PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (2-2, 0-0 Mountain West) continues its 2024 campaign at the Cal Baptist Classic in Riverside, California. The Aggies will face off versus CSU Bakersfield (Friday, Feb. 16, 11 a.m. MT; Saturday, Feb. 17, 1:30 p.m. MT), Weber State (Friday, Feb. 16, 1:30 p.m. MT; Sunday, Feb. 18, 11 a.m. MT) and California Baptist (Saturday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. MT) as part of the tournament.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all of this weekend's games will be available via StatbBroadcast. Links and live updates will be available on the USU softball social media pages and through UtahStateAggies.com.
AGGIES VS ROADRUNNERS
• Utah State leads CSU Bakersfield 6-5 in a series dating back to 2009, with the Aggies winning each of the past three meetings. When the teams met last season, USU posted a 10-2 five-inning win and a 3-2 nine-inning win. In neutral site games, Utah State leads the series 3-0.
• In 2023, CSU Bakersfield went 7-43 overall, including a 2-25 mark in league play to finish the season fifth in the Big West. The team returns five starters and seven letterwinners, while welcoming in 14 newcomers this year.
AGGIES VS WILDCATS
• Utah State leads Weber State 38-17 in a series dating back to 1976. The Aggies have won five of the past seven meetings. In the most recent matchup, Utah State posted an 11-10 win on March 29, 2022. In neutral site games, Utah State holds a 10-2 advantage in the series.
• In 2023, Weber State went 13-32 overall, including a 6-9 mark in league play to finish the season fifth in the Big Sky. The team returns three starters and seven letterwinners, while welcoming in seven newcomers this year.
AGGIES VS LANCERS
• This weekend's matchup will be the first-ever meeting between Utah State and California Baptist.
• In 2023, California Baptist went 28-29 overall, including a 10-14 mark in league play to finish the season eighth in the WAC. The team returns seven starters and seven letterwinners, while welcoming in 12 newcomers this year.
ICYMI
• Utah State opened its season last weekend with four games in the UC Riverside-hosted Lynn Russell Miller Classic, going 2-2 in those contests. The Aggies opened the season on Saturday with a 10-1 five-inning loss to No. 9 Oklahoma State, but bounced back that afternoon with a 6-2 win over Portland State. On Sunday, USU fell to Portland State 3-2, then defeated UC Riverside 5-2.
• Five different Aggie pitchers saw time in the circle, with redshirt sophomore Denay Smith and graduate Katie Zuniga being credited with the wins. Smith pitched a team-high 7.2 innings, not allowing a single run.
• Sophomore infielder Alex Bunton led the Aggie bats, going .500 (5-of-10) at the plate including a home run in the top of the seventh against UC Riverside. Sophomore catcher Grace Matej also had a strong weekend, hitting .444 (4-of-9) with a team-best three RBIs.
A NEW ERA AT UTAH STATE
On June 5, 2023, Todd Judge was named head coach of Utah State softball, the 10th head coach in program history. Judge joins the Aggies after spending the past two seasons as a part of the coaching staff at BYU. He has over 15 years of softball coaching experience and 10 years of baseball coaching experience. The Arizona native helped coach the Cougars to a combined 77-27 overall record during his two years in Provo. Prior to that, he coached travel and high school baseball for 10 years, travel softball for 15 years and junior college softball for one year.
WELCOME BACK
Utah State returns seven starters and seven letterwinners from last year's squad, as well as four pitchers. Of returning starters, four made at least 30 starts while all seven started at least 25 games.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Outfielder Jaden Colunga returns for the Aggies this year, fresh off of a stellar freshman campaign in which she was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. In 2023, Colunga made 37 starts for USU, including all 22 games in league play. Against MW competition, she batted .338 (23-of-68), while recording a .456 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .395. Colunga finished league play with 31 RBIs, 31 putouts, nine runs and one sacrifice fly.
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
Utah State welcomes in 10 newcomers this season, including six transfers and four freshmen. Transfer additions include graduate left-handed pitcher Katie Zuniga (Quartz Hill, California / Utah Valley), senior outfielder Ali Ashner (Phoenix, Arizona / Arizona), junior catcher Kaylee Erickson (Phoenix, Arizona / BYU), junior outfielder Brooklyn Pritchett (Layton, Utah / Salt Lake CC), redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Denay Smith (Mesa, Arizona / Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and sophomore infielder Alex Bunton (San Mateo, California / San Diego State). Incoming freshmen include outfielder Tatum Silva (Rescue, California / Ponderosa HS), infielder Emerson Meggers (Vacaville, California / Vacaville Christian HS), infielder/outfielder Paige McLeod (Encinitas, California / San Dieguito Academy) and catcher Zereniti Sousa (Wheatland, California / Wheatland Union HS).
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES - PT. II
Utah State's 10 newcomers are tied for second-most among Mountain West teams, only behind New Mexico (15).
SOPHOMORES OF THE WEEK?
Utah State won six Mountain West Freshman of the Week awards last season as pitcher Hailey McLean earned the weekly honor twice, along with a pair of MW Pitcher of the Week accolades, while outfielder Jaden Colunga earned the distinction three times, as well as one MW Player of the Week honor. Tess Bumiller was the final Aggie to earn the honor, doing so once.
FANNING THE FLAMES
• Utah State pitcher Hailey McLean had a stellar freshman campaign in 2023, ranking eighth in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings. The product of Sparks, Nevada, sat down 10.2 batters per seven innings last season, the top mark in the Mountain West. She also ranked 22nd in the nation in hits allowed per seven innings (4.32).
• McLean set both the Utah State program and facility record at UCLA's Easton Stadium with 20 strikeouts across nine innings in USU's 3-2 win over CSU Bakersfield.
• McLean recorded at least 10 strikeouts in five games last season, while logging at least five Ks in 11 games.
• McLean ranked first in the Mountain West in opposing batting average (.180) and second total strikeouts (154). Her 141 Ks ranked 73rd in the nation last season.
THIS IS OUR TURF
LaRee & LeGrand Johnson Field received an upgrade prior to the 2022 season as FieldTurf (Fast Grass) was installed in the outfield, warning track and halo, replacing the grass used in previous seasons. A new drainage system was also installed under the turf to help move snow or rain more quickly. New padding from Field Wall Pads/Sports Graphics was installed in the outfield. The infield is all clay.
POWER HITTERS
Utah State ranked third in the Mountain West and 51st in the nation last season with 0.89 home runs per game. 12 different Aggie hitters recorded at least one home run, while three had five or more.
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
During her freshman season in 2023, right-handed pitcher Hailey McLean etched a spot in Utah State's program record books. Her 154 strikeouts were tied for fourth in program history for a single season, and she was the first USU pitcher to record so many strikeouts since Noelle Johnson in 2014.
ROAD WARRIORS
Utah State's 2024 campaign begins with a 10-day road trip as the Aggies will play back-to-back tournaments in Riverside, California. After facing Portland State, UC Riverside and Oklahoma State in the UC Riverside-hosted Lynn Russell Miller Classic, USU will compete in the Cal Baptist Classic the following weekend, Feb. 16-18, where it will face CSU Bakersfield, Weber State and California Baptist.
CALIFORNIA GIRLS
Fifteen of the 23 Aggies on the 2023 roster have come to Utah State from California in graduate Katie Zuniga (Quartz Hill), senior Jessica Stewart (Salinas), juniors Taryn Edds (Anaheim), Giselle Gonzalez (San Diego), Ariel Fifita (San Marcos) and Claudia Medina (West Sacramento), sophomores Jaden Colunga (Colton), Sydney Saldaña (Seal Beach), Grace Matej (Orangevale), Kya Pratt (Temecula) and Alex Bunton (San Mateo), and freshmen Tatum Silva (Rescue), Emerson Meggers (Vacaville), Zereniti Sousa (Wheatland) and Paige McLeod (Encinitas).
YOUNGLINGS
Out of 23 players on Utah State's roster, 13 are underclassmen as the Aggies boast four freshmen (Tatum Silva, Emerson Meggers, Zereniti Sousa and Paige McLeod) eight sophomores (Tess Bumiller, Alex Bunton, Jaden Colunga, Emily Dority, Grace Matej, Hailey McLean, Kya Pratt and Sydney Saldaña) and one redshirt sophomore (Denay Smith) entering 2024.
DEFENSIVE MINDED
When limiting its opponents to five or fewer runs in 2023, the Aggies posted a 17-8 record. When holding opponents to two or fewer runs, USU went 11-4.
STRONG STARTS
In 2023, when Utah State led an opponent after the third inning it was able to hold on to secure the win in 10 of 14 contests. Additionally, the Aggies posted a 10-2 record when leading after five innings, and was 10-0 when ahead after six.
