THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1999

Softball team still first

By Michelle Fithian

On-Line Forty-Niner

Playing its biggest series of the year, the Long Beach State softball team outlasted Pacific last Saturday afternoon, winning two games by 1-0 scores with the nightcap lasting ten innings. Pacific won Sunday's game, 5-1, to stay within a half-game of the 49ers in the Big West race.

Kristi Fox and Traci Hensel combined for 17 shutout innings Saturday, with Hensel getting a win, and Fox picking up a win and a save; her second of the year. Fox also had two hits in the second game. She scored the game-winning run in the tenth inning on an error by the Tigers' catcher, who tried to pick Fox off third base. Jennifer Spigner drove in Christina Zepeda in the third inning of the first game to provide the winning run.

The sweep moved the 49ers 1.5 games in front of the Tigers and into first place in the Big West with four games to play. The Beach will host fourth-place Sacramento State for three games Friday and Saturday.

This weekend's action will decide the Big West title and subsequent automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. While the 49ers host Sacramento State for three games, the two teams tied for second place in the conference, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton, will play three games at Fullerton. Cal State Northridge, tied for fourth place with the Hornets, will host eighth-place Utah State in a three-game series. The top five teams in the league are separated by just 1.5 games.