PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (5-4, 0-0 Mountain West) continues its 2024 campaign at the Utah Tech Classic in St. George, Utah. The Aggies will face off versus Weber State (Friday, Feb. 23, 11 a.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24, 12:30 p.m.), Eastern Kentucky (Saturday, Feb. 24, 3 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 25, 12:30 p.m.) and Utah Tech (Sunday, Feb. 25, 3 p.m.) as part of the tournament.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all of this weekend's games will be available via Sidearm Stats. Links and live updates will be available on the USU softball social media pages and through UtahStateAggies.com.
AGGIES VS WILDCATS
• Utah State leads Weber State 40-17 in a series dating back to 1976. The Aggies have won seven of the past nine meetings. The teams faced off twice in Riverside last weekend, 3-2 and 4-2 wins for Utah State. In neutral site games, Utah State holds a 12-2 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 returned three starters and seven letterwinners, while welcoming in seven newcomers this year.
AGGIES VS COLONELS
• Utah State leads Eastern Kentucky 1-0 in the all-time series. The only meeting between the Aggies and the Colonels came on March 22, 2003, a neutral site 6-2 win by USU.
• In 2023, Eastern Kentucky went 28-24 overall, including a 10-14 mark in league play to finish the season 11th in the ASUN. The team returned seven starters and nine letterwinners, while welcoming in eight newcomers this year.
AGGIES VS TRAILBLAZERS
• Utah Tech leads Utah State 5-3 in a series dating back to 2007. The past four meetings have been split 2-2, with the Trailblazers winning the most recent contest 5-4 on Feb. 19, 2022. In games played in St. George, Utah Tech holds a 3-1 advantage in the series.
• In 2023, Utah Tech went 35-18 overall, including a 19-5 mark in league play to finish the season first in the WAC. The team returned five starters and nine letterwinners, while welcoming in eight newcomers this year.
ICYMI
• Utah State played its second tournament of the season last weekend with five games in the Cal Baptist Classic, going 3-2 in those contests. The Aggies opened the weekend on Friday with a 3-2 loss to CSU Bakersfield, but bounced back that afternoon with a 3-2 win over Weber State. On Saturday, USU earned a dominant five-inning 9-0 win over CSU Bakersfield, then fell 7-6 in a nine-inning thriller to California Baptist. The Aggies wrapped up in Riverside with a 4-2 win on Sunday over Weber State.
• Five different Aggie pitchers saw time in the circle, with redshirt sophomore Denay Smith, graduate Katie Zuniga, and senior Jessica Stewart being credited with the wins. Smith pitched a team-high 10.1 innings, including the full seven innings in the team's 3-2 win over Weber State.
• Junior infielder Ariel Fifita led the Aggie bats, going .636 (7-of-11) at the plate with at least one hit in each of the five games. Sophomore infielder Alex Bunton also had a strong weekend, hitting .500 (5-of-10) while drawing a team-best seven walks.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Junior infielder Ariel Fifita was recognized for a strong outing last week as she earned America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week honors.
• Fifita went 7-of-11 (.636) at the plate on the week, while posting a .727 slugging percentage and a .706 on base percentage. She was responsible for four runs and four RBIs, and added three bases on balls. She also had a team-best four steals on four attempts. In the field, Fifita totaled four putouts and 10 assists.
KEEPING IT CLOSE
Close games have been a theme early in the season for Utah State. Four of the team's nine games have been determined by a single run, while five have been within two runs. The Aggies are 2-3 in one or two run games.
THE MAGIC NUMBER
When scoring three or more runs this season, Utah State is 5-1. When scoring less than three runs, the team is 0-3.
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.
