May 9, 2007

Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. - Utah State's Western Athletic Conference Softball Tournament debut was a bit on the rough side, as the sixth-seeded Aggies were stymied by seventh-seeded Louisiana Tech, 8-1, Wednesday afternoon at a hot and sunny Bulldog Diamond on the campus of Fresno State.

USU, which was making its WAC Tournament debut in the Aggies' second season in the league and its first conference tournament appearance since 1990, falls into the loser-out bracket and will play at 5 p.m. (MT) on Thursday. The Aggies will face fifth seed San Jose State, who lost to second seed and host Fresno State, 5-0, Wednesday afternoon.

SJSU is 21-27 after the loss, its sixth straight loss. The Spartans took two of three from the Aggies in their regular-season match-up, April 20-21, at San Jose, Calif.

Fans can follow all of the WAC Tournament games via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics during the game,through the USU website at www.UtahStateAggies.com, or through host Fresno State's website at www.gobulldogs.com.

With the loss, USU falls to 17-35 overall and currently on a season-long eight-game losing skid. The loss also snapped the Aggies' three-game win streak in the series with the Lady Techsters after USU swept the regular-season series. USU now trails the all-time series with LTU, 5-4.

The Lady Techsters halted a three-game losing skid in improving to 22-26 overall and advance to Thursday's second-round game at 2:30 p.m. (MT) against the winner of the Fresno State-San Jose State contest.

The Aggies got on the board first after freshman 2B Nicole Rupp made a successful season-debut in the leadoff spot by reaching on an error by her La Tech counterpart at second and the ball wend to the gap in right center, allowing Rupp to motor around the bases to third.

After back-to-back groundouts, LTU pitcher Krissi Oliver air-mailed a pitch over USU sophomore 1B Aubrie Stroman's head that went to the back stop, allowing Rupp to cross the plate for the Aggies' first run of the game.

That would be USU's only run of the game, as the Aggie bats were held in check by LTU pitcher Krissi Oliver.

Senior RF Lauren Guzman had a single to center in the fourth, but couldn't advance.

In the LTU fourth, the Lady Techsters batted around in hanging six runs on the board for the frame. With one out, LTU was a home run shy of hitting for a consecutive cycle, rapping out a triple, followed by a double and then a single, finishing the inning with seven hits.

In the fifth, senior P Jill Bruins come on in relief of sophomore Lindsey Benson, and got into a bit of a pickle, hitting the first batter she faced followed by a single, before getting out of it unscathed with a sac bunt, a line out and a ground out.

Senior LF Jami Uragami had a one-out single in the fifth, but was out on a fielder's choice, and the rally halted.

LTU tacked on two more runs in the sixth, mixing two singles, a stolen base and a double together for a rally that was sparked with a USU wild pitch. Damage could have been worse, but the Aggie defense held strong. Wiith one out, LTU's Kylie Bassett hit a fielder's choice to USU junior 3B Amy Schaible, who threw home to head off Lyndsey McIlwain and ignited a run-down, with McIlwain eventually getting tagged out trying to retreat to third by junior SS Tara Evans, who fired to Rupp at second to double-up Bassett.

Senior CF Ashley Bellum laced a two-out double to the gap in right center in the sixth, but again the USU rally buzz was killed.

In the Aggies' seventh, Evans started a one-out rally with a Texas leaguer to left for a single, but a fly out and a ground out ended not only the rally but the game.