May 7, 2008

HONOLULU - Seventh-seeded Utah State softball faces fifth-seeded New Mexico State is the loser-out bracket of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m. (MT). Aggie fans can follow all the action through the Utah State web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com. Fans can also watch live streaming of the entire tournament through the WAC's web site at WAC.tv.

The Northern Aggies are 14-33 overall, after falling to San Jose State, 8-2, in the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday. USU is led by freshman SS Kelley Kaneshiro's .368 average, while junior P Lindsey Benson leads the team with a 4.48 ERA.

The Southern Aggies are 25-35 overall, after losing to 10th-ranked Fresno State, 3-2, Wednesday in the second game of the tournament. NMSU is led offensively by Stephanie Herrera's .395 average, while New Mexico State is led defensively by junior P Kim Watson's 2.68 ERA.

USU is 44-35 in the all-time series against NMSU, while the crimson-clad Aggies swept the navy-clad Aggies in Logan earlier this year with New Mexico State winning, 5-3, on April 11 and 5-4 and 14-1 in five innings on April 12.

The winner of the USU-NMSU game will advance in the tournament and play 10th-rankded Fresno State/Hawaii or Louisiana Tech game on Friday, May 10 at 4:30 a.m. The loser of the USU-NMSU matchup will be eliminated from the tournament.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. (MT), with the WAC Champion earning the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.