all-time victories list. Connie Miner of UC Riverside surpassed the 100-victory plateau as head coach of UCR, the first coach in program history to achieve that feat in the club's DI history. Finally Long Beach State head coach Kim Sowder gained her 100th victory in just her third season at the helm of the 49er program, performing close to a level that her predecessor, Pete Manarino, achieved in his first three seasons (119).