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USU Softball Takes On Instate Rival Utah Valley On Tuesday
March 30, 2009
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State (7-21, 1-5 WAC) at Utah Valley (11-17) New Mexico State (21-14, 1-4 WAC) at Utah State (7-21, 1-5) Tuesday, March 31 Friday, April 3 - Saturday, April 4 Orem Utah • Wolverine Softball Field ON DECK- Utah State softball (7-21, 1-5 WAC) will play its fourth-straight game on the road when the Aggies head to Orem, Utah, to face Utah Valley. USU is coming off a 1-2 road trip at San Jose State. After facing UVU, the Aggies finally return home to host New Mexico State as the calendar changes from March to April. The two Aggie squads will meet April 3-4. Both teams will be in search of their second Western Athletic Conference wins as the Maroon Aggies hold a 1-4 WAC record and the Blue Aggies are 1-5 in league play. Complete Release in PDF Format
SERIES HISTORY VS OPPONENTS - This will be the 15th meeting between the Aggies and the Wolverines. Utah State holds a 9-5 advantage. Last season, the teams met four times in both Orem and in Logan. USU won all four contest. The last time the two teams met was a doubleheader on April 2, 2008. USU swept the doubleheader in Logan by scores of 9-4 and 10-1 (5 innings). Utah State and New Mexico State have already met this season at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., on March 1. NMSU topped USU 4-2 in a come-from-behind victory. Overall, USU holds a 44-36 record over New Mexico State. Utah State vs. Opponents Utah State vs Utah Valley, 9-5 (LAST: NMSU 4, USU 2) Utah State vs. New Mexico State, 44-36 (LAST: USU 10, UVU 1 {5}) MARCH MADNESS - Snow in both Logan and Salt Lake City caused the March 25 softball game between Utah State and Utah in Salt Lake City to be postponed. The Aggies (6-19) and the Utes (13-19) have rescheduled the single game to Monday, April 6 at 4 p.m., at Ute Field. This will be the second meeting between the instate rivals with Utah defeating Utah State 10-0 at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah on Feb. 7. After the single game on April 6, the teams will turn around and play a doubleheader in Logan on Wednesday, April 7 at 2 p.m. SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY - Utah Valley currently holds an 11-17 record this season. In their last outing, the Wolverines clawed Idaho State 11-2 in five innings. The Wolverines also faced WAC opponents Boise State and San Jose State. UVU split games with Boise State, taking one win, 11-9, on March 23. UVU also played at the Red Desert Classic along with Utah State. At that tournament, the Wolverines also faced San Jose State, losing 14-4 in five games. The Wolverines are led by Magan Niemann who is hitting a stellar .467 this season. She is also first with 25 RBI this season. The other UVU player hitting over .400 this season is Courtney Jarrell who is hitting exactly .400. SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE - New Mexico State comes to Logan with a 21-14 record and a 1-4 record in the WAC. Last week, the Aggies went 1-2 against first- place Fresno State in Las Cruces. Earlier this season, the two Aggies met and NMSU captured a 4-2 win against USU at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. The Kathy Rodolph-led Aggies have already won 12 games at home despite the slow start in WAC play. The hard-hitting Aggies are first in the WAC in batting average, hitting .335. They are also first in home runs with 45. Tiare Jennings is first in the league in home runs with 11, while Hoku Nohara is tied for second with 10. NMSU is also first in fielding with a .965 fielding percentage. HOME OPENERS - This was an early home opener for the Aggies with USU's first home game being played on March 20. Last season, Utah State did not play a game at home until March 26 against Utah. In 2007, the Aggies did not play at home until April 3 against Utah Valley. In 2006, USU played at the friendly confines of LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field for the first time on March 31 against WAC-foe Fresno State. GREENOUGH HELPS AGGIES BREAK STREAK - Junior Kate Greenough pitched a four-hitter to give Utah State softball its first Western Athletic Conference win of the season. The win snapped a 13-game WAC losing streak dating back to last season as the Aggies won, 4-1. In the second game of the doubleheader, USU fought hard but lost 3-1. The last conference win came against San Jose State on April 5, 2008 in Logan. The Aggies struck first scoring one run in the top of the second inning. Freshman Jasmine Harris singled to start the inning. She moved to second on a single by senior Jeanine Hernandez and went on to third on an error by Spartan rightfielder Kayla Hayes. The first run would come around to scored on a ground out by junior Emily Reilly. The Spartans struck back in the bottom of the fourth inning, tying the score at 1-1. The hero from Friday, Kelli Fangonilo singled to left center with one out, Fangonilo came around to score on a triple by junior Kayla Hayes. Pitcher Kate Greenough would settle down though and get the final two outs of the inning to stop the threat. USU added another run in the top of the sixth when freshman Rayna Bradshaw doubled down the leftfield line to start the inning. Hernandez would deliver her sixth RBI of the season with a single to bring Bradshaw around to score. In the top of the seventh, USU would break it open with two runs to take a 4-1 lead. Hernandez was 2-for-3 in the first half of the doubleheader. ON DECK CIRCLE - Following the four games this week against both Utah Valley and New Mexico State, the Aggies will take on Utah in Salt Lake in a single game on April 6 before turning around to host the Utes on April 7 in a doubleheader. USU will then hit the road for a three-game series with Hawai`i in Honolulu. SEASON 34 - The 2009 season marks the 34th year of softball at Utah State... The Aggies enter the season with a 772-838-3 (.480) 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 fourth year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). ADMISSION - All games at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field are free admission to the public. BEST OF THE BEST- The Aggies competition has been tough this season. Three USU opponents are currently in the top 10 of both the USA Today and NFCA polls. Washington is currently No. 2 in the USA Today poll and No. 2 in the NFCA poll, while fellow Pac-10 opponent Stanford is No. 3 in the NFCA poll and No. 3 in the USA Today poll. Arizona State is No. 6 in the NFCA poll and No. 9 in the USA Today Poll. NEAR THE TOP - In WAC games, Utah State is second in hitting with a .272 batting average just behind first-place Fresno State which is hitting .274. Junior catcher Simone Hubbard is fourth in the WAC in league games in hitting with a .438 batting average. Hubbard is also tied for first in slugging percentage (.571) with Fresno State's Haley Perkins. Freshman third baseman Rayna Bradshaw is tied for second in doubles in WAC games with two. BALLS AND STRIKES - - Four different Aggies hit long balls this, sophomore Megan McDonald, junior Simone Hubbard, freshman Rayna Bradshaw and freshman Jasmine Harris. - The Aggies are still without junior Kelley Kaneshiro who went down with an injury the first week of the season. - Freshman Jasmine Harris leads the Aggies in total bases this season with 36. Harris is second on the team in batting average, hitting .278. - Senior Lindsey Benson earned her first win of the season on March 9 against Cal State Bakersfield in a nine-inning 6-3 win. In the win, Benson helped her own cause with a base hit and an RBI. The senior is now 1-8 with a 4.94 ERA and a team-leading strikeouts. - There are two Aggies who have started all 28 games. Junior Nicole Rupp and senior Aubrie Stroman have started all 28 games for Utah State so far. Two other Aggies have started 27 games this season, including freshman Rayna Bradshaw and junior Emily Reilly. - Freshmen Jasmine Harris and Gina Rawls lead the team with five multiple-hit games. Fellow newcomer Bradshaw leads the team with three multiple RBI-games. - Freshman Rayna Bradshaw had a team-high six-game hitting streak stopped in the first game of the San Jose State series. It was the longest streak of the season by an Aggie. - The seven errors by Utah State against Boise State on March 21 was the most this season. - Junior Kate Greenough and senior Lindsey Benson are in a race for strikeout leader. Benson is currently in the lead with 52 strikeouts. Despite pitching almost 26 less innings, Greenough is only three strikeouts behind. BABY AGGIES - Utah State has gotten good production from its freshman this season. Freshman Jasmine Harris is second in hitting with a .278 average. Fellow newcomer Rayna Bradshaw is first in RBI with 13. HOME RUN DROUGHT - Utah State has hit 10 home runs this season. The last Aggie to hit a home run was Rayna Bradshaw on March 9 against Cal State Bakersfield. It has been six games since an Aggie hit a home run. TWICE THE PRODUCTION - The Aggies have two players in double figures in RBI, junior Simone Hubbard and freshman Rayna Bradshaw. The freshman is first with 13, while the junior is second with 11. LETTS' BITS - Candi Letts (Creighton, 1983) is in her third year at the helm of the Aggies and has a 34-77 record (.306), but has 14 years of experience as a Division I head coach. - Letts won her first game last season at the helm of the Aggies with an 11-2 win against Southern Utah on Feb. 9, 2007. Letts became the first USU head coach to win their opener since Pam McCreesh won her first game in 1998. - 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. 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 344-422 -1 (.449) in 13 seasons, reaching the 200 and 300 win milestones while at Ole Miss. - This is Letts' second go-round in the WAC, as she posted a 79-62 (.560) mark in WAC games while at Colorado State and is now 88-89 (.497) in six seasons. - As a head coach, Letts has coached four All-Americans, seven all-region players, 15 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.
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