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WAC Home Opener On Tap This Weekend For USU Softball
April 5, 2007
LOGAN, Utah -
Complete USU SB Notes vs Nevada in PDF Format
Nevada (14-24, 1-5 WAC) at Utah State (10-21, 0-3 WAC)
This Weekend Utah State Schedule - All Times MT
QUICKLY - In their Western Athletic Conference softball home opening action, Utah State (10-21, 0-3 WAC), hosts defending WAC Tournament Champion Nevada (14-24, 1-5 WAC) in a three-game weekend series at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. The Aggies and Wolf Pack open with a single-game on Friday, April 6 at 3 p.m., followed by a twinbill Saturday, April 7 at 1 p.m. HOME OPENING HISTORY - The Aggies have lost their last two conference home openers and five of their last six, coinciding with losing their last two home conference series openers and five of last six conference series home openers... all-time USU is 19-12 in conference home openers, winning eight in a row from 1991-1997. Utah State has the latest home opener in the Western Athletic Conference this season, and one of the 10 latest home openers in the country. ADMISSION - All games at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field are free admission to the public. SUPER 700 - Saturday's second game will be USU head coach Candi Letts' 700th career game. Entering this weekend, Letts has a career record of 323-373-1 (.463). FIRST SINCE `86 - This weekend is Nevada's first trip to Utah State since 1986, and the Aggies are 2-1 all-time against the Wolf Pack, compared to 3-7 at Reno and 6-3 on a neutral field. SERIES HISTORY - Utah State is 11-11 all-time vs. Nevada, though Nevada's record claim a 13-6 Nevada advantage. The Wolf Pack have won nine-straight over the Aggies, including all four match-ups last season, after Utah State won the first seven meetings in a row. USU's last win over UNR happened when most of the current players weren't any taller than the bats they now play with, coming in 1989. Last season, Nevada won 8-2 on Feb. 26 at the San Diego Invitational. In the three-game WAC series at Reno on April 7-8, the Wolf Pack won 3-0, 2-0 and 5-2. ABOUT UTAH STATE - Utah State went 1-1 in the Aggies' home opener Tuesday with Utah Valley State, dropping a 11-0 six-inning contest before bouncing back with a 7-1 win, snapping USU's six-game losing skid. In game one, sophomore P Lindsey Benson fired a career-high 11 strikeouts, but yielded 11 runs on 10 hits. In the nightcap, USU had 12 hits, one shy of the season-high, including a two-run double by junior 2B Whitnie Ray to put USU ahead for good as part of the Aggies five-run fourth inning and junior SS Tara Evans blasted a two-run home run in the fifth. ABOUT NEVADA - The Wolf Pack are the hottest team in the WAC, winning six in a row and seven of the last nine. Nevada, who is the defending WAC Tournament champion and picked third in the conference preseason poll, takes a 14-24 overall record into Thursday's doubleheader action at Utah Valley State. UNR has a 1-5 WAC record, dropping a three-game series at Hawai'i (9-0, 5-4, 6-2) on March 19-20, and losing two of three at home with Fresno State (L 10-0 5 inn, W 9-1 5 inn, L 7-1) on March 23-24. The Wolf Pack then swept a pair from Sacramento State (3-2 and 5-2), then hosting the Nevada Tourney, in which the Wolf Pack beat Utah twice (6-1 and 5-0) and St. Mary's twice (13-2 5 inn and 8-2). Junior P Nicole McPherson was named WAC Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 on the week, logging two complete games, as well as tallying a 0.78 ERA for the week. Nevada assistant coach Liz Kelly is a 1983 graduate of Utah State, and was on the 1981 national champion Aggie softball team, lettering in 1981 and `82 before playing for the USU volleyball team in 1983. BETTER THAN BEFORE - USU is 10-21 on the season, topping last season's win total (8-38), when the Aggies upset then #15 Oregon State, 2-0, on Saturday, at Corvallis, Ore., the Beavers' first shutout loss at home to an unranked team since April 29, 2005. The Aggies' 10 wins reaches double-digits in the win column for the first time in three years, topping last season's 8-38 record. The 10-21 ledger matches USU's best record through 31 games of the 2000's, tying the 2005 and 2000 squad. Both the 2005 and 2000 Aggies lost two of their next three and were both 11-23 through 34 games. LETTS ERA OPENS WITH WIN - First-year Candi Letts won her first game at the helm of the Aggies with the 11-2 win over Southern Utah on Feb. 9. Letts becomes the first USU head coach to win their opener since Pam McCreesh won her first game in 1998. SEASON 32 - The 2007 season marks the 32nd year of softball at Utah State... the Aggies enter the season with a 741-768-3 (.491) overall record... USU has one college World Series appearance (1984, tied for 7th) and four NCAA Tournament appearances (1984, 1989, 1992, 1993)... Utah State won the 1980 and 1981 AIAW National Championships... this is USU's second year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). RETURNING - First-year head coach Candi Letts returns five starters among 14 returning letterwinners from last season's 8-38 overall and 3-14 WAC ledger... junior 3B Amy Schaible (5-6, Red Bluff, Calif.) headlines the returners, as she batted .248 with three doubles, three triples and nine RBI... Jamie Fife (SR, 1B, 5-10, Plain City, Utah) hit .243 with four RBI, and had a .983 fielding percentage... Whitnie Ray (JR, OF/2B, 5-6, Portland, Ore.) had a .230 average with six RBI, and did not commit an error last season, posting a 1.000 fielding pct... Lexy Perry (SR, P, 5-9, Vancouver, Wash.) is USU's leading returning pitcher, posting a 3.79 ERA last season in only nine appearances for 20.1 innings... Lindsey Benson (SO, P, 5-7, Novato, Calif.) has the most appearances among the returning pitchers with 15, throwing 50.2 innings and posting a 5.80 ERA. TIDBITS ABOUT UTAH STATE - - USU is sixth in the WAC statistics in team batting (.258) and rank fifth in the conference in home runs with 22... The Aggies also are second in the league in stolen bases (36-50). - Defensively, USU is seventh in team pitching, with a 5.23 team ERA... The Aggie pitching staff is sixth in strikeouts (145) and third in fewest walks issued (90). - USU's pitching staff has topped last season's strikeout total, currently with 145 K's... last year USU pitchers logged 142 strikeouts. - Last season the Aggies hit a total of 18 home runs in 46 games... this season through 31 games, USU has surpassed last year's total, belting 22 so far this year, including five in a wild 13-12, 8 inning win over Idaho State on Feb. 10. - Junior 3B Amy Schaible leads the team with seven HR's, while senior 1B Jamie Fife has four HR, junior SS Tara Evans has three and three others have two apiece. - With seven HR's, Schaible is fourth on USU's single-season HR list... the school record is 10 round-trippers, done three times by two different players: Sara Fleming (2005) and Sandy Taylor (1999 and 2000). - Schaible also leads the team with 17 RBI, matching last year's season leader Quela Leonhardt's RBI total, and nearly halfway to the single-season school record of 41 RBI by Sandy Taylor in 2000. - Schaible now has 10 career home runs, currently tied for seventh on USU's career HR list with Quela Leonhardt (2003-06) and Kathy Beasley (1993-96). - USU has also topped last season's stolen base total, nearly matching last season's total of 13 stolen bases with 12 swipes in the six games in Colorado March 1-4... On the year, the Aggies now have 36 stolen bases in 50 attempts... That total is just past the halfway mark of the school record of 67 from the 1981 season. - After holding three of the top 10 batting spots in the conference statistics, USU now only has one player in the top 15, senior 1B/OF Jamie Fife's team-leading .354 average is 12th... Fife also ranks second on the team with 15 RBI. - In the last four games, Fife is 7-11 (.636). - Junior 3B Amy Schaible has slipped to hitting .292, below .300 for the first time this season, and ranks tied for third in the league with home runs (7)... Schaible leads USU in total bases (50), hits (26), runs scored (18) and at bats (89). - Schaible is the only player to not only start, but to play in all 31 games. - Sophomore P Lindsey Benson is 13th in the WAC in ERA (4.00) and tied for seventh in strikeouts (75)... Benson's 22 strikeouts in three appearances March 1-4 nearly matched her season total of 25 K's last year in 15 appearances... Benson has established career-high and double-digit strikeout highs twice this season, firing 10 against Colorado State on March 4, and then topping it on Tuesday with 11 against Utah Valley State - Senior P Lexy Perry is leads the team and ranks 12th in the league in ERA (3.74) and has the Aggies' lone shutout on the season, with a 2-0 blanking of then-#15 Oregon State on March 18, USU's first shutout win since April 16, 2005... with 16 K's this season in nine appearances, Perry has doubled last year's season total of just eight strikeouts in nine appearances. - Freshman P Stacey Ellingsworth is 14th in the league in ERA (5.57) and is second on the team in strikeouts (39). - Junior C Heather Haak has the longest active hitting streak at five games, with Fife owning a four-game streak... Schaible had a season-opening eight-game hitting streak... sophomore 1B Aubrie Stroman had a five-game hitting streak earlier in the season as well. - Fife leads the team with seven multi-hit games, while Schaible and Stroman have five each... Fife and Evans lead the team with four hits in a game. - Schaible leads the team for multi-RBI games with six, while Stroman and Reilly each have a four RBI outing... senior OF Ashley Bellum leads the team with five RBI in USU's 12-4 win over Northern Colorado on March 3, blasting a grand slam. - Freshman OF Emily Reilly leads the team in average with runners in scoring position (.467, 7-15), and second in average with runners on (.348, 8-23)... Fife leads USU in average with runners on (.438, 14-32). - Fife also leads USU in average with two outs (.433, 13-30), while Reilly is third (.389, 7-18), highlighted by her two-run home run in the top of the seventh against Portland State on Feb. 17. 2006 Season Highlights - USU led the WAC and was third in the NCAA in double plays turned per game, turning 23 double plays, for an average of 0.5 per game... and the Aggies were the only WAC team ranked in the top 50 in the NCAA in the category. - USU twice turned three double-plays in the one game, one of which came on May 6, the same day that Fresno State turned three double-plays, and was the only other team in the WAC to turn three double-plays. - USU was swept in four of its six WAC series, the only team other than Hawai'i (by Nevada and Fresno State) to be swept in more than one WAC series. - USU had the latest home opener in the WAC last season (March 31 vs. Fresno State) and does again this season, as the Aggies' make their 2007 home debut on April 3... The April 3 home opener is one of the top 10 latest home openers in the country. - Utah State had the most student-athletes earn WAC all-Academic Team honors with eight, twice as many as the next school. BENSON NAMED USU ATHLETE OF WEEK
Benson, a sophomore pitcher went 2-0 in three appearances, and logged a career-high 10 strikeouts in USU's 3-2 win over Colorado State on March 4, as her career-high topped Benson's three-day old previous career-high of nine K's in USU's 6-5 win at Northern Colorado on March 1.
She had at least one strikeout in each inning in the March 4 game, ringing up two in the third, fifth and sixth innings. Her 22 strikeouts in three appearances this week nearly matched her season total of 25 K's last year in 15 appearances.
REILLY TABBED WAC SOFTBALL HITTER OF THE WEEK - March 5
Freshman outfielder Emily Reilly was named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week, announced March 5 by the conference office.
Reilly, a freshman from Portland, Ore. (Central Catholic) posted a .462 average for the week, going 6-for-13 with a double, triple and a home run, as well as three RBI. She had a .923 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage in four games during the week. The outfielder went 2-for-4 with a triple in Utah State's 5-4 win over Northern Colorado on March 1. She was also 3-for-4 with a double two RBI and two runs scored in the Aggies' 12-4 win over the Bears on March 3. Reilly is the first Utah State player to earn hitter of the week honors from the WAC and just the second overall. Last season, Heather Straight earned pitcher of the week honors for the week of May 1. Reilly's honor is the first conference hitter of the week award since Sara Fleming was named the Big West Player of the Week on April 25, 2005. LETTS' BITS - Letts came to USU from Northern Illinois, where she was an assistant for one season... Prior to NIU, Letts was the head coach at the University of Mississippi, where she spent seven seasons guiding the Ole Miss program from 1999-2005, compiling a 153-246 (.372) record, including leading the Rebels to a school-record 30 wins in 2005. - Before Ole Miss, Letts was head coach at Colorado State University from 1994-98, amassing a 160-106-1 (.602) record in her five seasons there, as she re-established the softball program after it had been eliminated for one season. The .602 winning percentage is the highest in school history. In 1997, Letts led the Rams to a 51-14 mark, winning the Western Athletic Conference championship and finishing ninth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) final poll. That season Letts was named the WAC Coach of the Year, as well as the NCAA West Regional Coach of the Year. - Letts has a career head coaching mark of 323-373-1 (.464) in 697 career games spanning 13 seasons, reaching the 200 and 300 win milestones while at Ole Miss... Letts will coach her 700th career game in Saturday's second game. - This is Letts' second go-round in the WAC, as she posted a 79-62 (.560) mark in WAC games while at Colorado State. - As a head coach, Letts has coached four All-Americans, seven all-region players, 12 all-conference winners, one conference player of the year, and one freshman of the year. - As a pitcher at Creighton University from 1979-1983, Letts helped the Bluejays to three-straight trips to the College World Series. In her career in the circle, Letts compiled 43 wins to go with 16 saves, while logging an ERA of 0.76 and firing 276 strikeouts. In the 1982 season, Letts led the country with nine saves, a mark that still ranks as the fifth-most single-season saves in NCAA history. - After graduating from Creighton in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Letts began her coaching career at the high school ranks, including head coach at Burlington, Iowa, for five seasons. Letts moved up to the college level in 1988, returning to Creighton, where she served as an assistant for six years, helping the Bluejays to two NCAA Regional trips, as well as making three appearances in the Top 25 poll and coaching one All-American. In 1991, Letts and Creighton played Utah in the longest game in NCAA history, a 31-inning contest. ABOUT OPPONENT -
Nevada is fifth in the WAC in both team batting (.261) and pitching (3.73 ERA).
Kym Silagyi, a sophomore 2B/OF, leads Nevada and is 11th in the WAC with a .355 average. Sophomore OF Brittany Puzey has a team-leading 29 RBI and is second in the league with 13 doubles.
In the circle, McPherson has an 8-12 record and a 3.49 ERA, ranking 10th in the league, and has chalked up 83 strikeouts on the year. Freshman Katie Holverson leads UNR with 3.46 ERA.
Head coach Michelle Gardner (Michigan, 1989) is in her fourth year at the helm of the Wolf Pack, posting a 129-151 record. Nevada assistant coach Liz Kelly is a 1983 graduate of Utah State, and was on the 1981 national champion Aggie softball team, lettering in 1981 and `82 before playing for the USU volleyball team in 1983. SERIES HISTORY vs. OPPONENT - FIRST LAST OPPONENT W L T PCT. GAME GAME Nevada 11 11 0 .500 1980 2006Note: Nevada's first trip to Logan since 1986... Nevada has won nine in a row in series... USU's last win was in 1989. ON DECK - Utah State heads to Pocatello, Idaho to tangle with the Bengals of Idaho State on Tuesday, April 10. The Aggies then return home to resume WAC action, hosting Louisiana Tech in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday, April 13-14. Friday's single-game starts at 3 p.m. with Saturday's twinbill slated for 1 p.m.
Admission to all of USU's home games at Johnson Field is free to the public.
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