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In-State Match-Up With UVSC In Store For USU Softball Tuesday
April 16, 2007
LOGAN, Utah -
Complete Utah State Softball Notes in PDF Format
Utah State (14-23, 4-5 WAC) at Utah Valley State (16-24)
This Week's Utah State Schedule - All Times MT
QUICKLY - With its longest winning streak since 2005 in tow, Utah State softball (14-23, 4-5 WAC) heads to Orem, Utah to take on in-state foe Utah Valley State (16-24) on Tuesday, April 17, in a non-conference twinbill. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at UVSC's MSTAR Field. This is a make-up doubleheader from the twinbill that was originally scheduled for March 27, but were postponed due to inclement weather. STREAKING AGGIES - Utah State is currently on a four-game winning streak, the Aggies' longest win streak of the season and longest string of wins since April 30-May 8, 2005, when USU also won four in a row. The last five-game win streak was March 13-20, 1999, while the last time the Aggies won six in a row was during a seven-game win streak spanning the last five games of the 1996 season and the first two of the 1997 season. The last six game win streak in the same season was 1993, when USU reeled off 11 straight wins. BETTER THAN BEFORE - USU is 14-23 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' 14 wins reaches double-digits in the win column for the first time in three years, topping last season's 8-38 record. The 14-23 ledger matches USU's best record through 37 games of the 2000's, tying the 2000 squad. That year, the Aggies lost their next two games, so two USU wins Tuesday would be the best record of the 2000's through 39 games, while a split would tie the 2005 Aggies. The win over Nevada on April 7 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. This past weekend's three wins gives the Aggies, who are in their second season in the Western Athletic Conference, their first WAC series sweep. The brooming is also the first conference series sweep since April 3-4, 2004, when USU took three from Cal State Fullerton. WAC STANDINGS - After entering the weekend occupying last place in the conference standings in the seventh-spot, Utah State's three wins vaulted the Aggies to third in the standings. SERIES HISTORY - Utah State holds a 5-3 all-time record vs. Utah Valley State, with four meetings coming in 2005, as the teams didn't play each other last season, but have already faced each other four times this season (2-2), meeting at the Southern Utah Invitational on Feb. 23-24 and April 3 in USU's home opening action. The Aggies lost the first ever meeting, but won the next four in a row, including this season's first match-up, before the Wolverines won the second meeting this year. UVSC won the first game on April 3, 11-0 (5 inn), before USU bounced back to win the nightcap, 7-1. ABOUT UTAH STATE - The Aggies are 14-23 overall and 4-5 in WAC action, after sweeping their first-ever WAC series and first conference series since 2004, beating Louisiana Tech in three games, winning a thriller Friday, 7-6 (9 inn), and taking two Saturday, 12-4 (8 inn) and 6-5. With the three wins, USU runs its win streak to four in a row and five of the last seven. The four wins in a row in USU's longest win streak of the season. ABOUT UTAH VALLEY STATE - The Wolverines are 16-24, winners of six of their last nine, entering hosting Northwest Nazarene in a doubleheader Monday. UVSC split a pair at Idaho State on Saturday, dropping game one, 3-2, before winning the nightcap, 4-2. 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 - - After hitting .414 this weekend, USU climbed from seventh to fifth in the WAC statistics in overall team batting ( .270), and vaulted from seventh to third in WAC only games (.294). - The Aggies are second in the conference in stolen bases (48-65) - Defensively, USU is seventh in team pitching, with a 5.12 team ERA... The Aggie pitching staff is seventh in strikeouts (163) and fourth in fewest walks issued (111). - USU's pitching staff has topped last season's strikeout total, currently with 163 K's... last year USU pitchers logged 142 strikeouts... This year's total is the most since the 2002 pitching staff fired 255 K's. - Last season the Aggies hit a total of 18 home runs in 46 games... this season through 37 games, USU has surpassed last year's total, belting 26 so far this year, including five in a wild 13-12, 8 inning win over Idaho State on Feb. 10... The Aggies are closing in on the school record of 32 set by the 2005 USU squad. - Junior 3B Amy Schaible leads the team with eight HR's, while senior 1B Jamie Fife has six HR, junior SS Tara Evans has three and three others have two apiece. - With eight HR's, Schaible is tied for third on USU's single-season HR list, while Fife is tied for the fourth-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 21 RBI, topping last year's season leader Quela Leonhardt's RBI total, and over halfway to the single-season school record of 41 RBI by Sandy Taylor in 2000. - Schaible now has 11 career home runs, currently tied for sixth 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 48 stolen bases in 65 attempts... That total is closing in on the school record of 67 from the 1981 national-championship season in 46 games. - The 45 stolen bases are the most since the 2002 squad swiped 40... USU currently averages 1.30 stolen bases per game, in order to break the school record, they will have to average 1.43 stolen bases per game. - Junior SS Tara Evans leads USU and ranks tied for fourth in the WAC in stolen bases (10-10), only one of two players in the top five not to be thrown out yet... The 10 swipes rank Evans ninth on the single-season stolen base list. - After one time holding three of the top 10 batting spots in the conference statistics, USU now has two players in the top 15, senior 1B/OF Jamie Fife's team-leading .354 average is ninth, while Schaible's .321 is 15th. - Fife leads USU and ranks ninth in the conference in RBI with 24. - Schaible has her average back above .300 (.321), after it had slipped below .300 for the first time this season last week, and ranks tied for sixth in the league with home runs (8)... Schaible leads USU in hits (35), total bases (63), runs scored (24) and at bats (109). - Schaible is the only player to start in all 37 games, while Schaible and Evans are the only two players to play all 37 games. - Sophomore P Lindsey Benson is 12th in the WAC in ERA (3.66) and seventh in strikeouts (86)... 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. - Benson's 86 strikeouts are the most for a USU pitcher since Kristin Hommel's 135 K's in 2002. - Benson logged her 100th career strikeout against La Tech on April 13, and now has 106 K's, needing 58 more to tie Julie Starratt (1986-89) for 10th on the USU career strikeout list. - Senior P Lexy Perry ranks second on the team and 13th in the league in ERA (4.27) 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 22 K's this season in 11 appearances, Perry has nearly tripled last year's season total of just eight strikeouts in nine appearances. - Freshman P Stacey Ellingsworth is 15th in the league in ERA (5.39) and is second on the team in strikeouts (42). - Schaible holds the longest active hitting streak at seven games, while Evans and Fife currently have five-game streaks... 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 seven and Stroman and Evans have six each... Fife and Evans lead the team with four hits in a game. - Fife leads the team for multi-RBI games with eight, followed by Schaible with seven and Evans 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 outings. - Fife leads the team in both average with runners in scoring position (.484, 15-31) and runners on (.429, 18-42), as well as second in average with two outs (.405, 15-37). - Freshman OF Emily Reilly leads USU in average with two outs (.435, 10-23), highlighted by her two-run home run in the top of the seventh against Portland State on Feb. 17. - Reilly also is second on the team in average with runners in scoring position (.444, 8-18), and second in average with runners on (.357, 10-28). 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
Lindsey Benson was named the Utah State Athlete of the Week for the period ending March 4. The weekly award is voted on by a state media panel.
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 - 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 327-375-1 (.466) in 703 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 -
UVSC is led by sophomore P/OF/1B Heidi Boyer's .394 average. Boyer leads the Wolverines with 25 RBI and is tied for the team lead with five HR.
Junior P/1B Corie Jensen is second on the team in both average (.305) and RBI (20).
In the circle, Jensen leads UVSC with a 3.24 ERA and a 7-10 record, as well as logging a team-leading 89 strikeouts.
Todd Fairbourne (BYU 1994) received a master's degree in heath, p.e., and recreation from Utah State in 2003. Fairbourne was part of UVSC's jump to Division I, and has a 44-95-1 mark in the Wolverines' third year as a DI program. Overall, Fairbourne has a 286-189-1 ledger at UVSC, helped guide the Wolverines to the school's only national championship in 2000 while competing in the junior college ranks.
SERIES HISTORY vs. OPPONENT - FIRST LAST OPPONENT W L T PCT GAME GAME Utah Valley State 5 3 0 .625 2005 2007 - April 3Note: USU's loss to UVSC on Feb. 24 of this season snapped the Aggies' four-game win streak in the series... USU has won five of the last seven meetings... This is USU's first trip to Orem since March 11, 2005.
ON DECK - The Aggies 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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