PROVO -- The BYU softball team (23-12, 3-3) will hit the road for its first away conference games of the season. The Cougars will play doubleheader games against last year's Mountain West Conference Tournament Champs Colorado State on Thursday, April 15 starting at 1 p.m. and then New Mexico on Saturday, April 17 starting at 1 p.m.
"It's going to be a tough trip," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Both CSU and New Mexico play well at home. We'll have to be on top of our game to come out alive."
The Cougars are coming off two wins over Utah State, 5-1, 4-3 on Tuesday at Gail Miller Field. With the wins, BYU improved its all-time record against the Aggies to 17-0.
BYU is 3-3 in conference play so far, with three splits to UNLV, SDSU and Utah. BYU is batting .298 as a team and the pitching staff is posting a 3.21 overall ERA. Ianeta Le`i is leading the Cougars in batting average with a .356, Jodi Norton is leading the team in doubles with 10, Lauren Watson is leading in triples with four, and Ashlyn Russell leads in home runs with seven. Niki Andersen is leading the pitching staff in wins with 13 and Brooke Boyce leads in ERA with a 2.58.
Scouting the MWC Competition
Colorado State is posting a 26-11, 2-2 overall record. The Rams are coming off two conference wins over UNLV and two losses to SDSU. As a team, the Rams are batting .330 with ten players batting .300 or better. Leading the Rams offensively is Ricki Walker with a .417 batting average. She has 48 hits on the year, a team-high 13 doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI. Brittany Huerta is posting a .347 with 41 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, 34 RBI and a team-high 10 homeruns. Kerry Farrell has 12 doubles, one triple, three homers and 21 RBI for CSU. The pitching staff posts a 2.08 overall ERA. Jessi Strickland leads the squad in wins (9) and innings pitched (77.1) with a 2.26 ERA. JayCee Wood has a 1.78 ERA with six wins, 46 strikeouts in 51.0 innings pitched, and Magan Masser has a team-high 73 strikeouts for the pitchers. Genevieve Kelly is also posting a winning record at 6-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 48 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.
New Mexico is coming into the week posting a 26-22, 0-4 overall record. The Lobos are coming off four conference losses to UNLV and SDSU. As a team, the Lobos are batting .244. Leading the Lobos offensively is Stephani Kennedy and Cassie Chavez batting .303. On the year, Kennedy has 40 hits, nine doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI, while Chavez has 43 hits, 10 doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI. Sabrina Sandberg leads the team in home runs with seven, and Ashley Shartzer has a team-high 12 doubles. The pitching squad is posting a 2.73 overall ERA led by Iraina Ogas and Ashley Perkins. Ogas has a 7-3 record, 2.24 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 96.2 innings. Perkins has a 12-6 record, 2.34 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 113.2 innings. Live stats will be available for the New Mexico games. A link is available on the BYU softball schedule page.
BYU All-time record vs. MWC Opponents
Colorado State: 8-9
New Mexico: 9-10