March 29, 2005

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QUICKLY -- Utah State's softball team has a short week as it travels to Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday to face Utah and then start their home season by playing three games against conference rival Long Beach State... This will be the 132nd time Utah State and Utah will match up with Utah leading the series at 79-52... The Aggies will play two games vs. Long Beach State on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then play one on Sunday at noon... USU is 7-16 under its first year head coach Lonny Sargent... The Aggies return 10 letterwinners from last year's 10-41 team, which went 6-15 in the Big West and finished seventh in the conference.

UTAH PREVIEW -- Utah finished last year, 20-27, seven games short of a winning record. Utah last played Utah State exactly one year ago on March 30 with the Utes winning the game 4-2. Utah is currently 9-14 on the season and is coming off a 6-0 loss to Stanford at the Stanford Tournament on March 20.

Devina Quintero is the Utes' leading hitter, with a .322 average, including four doubles, one home run, and four RBI. Bryanne Durrence is also above the .300 mark with an average of .311. Ivette Hernandez is the Ute who strikes fear into opposing pitchers with six home runs and a stellar 17 RBI on the season. As a team, Utah is hitting .234, while its pitchers are allowing opponents a .272 average.

Pitcher Brianna Gourdin (6-6) leads the team with a 1.62 ERA. She has pitched 82.1 innings giving up 80 hits and only 19 earned runs. She is followed by Samantha Schroeder (0-1) who has a 2.84 ERA after 12.1 innings. The entire pitching staff has a combined 3.07 ERA.

LONG BEACH STATE PREVIEW -- Long Beach State finished last year, 51-13 and ranked 17th in the nation. The 51 wins were the most in program history, and the 13 losses were the fewest in school history as well. Utah State lost three games to the 49ers last year 5-0, 4-0, and 16-0. In the second game of the series the Aggies allowed the 49ers to record the sixth perfect game in scool history. Long Beach State is currently 20-12 on the season and is coming off a three game win streak sweeping three games vs. UC Davis.

Tiffanie Wedell is LBSU's top starting hitter, with a .307 average, including two triples, and seven RBI. Lauren Johnson leads the team with a slugging percentage of .500 and has recorded six doubles, one triple, five home runs, and 24 RBI. Johnson places in the top four in four seperate catagories in the Big West, runs scores (4), RBI (2), home runs (4), and total bases (1). As a team, Long Beach is hitting .254, while its pitchers are allowing opponents a .192 average.

Pitcher Meredith Cervenka (12-6) leads the team with a 1.66 ERA. She has pitched 122.0 innings giving up 85 hits and only 29 earned runs. Last week she broke a school record with 66 career wins. Cervenka leads the Big West with 100 strikeouts this season. The entire pitching staff has a combined 1.84 ERA.

TEAM NOTES -- Amy Schaible came up big for the Aggies in the first game vs. Cal Poly going 2-2 at the plate with two RBI and crushing the ball out of the park for her first career home run... Leslie Higley (4-7) has allowed only two earned runs in the last 13 innings she has pitched... She scattered four hits over seven innings and struck out two batters to shut out CS Northridge and kept Utah State within striking distance of Cal Poly by allowing only two runs when the Mustangs had a perfect game... Higley is leading the bullpen with a 3.34 ERA allowing 27 earned runs in 56.2 innings... Higley is also leading the team with 27 strikeouts... Quela Henderson-Leonhardt had an eight game hitting streak from Feb. 19th against Texas A&M to March 17th against UCLA... During that stretch she hit .458, with eight runs, seven RBI, two doubles, and two home runs... Leonhardt now leads the Aggies in batting average (.273), runs scored (13), on base percentage (.360), walks (9), and is tied for first in hits (18) and home runs (2)... Jessica Garnett is second on the team, hitting a respectable .265... Garnett recorded a home run, which was the first in her career, against seventh-ranked Texas A&M and pitcher, Jill Weyand, who owned a 0.74 ERA on the season.

RANKED OPPONENTS -- Three Utah State opponents are ranked in the top 25 of the USA TODAY/NFCA poll. UCLA fell three spots to the tenth position this week. The Bruins have won two consecutive national championships and hope to defend their title this year. Texas A&M stayed steady this week and are currently 7th. Texas A&M is currently leading the Big 12 Conference with a 28-2 record. Arizona State stayed at the 22nd spot this week. They defeated the Aggies 11-2 earlier this year. Two other Aggie opponents, BYU and Long Beach State, received votes in the poll.