PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (3-2, 0-0 Mountain West) continues its 2025 campaign this week at the Cal Baptist Classic, at John C. Funk Stadium in Riverside, California. USU will play five games across four days from Feb. 14-16, first facing Seattle, then taking on San Diego and California Baptist twice apiece.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all of this weekend's games will be available via StatBroadcast, with a video stream available on ESPN+ for the games against California Baptist. Links and live updates will be available on the USU softball social media pages and through UtahStateAggies.com.
 
AGGIES VS THE FIELD
• This week's game will be the sixth all-time matchup between Utah State and Seattle. The Redhawks lead the series 4-1, with USU's lone win coming in 2010. The most recent matchup between the sides was in 2018, a 9-5 neutral site win for Seattle.
 
• Utah State has faced San Diego 11 times in program history, trailing 7-4 in the series. USU has won four of the past five meetings with the Torreros, including an 8-2 win in San Diego in the most recent showdown in 2021. The teams will match up two more times later this season (Feb. 22 in St. George, March 9 in Phoenix). 
 
• USU and California Baptist have played just one time previously, a 7-6 win last season in a nine-inning thriller in Riverside.  
 
ICYMI
Utah State opened the year at the Texas A&M-hosted Aggie Classic last weekend, going 3-2 against a formidable field of teams. USU lost its first two contests of the week, losing 7-4 to reigning BIG EAST champ Villanova and 11-5 to No. 7 Texas A&M, then won three-straight. USU defeated Abilene Christian 9-3, took down No. 19 Baylor 6-4 and beat Purdue 4-3 in eight innings. 
 
RANKED DUB
On Feb. 8, Utah State earned its first victory over a ranked team since 2022 and first win over a top-20 side since 2010, defeating No. 19 Purdue 6-4. The Aggies jumped out to an early lead with a four-run first inning, then held on tightly to the lead the rest of the way. 
 
Junior pitcher Carly Limosnero spent all seven innings in the circle for USU, allowing just two extra base hits in the game. Junior catcher Grace Matej was responsible for half of the team's runs, hitting three RBI singles in the contest.
 
Earlier in the week, USU led No. 7 Texas A&M through 5.5 innings, but an eight-run sixth from Texas A&M held off the upset. 
 
TURNING SOME HEADS
In the D1Softball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, Utah State debuted this week at No. 6. The Aggies are the highest-ranked Mountain West team, joined in the poll by Boise State (13), Nevada (14) and San Diego State (18).
 
CLUTCH HITTERS
In Utah State's win over Purdue on Feb. 9, the Aggies had their backs against the wall multiple times. In the bottom of the seventh in need of a run to survive, senior outfielder Olivia Marble hit a one-out RBI triple to even the game as senior outfielder Brooklyn Pritchett scored.
 
In the eighth inning, after three-straight outs for the Boilermakers, junior catcher Grace Matej hit a walk-off bases-loaded single to bring home junior infielder Kenzee Hale for the win.  
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State junior catcher Grace Matej was honored for her strong performance last week, being named the Mountain West Player of the Week. 
 
At the Aggie Classic, Matej recorded at least one hit in all five games, going 9-for-18 (.500) at the plate with two doubles, five RBIs and four runs. She had three RBIs in the team's win over No. 19 Baylor, and hit the walk-off run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Purdue.
 
WELCOME BACK
Utah State returns seven starters in the field and 11 letterwinners from last year's squad, as well as two pitchers. All seven of the returning starters made 39 or more starts last season. USU's seven returning starters are the second-most in the Mountain West, behind only San José State (8). 
 
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
Utah State welcomes in 12 newcomers this season, including seven transfers and five freshmen. Transfer additions include senior infielder/catcher Lyndsey Madrigal (BYU), senior outfielder Olivia Marble (Abilene Christian), junior right-handed pitcher Emmalyn Brinka (Montana), junior infielder Kenzee Hale (College of Southern Idaho), junior right-handed pitcher Carlyn Limosnero (California Baptist), junior right-handed pitcher Rylie Pindel (SIUE) and sophomore right-handed pitcher Maren Berger (Texas Southern). 
 
Incoming freshmen include infielder Alex Garcia (Folsom, California / St. Francis HS), infielder Justine Davidson (Farmington, Arkansas / Farmington HS), outfielder Faith Kroening (Phoenix, Arizona / Pinnacle HS), outfielder Rylee Turlington (Wittmann, Arizona / Willow Canyon HS) and catcher Jaelyn Castillo (Tucson, Arizona / Salpointe Catholic HS).
 
Additionally, USU added two new assistant coaches to the dugout. Marissa Schuld joins the Aggies as the team's assistant coach/pitching coach after an outstanding pitching career at Arizona State, while Shelby Thompson joins as an assistant coach after playing four years at UC San Diego. 
 
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES - PT. II
Utah State's 12 newcomers are the second-most among Mountain West teams, only behind New Mexico (14) and UNLV (14).
 
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
A pair of Aggies were named to the preseason all-Mountain West team, as voted on by the league's coaches. Senior infielder Ariel Fifita and junior catcher/infielder Grace Matej were each honored. 
 
Fifita enters her senior campaign with 123 career appearances and 116 starts under her belt through three years in Logan. She has totaled 104 hits in 342 at-bats, scoring 70 runs with 57 RBIs and totaling 11 doubles and 13 home runs. She has also recorded 177 career putouts with 213 assists. 
 
Matej is coming off a sophomore campaign which saw her earn NFCA Pacific Region and all-Mountain West second team honors in 2024. During her career, she has totaled 84 hits and 40 RBIs in 75 games while making 66 starts. She has a career batting average of .370 (84-for-227). As a catcher, she has also tallied 161 putouts and 23 assists with just two errors in her career for a .989 fielding percentage. 
 
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
• Utah State catcher/infielder Grace Matej is coming off one of the best hitting seasons in program history. As a sophomore in 2024, Matej hit .405 with 54 hits in 131 at-bats. That batting average ranked second in the Mountain West last season and was the fifth-best for a season in Utah State history.  
 
• Matej's .580 slugging percentage and 53 hits each fell just shy of cracking into the program's all-time top 10. 
 
THAT BALL IS GONE-ZALEZ
After entering her junior campaign last season with just three career home runs, USU infielder Giselle Gonzalez found her way into the record book last season with 10 dingers, tied for the ninth-most in a single season in program history. 
 
EXPERIENCED SQUAD
Of the 25 players on Utah State's roster this season, 16 are upperclassmen. This includes six seniors and 10 juniors.
 
NEW LOOK BULLPEN
The Aggie bullpen this season looks a little bit different after welcoming in four new pitchers from the transfer portal - juniors Emmalyn Brinka (Montana), Carly Limosnero (California Baptist) and Rylie Pindel (SIUE), and sophomore Maren Berger (Texas Southern). 
 
USU does return its top pitcher from last season in junior Denay Smith, who led the team in ERA (3.71), innings pitched (83.0) and WHIP (1.71). It also returns junior Sydney Saldaña, who made seven appearances last season. 
 
UP NEXT
Utah State will travel to St. George, Utah, next weekend for the Lyman Classic Tournament from Feb. 21-23. There, it will face first face UC San Diego, Weber State, San Diego, Utah Tech and Idaho State.