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USU Softball Opens WAC Action At Nevada This Weekend
March 19, 2008
LOGAN, Utah - Complete Release in PDF Format
Utah State (3-14, 0-0 WAC) at Nevada (20-11, 0-0 WAC) Utah State's Weekend Schedule QUICKLY - Utah State softball (3-14, 0-0 WAC) opens Western Athletic Conference action with a three-game series at Reno, Nev., against Nevada (20-11, 0-0 WAC) on Friday and Saturday, March 21-22. Games start at 3 p.m. (MT) on both days, with a doubleheader scheduled for Friday. USU is 12-13 all-time vs. Nevada, though Nevada's record claim a 15-7 Nevada advantage. Utah State snapped an 11-game losing streak last season, as the Aggies won in the third-game of the series, 7-5, at Logan on April 7, 2007. The win was the first over Nevada since 1989. UNR won the first two games last year, 9-0 (5), on April 6, 2007 and 6-2, also on April 7, 2007. In 2006, Nevada swept Utah State in the three-game series at Reno, as the Wolf Pack won, 3-0, 2-0 and 5-2. USU is 3-14 on the season, after dropping two games in Provo, Utah Tuesday. The Aggies fell to South Dakota State, 2-1, and then were run-ruled, 15-4, after five innings by Brigham Young. Freshman SS Kelley Kaneshiro was named the Utah State Athlete of the Week on Monday, as she hit .625 (5-8) with a double and a home run, to go along with four 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. Nevada is 20-11 on the year, going 2-3 at the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif. The Wolf Pack lost to then-No. 19 Ohio State, 3-2, and then dropped a 10-3 contest to Colorado State on Friday. UNR picked up wins against Cal Poly (5-2) and Northern Colorado (9-0) Saturday before falling to California, 5-2, Sunday. WAC-OPENERS - This is the first season that the Aggies haven't opened their conference season against Fresno State. Utah State is 0-2 in WAC openers, getting run-ruled by Fresno State, 8-0, after five innings last season and falling, 3-2, in 2006. 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 - Nevada series this weekend through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameWatcher and visiting the Utah State softball schedule page. TIDBITS ABOUT UTAH STATE - - USU is seventh in the WAC statistics in team batting (.215) and sixth in stolen bases with 17... The Aggies are also seventh in hits (86), doubles (12) and home runs (7). - Defensively, USU is seventh in team pitching with a 6.11 ERA, yielding 155 hits, while the Aggies are also seventh in strikeouts (47). - Freshman SS Kelley Kaneshiro leads Utah State, hitting .324, while junior P/DP Kayla Dun is second with a .265 batting average... Kaneshiro is also first on the team with a .541 slugging percentage. - Junior P Lindsey Benson is first on the team in innings pitched (68.0) and leads the team with a 4.94 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, 10 RBI and 20 total bases and junior first baseman Aubrie Stroman has also posted two home runs. - Dunn is first on the team with three doubles, while she is also second on the team with nine walks. -Junior 2B Jeanine Hernandez and sophomore CF Emily Reilly lead the Aggies with five sacrifice hits a piece. - Kaneshiro has the longest active hitting streak at five games that started with a perfect 3-for-3 performance at Oregon State Saturday, while sophomore 2B Nicole Rupp is second on the team with a three-game hitting streak... 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 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. - Kaneshiro also leads the Aggies with four multi-RBI games, as she is first on the team with a .429 average (9-for-21) with runners on base, while she also leads the team with runners in scoring position (.444, 8-for-18). - 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 .375 (6-for-16) with the bases empty. - Hernandez has the most success advancing runners for USU (.722, 13-for-18), while Reilly follows averaging .650 (13-for-20). - In Benson's 15 appearances and 14 starts, she has recorded a team-high 33 strikeouts including a season-best five against South Dakota State at Provo on Tuesday... She has also posted a .316 opponent batting average. - Benson is now eighth on the USU Career Strikeout list with 187 K's, surpassing Debbie Corbett (1991-93, 185) after posting five strikeouts against South Dakota State on Tuesday... She needs 42 strikeouts to tie former teammate Leslie Higley (2003-06, 229) for seventh-place. - Sophomore 2B Nicole Rupp leads the team with five stolen bases, while Reilly and sophomore LF Mikey Price are second on the squad with three apiece... Overall, the team has stolen 17 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. KANESHIRO NAMED USU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - Kelley Kaneshiro has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, March 16, it was announced on Monday. The award is voted on by a state media panel. Kaneshiro, a freshman shortstop from Auburn, Wash., led Utah State at the Cascade Clash Invitational in Oregon, as she hit .625 (5-8) with a double and a home run, to go along with four RBI and three runs scored. In the Aggies' 11-3 run-rule loss in six innings at Oregon State, Kaneshiro hit a two-run home run and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Against No. 20 Washington, she was 1-for-2 with a walk in the 9-3 loss in game one of the doubleheader and 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI in a 5-4 loss in game two against the Huskies. Overall Kaneshiro had a 1.125 slugging percentage and .667 on base percentage during the weekend. She also tallied five assists defensively and had a perfect fielding percentage. 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 20-51 record (.282), 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, 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 333-407-1 (.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 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 OPPONENT Noelle Micka, a freshman C, leads the Wolf Pack and ranks second in the WAC with a .440 average and 24 runs, while sophomore SS Sam Bias has a team-leading eight doubles and 16 runs in posting a .398 average which is tied for fourth in the league. UNR has two others batting above or at .300 with junior OF Kim Silagyi hitting .319 and Tyler Schafer, a senior 1B, batting .300. In the circle, sophomore Katie Holverson is eighth in the WAC and has a 2.35 ERA with a 9-4 record in 23 appearances, striking out 100 batters in 95.1 innings. Holverson has nine complete games in 13 starts. The 100 K's is fourth in the conference. Head coach Michelle Gardner (Michigan, 1989) is in her sixth season at the helm of the Wolf Pack, posting a 163-169 record. Last year, she guided the team to a fourth-place finish in the WAC conference while she helped lead Nevada to its first conference title in 2006 and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in school history as well. SERIES HISTORY VS OPPONENTS - UP NEXT - USU continues action on the road with a doubleheader at Orem, Utah against in-state foe Utah Valley on Tuesday, March 25. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. (MT). After opening the season with 22 games on the road, the Aggies finally open action at home on Wednesday, March 26 with a doubleheader against in-state rival Utah, starting at 2 p.m. (MT). |
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