May 14, 2008

Senior Tiffany Pagano and junior Chelsie Tysdal continued to haul in the postseason awards as each earned spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Pacific Region Second Team, it was announced Wednesday. This is Pagano's second consecutive appearance on the Second Team as she becomes the first Lion to ever win three All-Region honors while Tysdal is honored regionally for the first time.

Pagano (Temecula, CA) keeps adding to her award collection with her third All-Pacific Region Second Team honor, having also earned a spot on the Second Team in 2005 and 2007. Last week, she became the first player in Pacific Coast Softball Conference history to be named the Pitcher of the Year three times and first to do so in back-to-back seasons, having taken home the award as a freshman in 2005 and again last year as a junior. She was also named to the All-PCSC First Team for the third time in her career. Pagano earned PCSC Pitcher of the Week accolades six times in 2008, giving her a conference-record 16 such honors for her illustrious career.

In 2008, Pagano led the PCSC in wins, ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games, opponent batting average, and innings pitched. She went 23-11 for her second straight 20-win season and posted a career-best 1.45 ERA. Her 274 strikeouts over 241 2/3 innings broke her own school record of 227 strikeouts set in 2007 and she completed her career owning the top three single-season strikeout marks in LMU history. This season in conference play, she was 8-6 with a 1.47 ERA while registering 11 complete games and three shutouts in 12 starts.

Pagano finished her career with a record of 72-43 with a 1.85 ERA, and holds six Loyola Marymount career records. In addition to setting school career marks for wins, she also occupies the top spot for games started (119), complete games (87), shutouts (34), innings pitched (778.1) and strikeouts (820).

Tysdal (San Diego, CA) earned her first career regional selection after raking in First Team All-PCSC honors on Monday. The junior had a career year, hitting .382 with 11 home runs and a school-record 50 RBI, ranking in the top-three in the conference in all three categories. She registered a team-high 13 multiple-RBI games and had two or more hits in a contest 17 times. Tysdal raised her average to .393 during conference play and was named the conference's Player of the Week twice (February 26 and March 25).

Pagano and Tysdal were the only non-Pac 10 players named to the All-Pacific Region teams. This year marks the sixth straight season that an LMU player has been recognized regionally.

LMU went 38-18 overall and 13-7 in PCSC play to finish in second place, one game behind champions Sacramento State. It was the program's tenth consecutive winning season and eighth of 35-or-more wins under Head Coach Gary Ferrin, who collected his 500th career victory on May 3 at Saint Mary's.