The Guins remain on the West coast to play in the Santa Clara Bronco Stampede, Feb. 29-March 2. The Guins open the Stampede against Providence and Sacramento State on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively.

    On March 1 YSU battles Campbell at 1 p.m. and take on host Santa Clara at 3 p.m. YSU closes out the tourney against North Dakota State on March 2 at 1 p.m.

Since Youngstown State started fast-pitch softball in 1980, the Guins have fared decently in season openers over the last 28 seasons. The Guins own an all-time record of 12-16 in season-opening games. Under Head Coach Christy Cameron, YSU is 3-5 in season openers.

The Youngstown State softball team is on the verge of picking up the program’s 500th victory since the school instituted fast-pitch softball in 1980. The Penguins, who have 480 all-time victories, would need to have their fourth 20-win season in the last six years to reach the milestone.

Youngstown State softball Head Coach Christy Cameron ranks second all-time in victories and is just the second coach in school history to win at least 150 games. Cameron notched her 150th win at Youngstown State in the Penguins’ 7-5 win over Wright State on April 28, 2007, and currently has 152 victories while at YSU. She needs 56 more victories to surpass Ed Strauss’ mark of 207 wins and become the school’s all-time leader.

Saint Mary’s is currently 1-6 after dropping a pair of games to San Jose State last weekend (6-4, 3-0). Bronwyn Russell leads the Gaels with a .412 batting average while Kat Delpit is second on the squad with a .316 batting average. Providence is currently 2-5 and is led by Mary Rose Sheehy’s .429 batting average. Sacramento State owns a 4-4 overall mark and Kayla Meeks is the Hornet’s top hitter with a .400 batting average. Campbell owns an impressive 11-3 record entering this week. Brittany Stanley carries a 6-1 record and 2.62 earned-run average while Courtney Quinn leads the Camels with a .486 batting average. Santa Clara is off to a rough start dropping all 15 of its games. North Dakota State carries a 10-3 overall mark into the Bronco Stampede. Laurel Pipkin leads the Bison with a .486 batting average and Allison Bakke leads the pitching staff with an 8-3 mark and a 2.07 earned-run average.

Senior McKenzie Bedra has already put her stamp on the Youngstown State softball record book. The Bowling Green, Ohio native owns the school records for career home runs (23) and slugging percentage (.602). Bedra is also on the verge of breaking the career RBI record. She ranks fourth all-time with 87 career runs batted in and needs 27 more to break Amanda Berry’s all-time record of 113. She also needs seven more to move into third place past Tiffany Patteson (93, 2003-06).

Senior Jamie Fornal likes playing Horizon League opponents. In 11 Horizon League games last season, Fornal boasted a .438 batting average with three doubles and a .531 slugging percentage.

Senior Kelli Sheibley finished off the 2007 season in high fashion. Over the last seven games, the utility infielder batted .400 (8-for-20) with a double and two runs batted in. For the season, Sheibley batted .324 and drove in four runs.

Senior Becky Hibner has a pretty impressive consecutive games streak. The Salem, Ore., native has played in the last 108 games and has played in a total of 137 games in her career.

In just two seasons, junior Kristen McDonnell has established herself as one of the top power hitters in school history. After two seasons, McDonnell has belted 16 home runs, which ranks fourth all-time. McDonnell tied the single-season record with 10 homers in 2006 and cranked six in 2007. She needs two more to move into a tie for second place with Chris Notareschi (18, 1995-98).