PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (24-18, 9-4 Mountain West) is set for a critical three-game series between the top two teams in the Mountain West standings this weekend in Reno as the Aggies will face Nevada on Thursday, April 17, at 4 p.m. (MT), Friday, April 18, at 4 p.m. (MT) and Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. (MT) at Nevada's Christina M. Hixson Softball Park.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all of this weekend's games will be available via Statbroadcast, while all games will be streamed for free on the Mountain West Network. Links and live updates will be available on the USU softball social media pages and through UtahStateAggies.com.
AGGIES VS WOLF PACK
Utah State and Nevada have met 67 times in a series which dates back to 1980. The Aggies trail 31-36 in a highly competitive series, and have wins in five of the past seven meetings. The teams met twice last season in Logan, USU winning a 6-5 nine-inning contest, then winning 5-4 in the second showdown. Utah State is 14-20 all-time in Reno against Nevada.
DINGERS FOR DAYS
With still three regular season series to play, Utah State has already set a program record for home runs in a season. The Aggies enter the weekend with 51 four-baggers, surpassing the previous record of 50 set in 2016.
Senior infielder Giselle Gonzalez has hit a team-best 14 moonshots this year, second-most in program history and just one shy of tying the program's single-season record of 15 set by Gabriella Jimenez in 2022.
HISTORIC HITTING
With a .340 team batting average this season, Utah State is on track for its best hitting season in program history. Currently, the team batting average record is .310 in 1996. USU is also on track to post its best slugging percentage (.552) and on base percentage (.429) in program history.
The Aggies enter the weekend in need of just a single run to match the program's all-time season runs record of 283.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
This season alone, Utah State has swept three series against Mountain West opponents. This is equal to the number of conference sweeps the team had in the eight combined seasons prior to this year (2017-24).
MARATHON DUB
The first half of Utah State's doubleheader against New Mexico on April 2 took 12 innings to determine a winner, a game finally decided by a leadoff triple for sophomore outfielder Tatum Silva, followed by a walk-off hit for senior infielder Ariel Fifita. This was the longest game for USU since a 2009 13-inning thriller at Cal Poly.
FINDING A WAY
Senior infielder Ariel Fifita continues to add her name to the Utah State record book, as she holds the longest on-base streak in program history with 37-straight games reaching base. During that streak, she has recorded hits in 27 games.
Fifita has shattered the previous program record of 24-straight games on-base, which she set last season.
HISTORY IS MADE
Several major program season and career records have gone down this season at the hands of the senior infield duo of Ariel Fifita and Giselle Gonzalez.
Fifita has set program records for runs both in a career (118) and season (48). She also ranks in the top-10 in career batting average (7th - .335), season batting average (7th - .401), season slugging percentage (2nd - .732), career home runs (7th - 22), career RBIs (10th - 92) and season doubles (6th - 14).
Gonzalez now owns the single season RBI record with 52 this year, and she needs just one home run to match the single season record of 15. She also ranks among all-time leaders in season slugging percentage (1st - .740), career home runs (5th - 27) and career RBIs (7th - 103).
SHUT 'EM OUT
In Utah State's win at San José State on April 5, junior right-hander Emmalyn Brinka pitched a complete game shutout, going 7.0 innings in the circle with just two hits allowed. Brinka pitched 5.2 innings before allowing SJSU its first hit. She also walked just a single batter in the contest.
TATUM'S ON A TEAR
Since the start of conference play, sophomore outfielder Tatum Silva has been on fire at the plate. During that stretch, she leads the team with a .485 (16-for-33) batting average while also totaling five RBIs, nine runs, four walks and just two strikeouts.
EXTRA CREDIT
Utah State has made the most of its at-bats this season, getting extra bases in 140 of its 406 hits. This includes 79 doubles, 10 triples and 51 home runs. Senior infielder Ariel Fifita leads the way with 26 extra base hits (14 doubles, three triples and nine home runs).
USU's 1.88 doubles per game lead the MW and rank sixth in the nation. The team's 1.21 home runs per game rank second in the MW and 37th in the nation.
DOMINANT DUBS
In their series at Colorado State March 27-28, the Aggies put together one of the most dominant series sweeps in program history. Utah State out-scored CSU 37-13 over the three games, both its highest-scoring and most lopsided Mountain West series since joining the league in 2014.
This was USU's first three-game conference road sweep of a team since a 2022 sweep at New Mexico, and just the second since 2016.
A GRAND SEASON
Utah State redshirt junior catcher/infielder Kaylee Erickson has hit four grand slams this year, a mark which ranks tied for fifth-most by a player in a season in NCAA history. Three players are tied for the NCAA record of six in a season, while one additional player has five.
Prior to Erickson, just one USU player in program history, Lexi Orozco, had ever hit multiple grand slams in a season (2 in 2019). The program record for grand slams in a year by the entire team was three in 2021.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah State currently ranks in the top-50 nationally in several key statistics, including: doubles per game (6th - 1.88), hit by pitches (9th - 43), hits (10th - 407), batting average (19th - .341), on base percentage (20th - .429), slugging percentage (2nd - .552), double plays (22nd - 19), RBIs per game (24th - 6.31), scoring (26th - 6.71), total runs (28th - 282), sacrifice bunts (32nd - 32) and home runs per game (37th - 1.21).
MOUNTAIN BEST
With most of non-conference play in the books, the Mountain West Conference has had one of its best out of league showings in recent history this year. Against non-conference foes, eight of the league's nine teams are .500 or better. The squads have combined for a 144-99-1 (.592) record in non-conference play.
FIFITA'S ON FIRE
Utah State senior infielder Ariel Fifita has been one of the top hitters in the country this season, as well as one of the top shortstops. Fifita currently leads the nation in assists per game (3.33), while also recording 50 putouts.
Fifita is batting a team-best .401 (57-for-142) entering the week, while 26 of her 57 hits have resulted in extra bases. Her .401 batting average ranks 124th nationally and third in the MW. She also ranks 25th nationally in doubles (14) and 35th in hits (57). Her .732 slugging percentage ranks sixth in the MW, and her .511 on base percentage ranks fifth in the league.
THAT HURT!
Utah State leads the Mountain West and ranks ninth in the nation with 43 times being hit by a pitch this season. Senior infielder Ariel Fifita leads the Aggies with nine HBPs taken on the year.
UP NEXT
Utah State will return to LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field for its final home series of the year, a three-game slate against UNLV with games April 25-27.
