PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (6-7, 0-0 MW) continues its 2022 campaign at the San Diego Classic this weekend in San Diego, California. The Aggies first face Stony Brook (4-1) and Long Beach State (5-9) on Friday, March 4, at 11 a.m. (MT) and 1:30 p.m. (MT), respectively. USU then takes on Boston University (5-8) and UC San Diego (7-8) on Saturday, March 5, at noon (MT) and 5 p.m. (MT), respectively. Utah State concludes its run at the classic on Sunday, March 6, as the Aggies take on Yale (0-0) at 10:30 a.m. (MT).
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats and streaming options will be available at https://goaztecs.com/sports/2022/2/28/2022-san-diego-classic.aspx.
 
AGGIES VS. SEAWOLVES
Utah State and Stony Brook will meet for the first time on Friday, March 4. The Aggies and Seawolves will face off at 11 a.m. (MT), at the USD Softball Complex at the University of San Diego.
 
AGGIES VS. BEACH
Utah State is  21-43-1 all-time against Long Beach State. The Beach won the last five games, with the most recent being a 16-3 (5) win on March 14, 2015. The Aggies and Beach will face off on Friday, March 4, at 1:30 p.m. (MT), at the USD Softball Complex at the University of San Diego.
 
AGGIES VS. TERRIERS
Utah State and Boston University will meet for the first time on Saturday, March 5. The Aggies and Terriers will face off at noon (MT), at the Triton Softball Field at UC San Diego.
 
AGGIES VS. TRITONS
Utah State is 2-0 all-time against UC San Diego. The Aggies won both games in their doubleheader against the Tritons on March 6, 2021, winning 5-1 and 5-2. The Aggies and Tritons will face off at 5 p.m. (MT), on Saturday, March 5, at the Triton Softball Field at UC San Diego.
 
AGGIES VS. BULLDOGS
Utah State and Yale will meet for the first time on Sunday, March 6. The Aggies and Bulldogs will face off at 10:30 a.m. (MT), at the Triton Softball Field at UC San Diego.
 
SATURDAY IN THE PARK
Four of Utah State's six victories have been on Saturday. USU won both of its scheduled Saturday games in its season opener at the Campus Diamond Kickoff as the Aggies defeated both NSDU (6-4) and UCSB (8-7) on Feb. 12. USU then defeated Dixie State 8-2 on Feb. 19, and had a 6-5 victory over Saint Mary's on Feb. 26.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Utah State is tied for fourth in the Mountain West and is 40th in the nation in total doubles with 21. Freshman catcher Taryn Edds leads the Aggies with five doubles.
 
SMOOTH CRIMINALS
Utah State stole more bases in February of 2022 (20) than in the entire 2021 season (16). Junior center fielder Mazie Macfarlane leads the team with eight stolen bases to rank second in the Mountain West and 40th in the nation.
 
STEALING HOME
Junior center fielder Mazie Macfarlane stole home in the top of the fourth inning in Utah State's 8-2 victory at Dixie State (Feb. 19), becoming the first Aggie to steal home since Megan McDonald vs. Utah Valley on April 20, 2010. 
 
WALK THIS WAY
Utah State trailed Saint Mary's 5-0 early in Game 1 of the teams' doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Aggies scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth and senior shortstop Lexi Orozco tied it up at 5-apiece in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff home run to left field. Junior center fielder Mazie Macfarlane lifted USU to a 6-5 victory with a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. 
 
CAME OUT SWINGING
Utah State had its best opening weekend offensively in the Steve Johnson era at the Campus Diamond Kickoff as the Aggies posted a .333 batting average, while registering 49 hits and 32 runs. Eleven Aggies recorded at least one hit during the weekend, while nine USU players posted multiple hits. Six Utah State players hit a combined 12 doubles, led by freshman catcher Taryn Edds and junior outfielder Mazie Macfarlane with three each. Three Aggies hit a home run at the kickoff in senior shortstop Lexi Orozco (3), senior catcher/third baseman Gabriella Jimenez (2) and freshman infielder Ariel Lopez (1). 
 
FIRST CAREER HOMER
Two Aggies have registered their first collegiate home run at the Division I level this season as freshman second baseman Ariel Lopez hit a two-run homer against UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 11), and senior right fielder Sydnee Smith hit a three-run bomb in USU's 8-2 victory at Dixie State (Feb. 19).
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND?
Utah State hit three grand slams during the 2021 season, the most by an Aggie team in program history. USU picked up right where it left off in 2022 as senior catcher/third baseman Gabriella Jimenez hit a grand slam in the top of the first in the Aggies' 8-7 victory over UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 12).
 
A MERE THREE GRAND
With a grand slam at Utah Valley (April 21, 2021), shortstop Lexi Orozco became the all-time leader in program history with three grand slams in her career. Orozco hit two as a freshman in 2019. She is one of four known Aggies to hit more than one grand slam in program history.
 
CLIMBING UP THE RECORD LIST
Senior shortstop Lexi Orozco sits in the top-10 of several USU career record lists as she ranks first in slugging percentage (.632), third in career home runs (32) and fifth in runs batted in (107). 
 
OUT OF THE PARK, INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Two Aggies earned spots on the single-season record list with 10 home runs in 2021 to tie for seventh all-time in first baseman/catcher Gabriella Jimenez and shortstop Lexi Orozco, who previously set the program record for home runs in a single season with 13 homers in 2019.
 
MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF
Sophomore third baseman Zaia Castruita was named first-team all-Mountain West as a freshman in the 2021 season. She played in and started all 44 games, while batting a team-high .315 with 41 hits in 130 at-bats. Castruita registered multiple hits in 12 games, finishing the year with five doubles, a team-best two triples and two home runs. She hit a grand slam against San Diego State (April 25), recording five RBIs in the game. Castruita finished her freshman campaign with 15 runs and batted in 17, while also leading the team with a .357 on-base percentage. Defensively, Castruita recorded 61 putouts and 86 assists with a .980 fielding percentage
 
DOUBLE VISION
You're not seeing double as there is a set of identical twins on the Utah State roster. Wearing number 41, Makenzie Macfarlane is a catcher and first baseman. Mazie Macfarlane, an outfielder, wears number 15. The duo are mirror image twins, with opposite features. For example, Makenzie is right-handed, while Mazie is left-handed. 
 
CALIFORNIA GIRLS
Fourteen of the 21 Aggies on the 2022 roster have come to Utah State from California in seniors Gabriella Jimenez (Sacramento), Bri Lerma (Downey), Lexi Orozco (San Marcos) and Emily Tidd (Temecula), juniors Makenzie and Mazie Macfarlane (Rocklin), sophomores Zaia Castruita (Chula Vista) and Jessica Stewart (Salinas), and freshmen Taryn Edds (Anaheim), Giselle Gonzalez (San Diego), Ariel Lopez (San Marcos), Claudia Medina (West Sacramento), Claire Raley (Clovis) and Mia Reynolds (Tulare).
 
HOME GROWN
Utah State has five players from the state of Utah in senior Kapri Toone (Tremonton), juniors Nya Laing (Logan) and Tyler Thornton (Millville), sophomore Libbie Hawker (Bountiful) and freshman Emily Dority (South Jordan). 
 
UP NEXT
Utah State next travels back to Santa Clara, California, for the Silicon Valley Classic II from March 11-13. At the classic, the Aggies will face UC Davis (5-8), Santa Clara (10-9) and San José State (9-5).
 
– USU –