THIS WEEK
Four of six MWC teams will see tournament action this week, with BYU (14-5) and Colorado State (12-4) facing top-25 opponents. The Cougars travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Classic, where they face the host, #5/#5 Stanford. Colorado State will enter the National Invitation Softball Tournament in San Jose, Calif, which includes #7/#6 California. UNLV will travel to Manoa, Hawaii for the Hawaiin Airlines Spring Fling Tournament, while Utah will compete in the Florida State Tournament. New Mexico hosts in-state rival New Mexico State and San Diego State faces Cal State Fullerton and Virginia at home.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE QUICK HITS
BYU
BYU set a school record for margin of victory in the 20-0 win over Texas Southern...The Cougars were named champions of the Texas A&M Invitational after defeating the No. 14 Aggies 8-0...BYU had consecutive victories by the eight-run rule over Texas A&M and Texas Southern last week.
COLORADO STATE
At 12-4, the 2006 team has matched the best start in school history through 16 games...The 1989 squad also posted a 12-4 record to start the season, and eventually reached 27-4 before losing its fifth game of the season...The Colorado State pitching staff led the Rams to a 5-0 showing at the SDSU Aztec Invitational, holding opponents to a .193 batting average and posting a .000 ERA as a staff...Junior Jessica Strickland and freshmen Kim Klabough and MaryBeth Culp did not allow an earned run in the tournament and combined for 27 strikeouts in 35 innings...Through 16 games this season, the Colorado State softball team has stolen 16 bases in 20 attempts, matching the 2005 squad's entire season output (16-for-25)...Last weekend at the Aztec Invitational, the Rams stole eight bases in nine attempts...Senior Tara Harbert leads the Rams with a perfect 11-for-11 mark on the season.
NEW MEXICO
With the four wins to open their home season, the Lobos are currently on a seven-game winning streak...Their current win streak matches the longest under head coach Kim Newbern (2004 season)...New Mexico has won eight of its last 11 games and are approaching .500 with a 9-12 overall record...The Lobos have not been held scoreless once this season, scoring at least one run in all 21 games played so far.
SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs (13-4) are off to their best start in school history... SDSU has won eight out of its last nine games...The Aztecs have scored first in 14 of their 17 games this season...SDSU is now 2-2 against nationally ranked teams this year...The Aztecs' win against San Diego on Wednesday was their 42nd in 43 tries...SDSU is 11-3 (.786) at home this season.
UNLV
UNLV sits 11-10 heading into its three-week stretch on the road...The Rebels had two players hit above the .500 barrier this past weekend in the UNLV Invitational...Kendall Fearn topped all Rebels with a .545 average (6-for-11), while Shannon Crisp followed closely behind with a .538 effort (7-for-13)... Kelly Griego notched her first win and picked up her second save of the season this past weekend as she threw the final 0.2 innings against Portland State and the final 2.0 innings against Southern Utah.
UTAH
In its last weekend, Utah out-scored its opponents 22-2 and out-hit them, 33-10...The 33 hits last weekend account for one third of the team's hits this season...The team's batting average has been above .300 in two of the first three weeks...After last weekend's outings, Utah is hitting .303 and are hitting .333 (5-for-15) when the bases are loaded...However, Utah's pitching has stymied its opponents, holding it to a .100 (1-for-10) average with the bases juiced... Utah has hit 15 doubles in its first 13 games (1.15 per game) and in 50 games last year, it only hit 33 (0.66).
