April 6, 2005

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QUICKLY -- The team starts an extended home stand, beginning the first of 11 home games with a double header against Northern Colorado on Thursday and then finishing up the week playing a doubleheader against Big West Conference rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday and another game on Sunday... The Aggies have played Northern Colorado 26 times in the past and Utah State leads the series 15-11... Utah State and UC Santa Barbara have mathced up 53 times and Utah State leads the series 30-23... USU is 7-21 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.

NORTHERN COLORADO PREVIEW -- Northern Colorado finished last year, 6-32, losing their last 11 games. Utah State last played Northern Colorado in 1984. UNC is currently 8-17 on the season and are coming off two losses to Colorado State, 12-2 and 10-1 (5) on March 29.

Whitney Platten is the Bears' leading hitter, with a .397 average, including 10 doubles, two home run, and 15 RBI. Platten also leads the team in hits (27), doubles (10), RBI (15), and slugging percentage (.632). Three other Bears are above the .300 mark including Katie Miller (.385), Casey Hogue (.321), and Morgan Dahlman (.311). As a team, Northern Colorado is hitting .259, while its pitchers are allowing opponents a .349 average.

Pitcher Stephanie Miller (3-7) leads the team with a 3.20 ERA. She has pitched 65.2 innings and given up 84 hits and 30 earned runs. She is followed by Kelsey Dumler (5-10) who has a 5.81 ERA after 88 innings. The entire pitching staff has a combined 5.09 ERA.

UC SANTA BARBARA PREVIEW -- UC Santa Barbara finished last year, 32-31 and ranked second in the Big West Conference. The second place finish was the highest in program history. Their record secured them a spot for their first ever NCAA appearance where they lost 8-1 to Northwestern. Utah State lost three games to the Gauchos last year 8-2, 2-0, and 2-1. In the second game of the series the Gaucho's freshman pitcher Jennifer Davis recorded 16 strikeouts. UCSB is currently 17-13 on the season and is coming off a three game sweep of UC Riverside.

Kendra Singley is UCSB's top starting hitter, with a .317 average, including one double, two triples, three home runs, and 16 RBI. Lindsey Herrin leads the team with a slugging percentage of .581 and has recorded five doubles, one triple, seven home runs, and 21 RBI. Johnson places in the top 10 in five seperate catagories in the Big West, slugging percentage (fourth), RBI (sixth), home runs (second), walks (sixth), and total bases (eighth). As a team, Long Beach is hitting .230, while its pitchers are holding opponents to a .211 average.

Pitcher Jennifer Davis (10-6) leads the team with a 1.28 ERA. She has pitched 109.1 innings giving up 75 hits and only 20 earned runs. Last week she was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week after pitching two consecutive shutouts against UC Riverside. Davis leads the Big West with 126 strikeouts this season. The entire pitching staff has a combined 2.08 ERA.

TEAM NOTES -- Amy Schaible showed consistency over the weekend as she was the only player to hit in both games of the double header played against LBSU on Saturday... She also had come up big the weekend before for the Aggies in the first game vs. Cal Poly where she went 2-2 at the plate with two RBI and crushed the ball out of the park for her first career home run... Higley is leading the bullpen with a 3.57 ERA allowing 35 earned runs in 68.2 innings... Higley is also leading the team with 32 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 (.282), runs scored (13), on base percentage (.364), walks (9), hits (22), and is tied for first in home runs (2) and RBI (10)... Sara Fleming is second on the team, hitting a respectable .259... Jessica 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 13th 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 sixth. Texas A&M is currently leading the Big 12 Conference with a 28-2 record. Arizona State moved up two spots to 22nd this week. They defeated the Aggies 11-2 earlier this year. One other Aggie opponent, Long Beach State, received votes in the poll.