April 24, 2007

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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State softball used the power of the long ball to propel the Aggies to a twinbill sweep of Idaho State Tuesday, 5-0 and 10-2 (5 inn), at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. Junior 3B Amy Schaible tied the USU single-season school record with her 10th round-tripper of the season and helped USU within one big fly of the team school record.

Tuesday's doubleheader was the first two of six games in a span of five days for Utah State, which plays at Utah on Wednesday at Salt Lake City before returning home for a three-game Western Athletic Conference weekend series with conference-leading Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday.

The win was the third in a row for the Aggies and eighth in last 14 games for USU, which improved to 17-27 overall. After Saturday's 2-0 (8 inn) win over San Jose State, Utah State won on shutouts in back-to-back games for the first time since April 7, 2005, when USU beat Northern Colorado in a doubleheader, 12-0 and 5-0, both in five innings.

Idaho State dropped to 9-31, and are now 0-13 in road games this season.

USU won all three games with ISU this season, which is in its first year of having softball since 1983. The Aggies have now won four in a row and 11 of last 13 against the Bengals and improve to 19-6 all-time against its border neighbors to the north.

In the top of the fifth of game one, Schaible blasted her 10th big fly of the season, tying former teammate Sara Fleming (2005) and Sandy Taylor (1999 and 2000). It was also Schaible's 13th of her career, as she needs five more to tie Jennifer Power (1991-94) and Breanne Smith (1999-2002) for third on the Aggies' career home run list.

Senior CF Ashley Bellum and junior SS Tara Evans both hit two-run homers in the top of the first inning of game two, helping USU hang four runs on the board.

It was Bellum's third HR of the season and her first since a grand slam against Northern Colorado on March 3. For Evans, it was her fifth long ball of the year, moving into a tie for fifth on the single-season HR list with former teammate Quela Leonhardt (2006) and Kelly Smith (1984).

Evans was 4-5 on the day, with a pair of RBI and three runs scored. She also had three bases swiped on the day, giving her 13 stolen bases for the year, moving up to fifth on the single-season stolen bases list, tying Leanne Young (1989) and Janet Leising (1980). USU now has 59 swipes on the season, the most since the 1991 squad had 66 and closing in on the school record of 67 stolen bases by the 1981 National Championship team.

Utah State now has 31 home runs on the season, one shy of the school record of 32 round-trippers set by the 2005 Aggies. Tuesday's second game marked the eighth time this season that USU had multi-HR's in a game.

In game two, all nine USU starters had at least a hit, as the Aggies rapped out 21 on the day.

Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Benson fired her second-straight shutout in game one, and she becomes the first USU pitcher since Kristin Hommel in 2000 to fire consecutive shutouts, after logging her first career blanking in USU's win over San Jose State Saturday.

Game One Recap

USU got on the board with a run in the home half of the first on a groundout RBI by freshman LF Amanda Grow, plating Evans, who opened the inning with a single.

Freshman Emily Reilly came on as a substitute for Grow in the third, and had an RBI single in the fourth.

In the fifth, Schaible blasted her solo shot, and the Aggies tacked on two more runs in the sixth as Evans again sparked the rally with a single. Two batters later Evans stole second, and scored on another RBI single by Reilly, part of her 3-5 effort on the day with three RBI and three runs scored. Reilly then copied Evans and swiped second, one of her four stolen bases on the day. Senior RF Lauren Guzman then laced an RBI single down the left field line, but was caught rounding first too much and thrown out to end the USU threat.

Benson fired nine strikeouts while spraying four hits and only walking one. On the year, Benson now has 113 strikeouts, the most in one season by an Aggie pitcher since Hommel's 135 K's in 2002.

Game Two Recap

Schaible opened the home half of the first frame with a single to center. Bellum then followed with a big fly over the left field fence. Two batters later, senior 1B Aubrie Stroman rapped a double down the right line, and Evans then followed with a home run to left for a 4-0 Aggie advantage.

Idaho State pitcher Andrea Coburn then retired eight in row before Evans led off the fourth with a single up the middle. Guzman then followed with a bloop single down the left field line. Reilly then hit into a fielder's choice, forcing Guzman out at second. Reilly and Evans then successfully executed the first and third double steal, with Reilly swiping second while Evans darted home. Freshman C Simone Hubbard then belted an RBI double to right center to score Reilly.

In the Bengals' fifth, Amy Webb reached on a two-out single and Heather Dixon followed with a home run to left center to pull ISU within 6-2.

Senior DP Jamie Fife, who had her 10-game hitting streak halted in game one, began the Aggie fifth with a single. Stroman followed with a walk. Three batters later Reilly singled to center to plate Stroman. After Reilly swiped second, Hubbard laced a single to center, scoring Evans and Reilly. Junior 2B Whitnie Ray moved Hubbard to third with a single up the middle, and Schaible followed with a double off the base of the fence in right to score Hubbard and end the game due to the run rule.

Senior P Lexy Perry sprayed five hits while striking out two, in improving to 6-5 on the season.

Utah State heads to Salt Lake City on Wednesday to take on Utah in a single-game starting at 3 p.m. Fans can follow Wednesday's game at Utah with live stats via GameTracker. The link is available on the home page of www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official Utah State athletics site.

The Aggies resume Western Athletic Conference play by hosting Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday, April 27-28 in a three-game WAC series in the Aggies' final home action. Saturday will be "Senior Day" as USU honors its seven seniors.

Admission to all of USU's home games at Johnson Field is free to the public.