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Green Comes Out of Cold To Boost SDSU
The San Diego Union-Tribune Feature Story
Feb. 15, 2002
SAN DIEGO - Jessi Green knew something was out of kilter when it was early April and she was playing softball indoors. Sure, the Serra High alum was awed by the prospect of pitching inside the Metrodome as a University of Minnesota freshman. For a while, anyway. Green is a California girl accustomed to perfecting her pitches on a year-round basis. It wasn't long before she began to feel cooped up. "I hated pitching in cold weather, but I guess I was a little homesick, too," said Green, who now pitches for San Diego State. "I never felt like I was able to completely warm up no matter how many pitches I threw." Yet, Green might have survived a four-year stint in the frozen tundra had she been pitching on a regular basis for the Golden Gophers. Or better yet, had she been healthy. Green suffered an injury to her right knee sometime before the season, but she doesn't know exactly when. "It was just a bad experience all the way around," said Green, who compiled a 2-1 record and 1.78 ERA in 351/3 innings as a freshman. "I was never really happy there, but I didn't want to just quit. I wanted to pitch more, but I was hurting. So they limited my playing time and tried to treat the injury. It wasn't until the end of the (2001) season that they determined that I had a torn ACL and meniscus damage." Thinking that her career might be over, Green relinquished her Minnesota scholarship and limped home. Her first day back she called San Diego State, but before trying to make the Aztecs squad there was the matter of reconstructive knee surgery. Green underwent surgery in May 2001, and it proved to be a new beginning. "At the time Jessi was coming out of high school we were all set with our pitching," said San Diego State softball coach Kathy Van Wyk. "But we were fortunate that she came back to us at the time she did. Tiffany Gowdy wanted to concentrate on hitting and playing right field and didn't want to pitch anymore. So we needed another pitcher." Green hasn't been just another pitcher. Fact is, she has the lowest ERA in the Mountain West Conference at 0.34. "She's definitely been a pleasant surprise for us," Van Wyk said. "She's way ahead of where we thought she'd be." The sophomore right-hander is a bit unorthodox. Her best pitch is a screwball. "Unlike in Minnesota, I feel like I can throw harder and get more snap on the ball out here," she said. "The screwball has always been my main pitch because it breaks inside on the right-handed hitters. It's a perfect jam pitch. I get a lot of easy outs with it." The Aztecs (4-5), who were ranked as high as No. 23 this season, hope to make a national statement when they host the 11th annual Campbell/Cartier Classic this weekend at the Sportsplex USA in Poway. The field of teams includes No. 3 Stanford, No. 16 Fresno State and No. 19 Pacific. The three-day tournament begins at 10 this morning. "I think we're capable of winning this thing," Van Wyk said. "We've started to earn respect from across the country, and deservedly so. But we have to maintain that and go forward." Although the Aztecs were one win short of winning the MWC Tournament and securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament last spring, the so-called experts picked SDSU to finished third behind Utah and BYU in this year's race. "That was a pretty good slap in the face when we weren't picked to win it," said Van Wyk, noting that the Aztecs return seven starters from last year's 41-25 squad. "I'd have to say that I'd be disappointed if we don't win it."
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