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Utah State Softball Faces South Dakota State And BYU Tuesday
March 17, 2008
LOGAN, Utah - Complete Release in PDF Format
Utah State (3-12, 0-0 WAC) vs. South Dakota State (6-15, 1-2 Summit League) Utah State's Weekend Schedule QUICKLY - Utah State softball (3-12, 0-0 WAC) returns to the Beehive State, traveling to Provo, Utah to take on South Dakota State (6-15, 1-2 Summit League) and in-state foe Brigham Young (13-11, 0-0 MWC) on Tuesday, March 18. USU will face SDSU at 2 p.m. (MT), while the Aggies battle the Cougars at 4 p.m. (MT). Both games will be played at BYU's Gail Miller Field. This is the first meeting between Utah State and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, while BYU leads the all-time series against USU with a 29-24 record. The Aggies dropped a 5-1 contest to the Cougars last season on Feb. 9, 2007 at the BYU/UVU Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. USU is 3-12 on the season, going 0-3 last weekend in the Cascade Clash in Oregon. The Aggies lost at Oregon State, 11-3 (6), and were swept in a doubleheader against No. 20 Washington, 9-3 and 5-4 (6). Freshman SS Kelley Kaneshiro was named the Utah State Athletie of the Week, as she hit .625 (5-8) with a double and a home run, to go along with three RBI and three runs scored last weekend at the Cascade Clash. The weekend was highlighted with a two-run home run at Oregon State on Saturday. South Dakota State is 6-15 on the season and is 1-2 in Summit League action. The Jackrabbits went 1-2 at Southern Utah last weekend, winning the second game of the doubleheader Friday (10-7) after losing the first game (5-2) and then dropped the third contest Saturday (11-2 after five innings). BYU is 13-11 on the season, splitting games against Nebraska at the UNLV Round Robin in Las Vegas, Nev. The Cougars were shut out Friday (2-0) while they won Saturday (2-1). The win on Saturday snapped a four-game losing streak that started on March 7. SEASON 33 - The 2008 season marks the 33rd year of softball at Utah State... The Aggies enter the season with a 758-804-3 (.485) 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 third year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). ADMISSION - All games at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field are free admission to the public. LIVE STATS - Fans can follow the Utah State - BYU game on Tuesday through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via Gametracker and visiting the Utah State softball schedule page. FAMILIAR FACES - USU Softball head coach Candi Letts will be taking on a familiar face this weekend as Letts was an assistant coach at Northern Illinois with current South Dakota State head coach Joanna Lane. TIDBITS ABOUT UTAH STATE - - USU is seventh in the WAC statistics in team batting (.220) and sixth in stolen bases with 12... The Aggies are also seventh in hits (79), doubles (12) and home runs (6). - Defensively, USU is seventh in team pitching with a 5.13 ERA, yielding 139 hits, while the Aggies are also seventh in strikeouts (40). - Freshman SS Kelley Kaneshiro leads Utah State, hitting .303, while freshman LF Megan McDonald is second with a .280 batting average... Kaneshiro is also first on the team with a .545 slugging percentage. - Junior P Lindsey Benson is first on the team in innings pitched (60.0) and leads the team with a 5.13 ERA. - Sophomore P Stacey Ellingsworth is second on the team with a 6.63 ERA and has six strikeouts. - Senior 3B Amy Schaible belted her first home run of the season in the 6-5 win against Indiana on Feb. 16 and now has 15 in her career, as she needs three more home runs to tie Jennifer Power (1991-94) and Breanne Smith (1999-02) for third on USU's career home runs list. - Schaible has also collected 60 RBI in her career at USU, including five this season... She needs two to tie former teammate Sara Fleming (2003-06, 62) for 10th on the Utah State Career RBI list. - Kaneshiro leads the team with two home runs and 18 total bases, while she has also posted seven RBI and two doubles. - Junior DP Kayla Dunn is first on the team with three doubles, while she is also second on the team with nine walks. -Junior 2B Jeanine Hernandez leads the Aggies with five sacrifice hits, while sophomore CF Emily Reilly has tallied four. - Kaneshiro has the longest active hitting streak at three games, as she led the Aggies last weekend hitting .625... Schaible had a four-game hitting streak snapped at Colorado State on March 9, while Reilly had a four-game hitting streak snapped against San Diego State on Feb. 16. - Schaible leads USU with four multi-hit games... Kaneshiro and junior DH Kayla Dunn lead the team with three hits in a game. - Kaneshiro leads the team for multi-RBI games with three in USU's 9-8 loss in nine innings against Tulsa in the Campbell Cartier Classic at San Diego State. - McDonald leads the Aggies with eight RBI, as she is first on the team with a .429 average (6-for-14) with runners on base, while she also leads the team with runners in scoring position (.462, 6-for-13). - Sophomore RF Michelle Workman owns the best average with two outs on the team (.571, 4-for-7), while junior 1B Aubrie Stroman is averaging .357 (5-for-14) with the bases empty. - Junior 2B Jeanine Hernandez has the most success advancing runners for USU (.750, 12-for-16), while Reilly follows averaging .647 (11-for-17). - In Benson's 13 appearances and 12 starts, she has recorded a team-high 27 strikeouts including four against Indiana in the San Diego State tournament... She also has posted a .325 opponent batting average. - Benson is now ninth on the USU Career Strikeout list with 181 K's, surpassing Terri Rice (1988-91, 165) and Julie Starratt (1986-89, 164) earlier this season... She needs four strikeouts to tie Debbie Corbett (1991-93, 185) for eighth-place. - Sophomore 2B Nicole Rupp and Reilly lead the team with three stolen bases each... Overall, the team has stolen 12 bases this season. - Schaible is USU's leading returner in batting average, hitting .293 last season, and led the team in runs scored (29), RBI (27) and home runs (11), as well as second among returners in doubles with five. - Last season, Schaible also led the team and ranked sixth in the WAC with 11 HR's, setting a new USU single-season HR school record, topping the previous record of 10, done three times by two different players: Sara Fleming (2005) and Sandy Taylor (1999 and 2000). - USU had only one player receive weekly honors from the WAC last season, as Emily Reilly earned Hitter of the Week honors on March 5, after posting .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 .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 against 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 against the Bears on March 3. - Junior P Lindsey Benson is the Aggies' leading returner on the pitching staff, as she made 29 appearances last season, recording 129 K's with a 3.61 ERA. - USU had the latest home opener in the WAC last season (April 3 vs. Utah Valley) and does again this season, as the Aggies' make their 2008 home debut on March 26 against in-state foe Utah. - Utah State had five student-athletes earn academic all-WAC honors last season. RETURNING - Second-year head coach Candi Letts returns five starters among 10 returning letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 17-36 overall record and a 5-13 WAC ledger... Senior 3B Amy Schaible (5-5, Red Bluff, Calif.) headlines the returners, as she batted .293 with five doubles, 11 home runs and 27 RBI last season... Heather Haak (SR, C, 5-7, Salem, Ore.) hit .288 with two doubles, one home run and six RBI, and did not commit an error last season, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage... Tara Evans (SR, SS, 5-6, Bountiful, Utah) had a .281 average with eight doubles, one triple, five home runs and 21 RBI, as well as leading the team with 13 stolen bases... Aubrie Stroman (JR, 1B, 5-9, Red Bluff Calif.) hit .250 last season recording eight doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI... Lindsey Benson (JR, P, 5-7, Novato, Calif.) is USU's leading returning pitcher, posting a 3.61 ERA last season in 29 appearances with 149.1 innings and recorded a team-high 129 strikeouts... Stacey Ellingsworth (SO, P, 5-9, Richland, Wash.) threw 52.0 innings in 17 appearances and posted a 5.12 ERA. LETTS' BITS - Candi Letts (Creighton, 1983) is in her second year at the helm of the Aggies and has a 20-49 record (.290), but has 13 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. 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 333-405-1 (.451) 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 84-75 (.528) in six seasons. - As a head coach, Letts has coached four All-Americans, seven all-region players, 13 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 OPPONENTS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - South Dakota State is 6-15 on the year and is 1-2 in Summit League action. The Jackrabbits went 1-2 at Southern Utah last weekend, winning the second game of the doubleheader Friday (10-7) after losing the first game (5-2) and then dropped the third contest Saturday (11-2 after five innings). Sam Heinzman, a junior OF, leads SDSU with a .382 average and 17 runs, while freshman IF Ashley Durazo has a team-leading five doubles and 15 RBI in posting a .364 average. The Jackrabbits have two others batting above .300 with junior OF Brittany Postma hitting .377 and Jessica Vineyard, a sophomore SS, is batting .367. In the circle, junior Jenna Marston has a 5.51 ERA with a 6-12 record in 20 appearances, striking out 72 batters in 115.2 innings. Marston has tallied one shutout in 16 complete games. South Dakota State head coach Joanna Lane (Florida State, 2004) is in her first season leading the Jackrabbits. Lane comes to SDSU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois. Before that she spent two years as the head coach at Wesleyan College in Georgia. BRIGHAM YOUNG - BYU is 13-11 on the season, splitting games against Nebraska at the UNLV Round Robin in Las Vegas, Nev. last weekend. The Cougars were shutout Friday (2-0) while they won Saturday (2-1). The win on Saturday snapped a four-game losing streak that started on March 7. The Cougars are led by sophomore IF Angeline Quiocho's .391 average in 69 at bats. Quiocho also leads the team in home runs (10), runs (25) and hits (27). Senior IF Daniela Snow leads the team with 18 RBI and has seven home runs with a .377 batting average. Freshman OF Caschjen Davis hits .344 and leads the team with seven doubles, while sophomore UT Amanda Vance is batting .338 on the year. In the circle, senior Christina Trice has a 6-3 record with a 1.29 ERA in 65.1 innings pitched, logging 102 strikeouts. Trice has pitched two shutouts in four complete games. Freshman Paige Affleck is second on the team with a 1.75 ERA and a 4-2 record. Head coach Gordon Eakin (Utah) is in his sixth season at BYU where he has posted a 214-102 record. Eakin has led the Cougars to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Regional finals last season. He has recorded 40 or more wins in the last three seasons. Eakin was a three-time member of the United States All-Star softball team and played baseball at Utah for three years before getting drafted by Oakland Athletic organization where he played for three years before retiring his playing career. He was inducted into the Utah Fast Pitch Hall of Fame in 1998. SERIES HISTORY VS OPPONENTS - UP NEXT - The Aggies open WAC action with a three-game series at Reno, Nev., against Nevada on Friday and Saturday, March 21-22. Games start at 3 p.m. (MT) on both days, with a doubleheader scheduled for Friday. |
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