PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (26-22, 11-8 Mountain West) concludes the regular season portion of its 2025 slate this weekend with a three-game series in Idaho against Boise State. The Aggies and the Broncos will open the series with games on Thursday, May 1, and Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m., then face off on Saturday, May 3, at noon.
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 BRONCOS
Utah State and Boise State have met 43 times in a series which began in 2009. The Aggies trail 13-30 in the series. USU snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Broncos last season, taking two of the three games in Logan as it won 2-1, then earned a 9-1 five-inning victory before falling 13-1 in five innings in the final contest. Utah State is 6-14 all-time in Boise against the Broncos.
ALMOST TOURNAMENT TIME
Entering the final weekend of conference play, Utah State has already clinched a spot in this year's Mountain West Softball Championship. This year's tournament will take place in San Diego from May 7-10. Six of the league's nine teams qualify for the double elimination field, with the top two seeds earning first-round byes.
This will be USU's first post-season softball since the 2016 National Invitational Softball Championship, and first conference tournament action since the 2011 WAC Tournament.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah State currently ranks in the top-50 nationally in several key statistics, including: doubles per game (8th - 1.77), hit by pitches (8th - 49), hits (10th - 467), batting average (13th - .346), on base percentage (15th - .435), slugging percentage (18th - .566), RBIs per game (22nd - 6.46), scoring (23rd - 6.90), total runs (25th - 331), home runs per game (29th - 1.29), double plays per game (40th - 0.44), triples (43rd - 13), walks (49th - 173), and sacrifice bunts (50th - 33).
ON THE RISE
Under second-year head coach Todd Judge this season, the Aggies are having one of their most successful campaigns in recent history. USU's 26 wins this year rank as the third-most in a season since 1997. The Aggie only teams with more during that span were 2022 (28 wins) and 2017 (33 wins).
DINGERS FOR DAYS
Utah State has already shattered its previous program record for home runs in a season. The Aggies enter the weekend with 62 four-baggers, surpassing the previous record of 50 set in 2016.
Senior infielder Giselle Gonzalez has hit a team-best 16 moonshots this year, setting a new single season program record as she surpassed the previous mark of 15 set by Gabriella Jimenez in 2022.
HISTORIC HITTING
With a .345 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 (.565) and on base percentage (.435) in program history.
The Aggies have already broken the program records for runs with 331 this year (previous record was 283 in 2022), RBIs with 310 (259 in 2016) and total bases with 763 (701 in 2016).
USU is approaching several season records, including hits (have 466, the record is 479 in 1996), doubles (have 85, record is 86 in 2016) and walks (have 173, record is 177 in 2022).
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).
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 43-straight games reaching base. During that streak, she has recorded hits in 32 games.
Fifita has shattered the previous program record of 24-straight games on-base, which she set last season.
RECORD WATCH
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 in a career (124), runs in a season (53) and total bases in a season (112), while she's on track to set the single-season slugging percentage record (.713). She also ranks in the top-10 in career batting average (7th - .337), season batting average (7th - .401), career total bases (8th - 269), season walks (4th - 30), career slugging percentage (8th - .539), career home runs (7th - 22), career RBIs (9th - 95), season hits (8th - 63) and season doubles (3rd - 16).
Gonzalez owns both the single season RBI record with 58, and season home run record with 16 this year. She also ranks among all-time leaders in season total bases (6th - 107), season slugging percentage (2nd - .709), career slugging percentage (4th - .587), career home runs (5th - 29) and career RBIs (7th - 109).
TATUM'S ON A TEAR
During Mountain West play, sophomore outfielder Tatum Silva has been on fire at the plate. During that stretch, she leads the team and ranks second in the league with a .510 (25-for-49) batting average while also totaling 12 RBIs, 13 runs, six walks drawn and just four strikeouts.
WINNING INNING
In Utah State's 14-4 win over Nevada on April 19, the Aggies put together the highest-scoring inning in program history. Trailing 4-1 through three, USU then scored 13 runs in the fourth inning to take control of the game. The Aggies then held Nevada scoreless in the bottom half of the fourth and fifth to earn a run-rule victory.
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.
EXTRA CREDIT
Utah State has made the most of its at-bats this season, getting extra bases in 160 of its 466 hits. This includes 85 doubles, 13 triples and 62 home runs. Senior infielder Ariel Fifita leads the way with 28 extra base hits (16 doubles, three triples and nine home runs).
USU's 1.77 doubles per game lead the MW and rank eighth in the nation. The team's 13 triples rank 43rd nationally, while its 1.29 home runs per game rank second in the MW and 29th in the nation.
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 (3.15), while also recording 61 putouts.
Fifita is batting a team-best .401 (63-for-157) entering the week, while 28 of her 63 hits have resulted in extra bases. Her .401 batting average ranks 115th nationally and fifth in the MW. She also ranks 16th nationally in doubles (16) and 54th in hits (63). Her .713 slugging percentage ranks seventh in the MW, and her .518 on base percentage ranks third in the league.
UP NEXT
Utah State will travel to San Diego, California, for the Mountain West Softball Championships, which will take place from May 7-10.
