PLAY BALL!
Utah State softball (0-0, 0-0 Mountain West) officially begins its 2026 campaign this week at the Texas A&M-hosted Aggie Classic, at the Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas. USU will play five games across three days from Feb. 5-7, facing Abilene Christian twice and No. 11 Texas A&M, Bryant and Providence.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all of this weekend's games will be available via StatBroadcast, with a video stream available on ESPN+ for just the Texas A&M game. 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 games will be the first all-time matchup between Utah State and both Bryant and Providence
• Utah State has faced Texas A&M 21 times in program history, trailing 14-7 in the series. Texas A&M has won each of the past six meetings between the sides, including an 11-5 win over USU in last year's Aggie Classic.
• USU and Abilene Christian have met just one time previously, facing off at last season's Aggie Classic. Utah State won that contest 9-3.
WELCOME BACK
Utah State returns four starters in the field and 12 letterwinners overall from last year's squad, including four pitchers. All four returning starters in the field are seniors this season — outfielder Kya Pratt, infielder Alex Bunton and catchers Grace Matej and Kaylee Erickson.
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
Utah State welcomes in 10 newcomers this season, including two transfers and eight true freshmen. Transfer additions include junior infielder Keely Goushá (Boise State) and freshman infielder Kate Vance (Arizona).
Incoming freshmen include utility player Ryan Pead (Saratoga Springs, Utah / Westlake HS), left-handed pitcher Jordyn Lish (Modesto, Calif. / Fred C. Beyer HS), catcher/infielder Sofia Trejo (Tucson, Arizona / Tucson Magnet HS), right-handed pitcher Kendall Cochran (Mesa, Arizona / Red Mountain HS), infielder/outfielder Jakobi Nebeker (Pocatello, Idaho / Pocatello HS), outfielder/infielder Haylee Lopez (San Tan Valley, Ariz. / Poston Butte HS), catcher/utility player Hailey Holliday (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Saguaro HS) and infielder/right-handed pitcher Jazmin Ramirez (Chandler, Ariz. / Hamilton HS).
Additionally, USU added two new assistant coaches to the dugout. Jared McDonald, a former Arizona State and professional infielder, joins the Aggies as an assistant coach, as does former UCLA pitcher Jada Cecil.
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 catcher Grace Matej and senior outfielder Kya Pratt were each honored.
Matej is a two-time all-MW honoree and also earned NFCA Pacific Region Second Team honors in 2024. As a junior last season, she played in and started 50 of the team's 52 games, posting a .327 batting average while going 53-for-162 at the plate. She totaled 11 doubles on the year, with a triple and 10 home runs, while her 36 runs scored rank tied for seventh most in a season in program history.
Pratt had a breakout season as a junior in 2025 to earn all-Mountain West first team accolades. She started 46 games while making 49 appearances, ranking fifth on the squad with a .363 batting average as she went 49-for-135 at the plate. Pratt recorded 11 doubles and nine home runs last season, totaling 34 RBIs and 21 runs scored while drawing 11 walks and recording a .423 on-base percentage with a .644 slugging percentage, 10th-best in the Mountain West.
A SEASON FOR THE AGES
Utah State had a historic offensive season in 2025, shattering several long-standing program records.
The Aggies set program records for batting average (.340), hits (493), runs (340), doubles (90), home runs (66), runs batted in (319), total bases (807), slugging percentage (.557), walks drawn (181), hits by pitch (50) and on-base percentage (.428).
A SEASON FOR THE AGES - PT. II
Last year's Utah State squad set not just program records, but etched its name into the Mountain West record books in a few different categories.
USU's .609 slugging percentage in league games in 2025 ranked fourth in league history. The team's .341 overall batting average ranks fifth, while its .442 on-base percentage ranks tied for fifth.
A BIG ADDITION
One of Utah State's key additions this season is freshman infielder Kate Vance. A two-time first-team prep All-American, Vance was ranked the No. 6 recruit in the country in the 2024 class and the No. 3 infielder in the class by Extra Inning Softball. She signed and enrolled at Arizona in 2025, but left the team following the fall season.
ON THE RISE
In the team's second season under head coach Todd Judge in 2025, the Aggies had one of their most successful campaigns in recent history. USU's 26 wins ranked as the third-most in a season since 1997. The only Aggie teams with more during that span were 2022 (28 wins) and 2017 (33 wins).
Utah State also qualified for its first-ever Mountain West Conference Tournament (the league didn't hold conference tournaments from 2007-22).
DINGERS FOR DAYS
Utah State shattered its program record for home runs in a season in 2025. The Aggies hit 66 four-baggers last year, surpassing the previous record of 50 set in 2016. Individually, Giselle Gonzalez hit a program-record 17 moonshots.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
In 2025, Utah State swept three series against Mountain West opponents (Colorado State, New Mexico, San José State). This was equal to the number of conference sweeps the team had in the prior eight seasons combined.
A GRAND OLD TIME
Utah State senior catcher/infielder Kaylee Erickson hit four grand slams in 2025, a mark which ranked tied for fifth-most by a player in a season in NCAA history.
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.
BOTH ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM
Of the 23 players on Utah State's squad, 19 are either freshman (9) or seniors (10).
THE MAGIC NUMBER
When scoring six or more runs in 2025, Utah State went 19-8. When scoring five or fewer runs, the team was 6-13.
RYLIE WIN-DEL
Senior right-handed pitcher Rylie Pindel went 10-4 in the circle last season. Her 10 wins ranked tied for seventh in the Mountain West.
UP NEXT
Utah State will travel to Riverside, California, next week for the Cal Baptist Classic from Feb. 13-15. There, the Aggies will face four opponents in three days, with games against Saint Francis, Loyola Marymount, Cal State Bakersfield, and two contests against Hawaii.
