April 14, 2007

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah - For the first time since 2004 Utah State softball swept a three game conference series after the Aggies took two from Louisiana Tech on Saturday at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. USU run-ruled La Tech, 12-4 in five innings in game one and hung on for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.

The two wins Saturday coupled with Friday's 7-6 nine inning contest give 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.

USU runs its win streak to four in a row and five of the last seven, improving to 14-23 overall and 4-5 in WAC action.

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.

La Tech lost for the seventh time in its last eight games and 13 of last 17, as the Lady Techsters now have a 20-27 overall and 3-9 WAC ledger. Saturday's pair of losses gives La Tech a 4-17 record in road games, currently on a nine-game road losing skid.

USU's three wins evens the all-time series with La Tech at 4-4, as this weekend was the Lady Techsters' first trip to Logan.

After rapping out a season-high 16 hits in Friday's win, Utah State tallied 13 hits in the first game Saturday. The 29 hits is the most in back-to-back games since at least 1996, which is as far back as USU softball archives record game-by-game hits.

Junior 3B Amy Schaible went 4-8 on the day with four RBI and three runs scored, blasting her team-leading eighth home run in the first game and extending her active hitting streak to seven games. That is her second-longest streak of the season behind her eight-game tear to in USU's opening eight games of the year.

Schaible moves up to tie for No. 3 on the USU single-season HR list, needing just three more for the school record. She also is now tied for No. 6 on the Aggie career HR list with her 11th long fly, tying Kelly Smith (1984-86, `88).

La Tech got on the board first in all three games, only to see Utah State rally and take the lead and not relinquish it. The Aggies have yielded an opening lead to their opponent in all four of their recent wins, and are now 8-21 when the opposition scores first, compared to 6-2 when USU is the first to score.

Game One Recap

After La Tech scored a run in the top of the second, Utah State sent 11 batters to the plate, and when all the excitement died down, the Aggies hung a seven-spot on the board. Sophomore 1B Aubrie Stroman led off the inning with a single, part of her 3-3 effort. Junior SS Tara Evans then followed with a double to left center to score Stroman. Freshman LF Emily Reilly then laid down a bunt to score senior C Jami Uragami, who reached on a walk. Next, junior 2B Whitnie Ray grounded out to second, scoring Evans.

Schaible then added an RBI single to center to plate Reilly. After senior CF Ashley Bellum walked, fellow senior Jamie Fife smacked a home run to left center for a three-run round-tripper for USU's seventh run of the inning. It was Fife's sixth HR of the season and seventh of her career, moving her into 11th on the Aggies' career HR list.

La Tech pulled within 7-2 with a run in the top of the third, but USU countered with a run bottom of the frame on double doubles by Uragami and senior RF Lauren Guzman.

The Lady Techsters tacked on two runs in the fourth with a home run by Kylie Bassett and a string of three singles.

After a scoreless bottom of the fourth for USU and top of the fifth for La Tech, Uragami started the Aggie rally with a walk. Reilly advanced her to third with a single and moved to third on the throw. Ray belted a two-run double to left center to score Uragami and Reilly. Schaible then blasted a two-run home run to left center to end the game due to the run rule.

Schaible was 3-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Reilly was 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored while Ray was 1-3 with a career-high three RBI.

Game Two Recap

A run in each of the first three innings gave La Tech a 3-nil lead until USU rallied by hanging three runs on the board in the home half of the third, with the big blow being dealt by a two-run double down the right field line by Fife, and an RBI single by Evans.

Freshman C Simone Hubbard had an RBI double down the left line in the fourth, and Schaible later plated Hubbard with a single to center.

In the Aggie fifth, Reilly singled then stole second and moved to third on a LTU error on the play. Freshman 2B Nicole Rupp walked and then stole second, drawing a throw which allowed Reilly to scamper home for USU's sixth run and give the Aggies a 6-3 lead.

La Tech did not go quietly into the thin mountain air though, opening the seventh with a walk. After two groundouts the Lady Techsters strung together two hits and took advantage of a USU error before the game ended with a ground ball to Evans at short, who stepped on second for the third and final out.

Evans was the only Aggie with multiple hits, going 2-3 with an RBI, while Schaible, Fife, Reilly, Rupp and Hubbard all tallied hits.

Sophomore Lindsey Benson pitched five innings of relief, only allowing two runs, one of which was earned on two hits while walking three and logging three strikeouts. With the win, Benson improved to 6-7 on the year, snapping her five-game losing skein.

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 home USU softball games is free to the public.

-USU-