PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (26-25, 11-11 Mountain West) travels to San Diego this week for the 2025 Mountain West Softball Championship, taking place from May 7-10. The 5-seed Aggies will face 4-seed Boise State in the opening round on Wednesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. (MT). The winner of that game will enter the double elimination field, going on to face Nevada in the semifinal round on Thursday, May 8, at 4 p.m. (MT).
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.
POSTSEASON BOUND!
This will be Utah State's first ever Mountain West Tournament appearance (the league didn't hold a postseason tournament from 2007-22), and first overall conference tournament appearance since competing in the WAC Tournament in 2011.
The Aggies did play postseason softball in 2017, qualifying for the National Invitational Softball Championship, where they played games against San Diego, Weber State and Boise State.
All-time in conference tournament games, USU is 12-19 with its most recent win coming in 1989.
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
Utah State was well represented on this year's all-Mountain West teams, with a program-record seven Aggies earning all-conference recognition including a program-record three earning a spot on the league's first team.
Members of the all-Mountain West first team include junior catcher Grace Matej, junior outfielder Kya Pratt and sophomore outfielder Tatum Silva. Second teamers include the senior infield trio of Ariel Fifita, Giselle Gonzalez and Claudia Medina. Senior outfielder Olivia Marble is the final honoree, earning a spot on the conference's honorable mention team.
The previous record for all-MW honorees by Utah State was four in 2015. The most all-conference honorees in any league was six in the High Country Athletic Conference back in 1986.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah State currently ranks in the top-50 nationally in several key statistics, including: doubles per game (9th - 1.75), hit by pitches (11th - 50), hits (12th - 487), batting average (16th - .342), on base percentage (17th - .431), slugging percentage (17th - .562), RBIs per game (22nd - 6.25), scoring (26th - 6.67), total runs (26th - 340), home runs per game (30th - 1.29) and triples (49th - 13).
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 tournament with 66 four-baggers, surpassing the previous record of 50 set in 2016.
Senior infielder Giselle Gonzalez has hit a team-best 17 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 .341 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 (.561) and on base percentage (.430) in program history.
The Aggies have already broken the program records for runs with 340 this year (previous record was 283 in 2022), RBIs with 319 (259 in 2016), total bases with 799 (701 in 2016), hits with 486 (479 in 1996), doubles with 89 (86 in 2016) and walks with 179 (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 is recently coming off of the longest on-base streak in program history with, reaching with 45-straight games reaching base from Feb. 14-May 2. This is the longest on-base streak by any player in the NCAA this season.
Fifita shattered the previous program record of 24-straight games on-base, a record 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 (125), runs in a season (54) and total bases in a season (115), while she's on track to have the fourth-best single season slugging percentage (.689). She also ranks in the top-10 in career batting average (8th - .335), season batting average (10th - .389), career total bases (8th - 272), season walks (4th - 31), career slugging percentage (8th - .534), career home runs (7th - 22), career RBIs (9th - 96), season hits (8th - 63) and season doubles (3rd - 17).
Gonzalez owns both the single season RBI record with 60, and season home run record with 17 this year. She also ranks among all-time leaders in season total bases (2nd - 112), season slugging percentage (2nd - .700), career slugging percentage (4th - .587), career home runs (5th - 30) and career RBIs (6th - 111).
TATUM'S ON A TEAR
During Mountain West play, sophomore outfielder Tatum Silva caught fire at the plate. Against conference foes, she led the team and ranked third in the league with a .491 (27-for-55) batting average while also totaling 12 RBIs, 15 runs, nine walks drawn and just five strikeouts.
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.
MOUNTAIN BEST
The Mountain West Conference 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 went .500 or better. The squads combined for a 151-105-1 (.590) 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 (3.06), while also recording 65 putouts.
Fifita is batting a team-best .389 (65-for-167) entering the week, while 29 of her 65 hits have resulted in extra bases. She ranks 16th nationally in doubles (17) and 71st in hits (65). Her .689 slugging percentage ranks eighth in the MW, and her .505 on base percentage ranks fifth in the league.
