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Aggies Host La Tech In WAC Weekend Softball Series
April 12, 2007
LOGAN, Utah -
Complete USU Softball Notes in PDF Format
Louisiana Tech (20-24, 3-6 WAC) at Utah State (11-23, 1-5 WAC)
This Weekend's Utah State Schedule - All Times MT
QUICKLY - Utah State softball (11-23, 1-5 WAC) hosts Louisiana Tech (20-24, 3-6 WAC) in a Western Athletic Conference three-game series this weekend at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. First pitch for Friday's game is set for 3 p.m., while Saturday's twinbill is slated for a 1 p.m. start. ADMISSION - All games at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field are free admission to the public. SUPER 700 - Saturday's second game was USU head coach Candi Letts' 700th career game. Letts now has a career record of 324-375-1 (.464). Letts is third in the WAC among active coaches behind Fresno State's Margie Wright (1,680 games) and Bob Collen of Hawai'i (1,114 games). WAC STANDINGS - La Tech enters the weekend in a three-way logjam for fourth in the league standings, while Utah State is seventh. An Aggie sweep this weekend could vault USU as high as a tie for third depending on the outcome of the other games around the conference this weekend. FIRST TRIP TO LOGAN - This weekend is La Tech's first-ever trip to Logan. SERIES HISTORY - Utah State is 1-4 all-time vs La Tech, having lost four in a row. The teams first met in 1985, with USU winning 2-0, before La Tech won 6-2 in 1989, both at neutral fields. The Aggies and Lady Techsters didn't face each other again until last season's three-game WAC series at Ruston, La., with La Tech winning all three, 5-, 6-4, and 9-1, on April 14-15. ABOUT UTAH STATE - The Aggies are 11-23 overall and 1-5 in WAC action, after going 1-2 in a WAC weekend series against Nevada this past weekend. USU lost 9-0 in six innings on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday, before rallying from a 5-0 deficit after three innings to win the final game, 7-5, belting two home runs, including senior C Jami Uragami's first career round-tripper. The Aggies snapped a six-game losing skein last Tuesday, splitting a twinbill with Utah Valley State, dropping the first game, 11-0 in five innings, but winning the nightcap, 7-1. USU, which has lost eight of its last 10, had its doubleheader at Idaho State Tuesday cancelled due to wind and snow after the Aggies were ahead 2-0 in the top of the third. ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH - The Lady Techsters bring a 20-24 overall and 3-6 WAC ledger into this weekend. La Tech was swept by McNeese State in a doubleheader Wednesday, 2-0 and 3-2. In their last five games, the Lady Techsters have lost four of them, as well as 10 of their last 14. After a nine-game homestand, this weekend's games are La Tech's first road games since March 27. The Lady Techsters have a 4-14 record in road games, currently on a six-game road losing skid. BETTER THAN BEFORE - USU is 11-23 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 11-23 ledger matches USU's best record through 34 games of the 2000's, tying the 2005 and 2000 squads. Both the 2005 and 2000 Aggies won their next two games to improve to 13-23 through 36 games. Saturday's win allowed USU to nab its first conference win in its sixth league game, compared to the first WAC win coming in last year's 12th league game. 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 seventh in the WAC statistics in team batting (.255) and rank fifth in the conference in home runs with 24... The Aggies also are second in the league in stolen bases (40-54). - Defensively, USU is seventh in team pitching, with a 5.32 team ERA... The Aggie pitching staff is tied for sixth in strikeouts (151) and third in fewest walks issued (101). - USU's pitching staff has topped last season's strikeout total, currently with 151 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 34 games, USU has surpassed last year's total, belting 24 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 five 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, while Fife is tied for the fifth-most... 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 40 stolen bases in 54 attempts... That total is over halfway to the school record of 67 from the 1981 national-championship season in 46 games. - The 40 stolen bases are the most since the 2002 squad swiped 40... USU currently averages 1.18 stolen bases per game, in order to break the school record, they will have to average 1.47 stolen bases per game. - After holding three of the top 10 batting spots in the conference statistics, USU now only has one player in the top 10, senior 1B/OF Jamie Fife's team-leading .360 average is seventh... Fife also ranks second on the team with 15 RBI. - Fife is 9-16 (.562) in the last seven games... she entered last week with a .329 average and went 7-13 (.538) in USU's five games, pushing her average to .360.. Had at least one hit in four of USU's five games, hitting for the cycle for the week... belted a two-run home run for the tying and go-ahead run in USU's 7-5 win over Nevada... Fife hit as many HR's last week (one), as all of her injury-shortened season last year... has a hit in seven of last 10 games, having a career-long four-game hitting streak snapped Friday. - Junior 3B Amy Schaible got her average back above .300 (.306), after it had slipped below .300 for the first time this season last week, and ranks tied for third in the league with home runs (7)... Schaible leads USU in total bases (55), runs scored (20) and at bats (98). - Schaible is the only player start in all 34 games and Schaible and Evans are the only two players to play all 34 games. - Sophomore P Lindsey Benson is 12th in the WAC in ERA (3.78) and tied for seventh in strikeouts (77)... 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 April 3 with 11 against Utah Valley State - Senior P Lexy Perry ranks second on the team and 13th in the league in ERA (4.24) 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 20 K's this season in 10 appearances, Perry has doubled last year's season total of just eight strikeouts in nine appearances. - Freshman P Stacey Ellingsworth is 15th in the league in ERA (5.72) and is second on the team in strikeouts (41). - Schaible holds the longest active hitting streak at four games... Schaible had a season-opening eight-game hitting streak... Junior C Heather Haak and sophomore 1B Aubrie Stroman each had a five-game hitting streak earlier in the season as well. - Fife leads the team with eight multi-hit games, while Schaible has six and Stroman has five... Fife and Evans lead the team with four hits in a game. - Schaible leads the team for multi-RBI games with six, followed by Fife with five... 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, while Stroman and Reilly each have five RBI outing - Fife leads the team in both average with runners in scoring position (.480, 12-25) and runners on (.441, 15-34), as well as average with two outs (.412, 14-34). - Freshman OF Emily Reilly is second on the team in average with runners in scoring position (.438, 7-16), and second in average with runners on (.333, 8-24). - Reilly also is second in average with two outs (.381, 8-21), highlighted by her two-run home run in the top of the seventh against Portland State on Feb. 17. 2006 Season Highlights - USU turned a rare triple play last season on April 28 against New Mexico State, one of only two WAC teams to pull off the feat (Louisiana Tech). - 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
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 - Head coach Candi Letts is in her first year at the helm of the Aggies, but has 12 years of experience as a Division I head coach. - 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 324-375-1 (.464) in 700 career games spanning 13 seasons, reaching the 200 and 300 win milestones while at Ole Miss... Letts coached 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 -
Sophomore OF Emma Barnes leads La Tech and ranks eighth in the WAC with a .358 batting average, to go with 13 RBI. Barnes also has a conference-leading 17 stolen bases (17-19). Ashley Cameron, a senior OF, has a team-high eight HR ranking fifth in the WAC, as well as ranking second on the team with a .295 average and is third on the team with 20 RBI. Junior 2B Rochelle Sandberg and freshman IF Amberly Waits share the team lead with 22 RBI. Waits leads the league with four triples.
In the circle, sophomore Krissi Oliver ranks sixth in the league with a 3.07 ERA, as well as fifth in the conference with 104 strikeouts. Oliver has a 15-16 record with four shutouts.
Fifth-year LTU head coach Sarah Dawson (UL Monroe, 1997) has a 99-179 record.
SERIES HISTORY vs. OPPONENT - FIRST LAST OPPONENT W L T PCT. GAME GAME Louisiana Tech 1 4 0 .200 1985 2006Note: La Tech's first-ever trip to Logan... Lady Techsters have won four in a row in the series.
ON DECK - Utah State heads to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley State in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 17 at 2 p.m. The Aggies then resume WAC action with a three-game series at San Jose State on April 20-21, before returning home to host Idaho State on Tuesday, April 24.
Admission to all of USU's home games at Johnson Field is free to the public.
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