March 17 (Tuesday)
Pacific def. Colorado State, 3-2
Pacific def. Colorado State, 7-2
San Diego State def. Texas Tech, 4-2
Texas Tech def. San Diego State, 5-3
March 18 (Wednesday)
Nevada, Reno def. Colorado State, 2-1
Utah def. Boise State, 1-0
Boise State def. Utah, 7-5
March 19 (Thursday)
BYU def. Sacramento State (2), 9-2
Colorado State def. Dartmouth (1), 8-0 (5 innings)
Sacramento State def. Colorado State (2), 8-7 (8 innings)
Seattle def. New Mexico at Seattle, 3-2
Seattle def. New Mexico at Seattle, 14-8
March 20 (Friday)
BYU def. #10/7 California (2), 4-0
Colorado State def. Dartmouth (2), 6-1
San Diego State def. Cal State Fullerton, 6-0
UNLV def. Dartmouth (2), 18-0 (5 innings)
#10/7 California def. UNLV (2), 8-0 (6 innings)
March 21 (Saturday)
BYU def. Dartmouth (2), 8-0 (5 innings)
Cal Poly def. BYU (2), 4-1
Colorado State def. #10/7 California (2), 2-1
#3/3 Washington def. New Mexico, 14-3 (5 innings)
#3/3 Washington def. New Mexico, 4-3 (8 innings)
San Diego State def. Cal State Fullerton, 3-0
UNLV def. Sacramento State (2), 9-8
UNLV vs. Cal Poly (2), CANCELLED
March 22 (Sunday)
Cal Poly def. Colorado State (2), 2-1
#3/3 Washington def. New Mexico, 9-2
Key To Tournaments:
(1) Game played in Sacramento, Calif.
(2) Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
March 24 (Tuesday)
Boise State at BYU, 4 p.m.
New Mexico at New Mexico State, 6 p.m.
March 25 (Wednesday)
Utah State at Utah, 4 p.m.
March 26 (Thursday)
Utah Valley at Utah, 4 p.m.
March 27 (Friday)
Idaho State at BYU (3), 4 p.m.
Texas State at New Mexico, 7 p.m.
March 28 (Saturday)
North Dakota at BYU (DH) (3), Noon
Northern Colorado at Colorado State (DH), Noon
Texas State at New Mexico, 7 p.m.
March 29 (Sunday)
Texas State at New Mexico, 1 p.m.
Key To Tournaments:
(3) BYU March Invite in Provo, Utah
Mountain West Conference teams in CAPS.
All times local to site.
Rankings according to the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls.
WEEK 7 RECAP
Mountain West softball teams earned a combined 12 wins over the weekend, including two victories to then-No. 10/7 California at the hands of BYU and Colorado State. The Cougars and Rams earned three wins apiece at the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif., while UNLV went 2-1 against common opponents in Dartmouth, California and Sacramento State. San Diego State split a doubleheader with Texas Tech before earning two wins over Cal State Fullerton in a two-game, home-and-home series, while Utah split its home-opening doubleheader with Boise State. New Mexico slipped to 9-19 on the season, after two losses at Seattle and a three-game series sweep at third-ranked Washington.
WEEK 8 PREVIEW
BYU is set to open its home season on Tuesday against Boise State at 4 p.m., marking the completion of a 33-game road trip that sent the Cougars traveling from Long Beach, Calif., to Tampa, Fla. BYU will also host the final regular-season tournament on the MWC's slate, as Idaho State and North Dakota will make the trek to Provo for the BYU March Invite. New Mexico will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., Tuesday to battle New Mexico State at 6 p.m. in the Rio Grande Rivalry. The Lobos will also host Texas State this weekend in a three-game series that will start on Friday. Utah will complete its season-opening four-game homestand with a pair of weekday games against instate rivals, Utah State on Wednesday and Utah Valley on Thursday. Colorado State will host Northern Colorado in a Saturday doubleheader, while UNLV and San Diego State enjoy a weekend off before facing each other on April 4 in Las Vegas, Nev., to open conference play.
COUGARS EXACT REVENGE OVER CAL
With a 4-0 shutout win over No. 10/7 California in last weekend's Capital Classic, BYU exacted revenge on the Golden Bears who beat the Cougars, 4-2, earlier in March. The win marked the Cougars' second this season against a nationally-ranked opponent, after BYU handed a 2-0, 10-inning defeat to then-No. 24/21 Fresno State in the Bayer Cropscience Classic. Sophomore righthander Paige Affleck earned both victories for the Cougars with a six-inning relief appearance against the Bulldogs, and a complete-game shutout over Cal.
FRESHMAN DUO ANCHOR RAM PITCHING STAFF
Colorado State freshmen Kelli Eubanks (7-6) and Dani Chaplin (4-6) have combined for 150.0 innings in the circle with 104 strikeouts, while only allowing 43 walks. Eubanks is holding opposing batters to a .254 average at the plate, while Chaplin has held batters to a .260 average. The pair have 25 starts in 33 games for the Rams, with a combined 14 complete games.
NEW MEXICO SEEKS TURNAROUND
New Mexico is looking to snap a seven-game losing skid on Tuesday as the Lobos travel to New Mexico State. UNM has lost 11 of its last 12 games, but its last victory came against No. 20 DePaul (1-0) on March 14 in the Judi Garman Classic. Despite their losing streak, the Lobos are hitting .297 as a team and have seven players hitting over .300. Senior Samantha Hughes leads the team with a .398 average, 11 doubles and three home runs.
AZTECS COMING OUT ON TOP
San Diego State has won 10 of its last 12 games, 12 of its last 15 and 16 of its last 21. Since senior All-American Erin Floros returned to action after a bout of appendicitis that sidelined her for 14 games, the Aztecs have gone 9-2. After batting .192 over the first 14 games (6-8) of the season, and averaging just 2.36 runs per game, SDSU has batted .283 over its last 20 games (15-5) and have scored 4.15 runs per contest.
UNLV'S HOLLAND HIGHLIGHTS CAPITAL CLASSIC
UNLV sophomore Ashli Holland helped the Rebels to a 2-1 record at the Capital Classic. Holland hit at a .556 pace with five hits, six RBI and three runs scored. She amassed a .889 slugging percentage and a .556 on-base percentage. She began the tournament going 3-for-3 with consecutive singles in the first three frames of the five-inning, 18-0 win over Dartmouth. Her second and third singles brought with them RBI tallies, as she knocked home one run and then two more, respectively. With UNLV down 8-3 vs. Sacramento State, she began the sixth inning with a single and came around to score to pull the Rebels within four at 8-4. In the seventh, she delivered the game-winning hit, as she cranked a three-run home run to give her squad a 9-8 lead. Defensively, she was perfect in the field in eight opportunities.
UTES QUICK TO SCORE
Utah has scored first in 11 of its 13 victories this season. The Utes are 11-3 this year when managing to score the first run of a contest. Conversely, when the opponents take the first lead of a game, the Utes own a 2-16 mark.
UTAH'S HEMINGWAY NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
Utah first baseman Staci Hemingway is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in softball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in these areas: classroom, character, community, and competition. Hemingway has started 171 games in three different positions in Utah's infield. She recorded hits in nine consecutive at bats from May 10-12, 2007, tying for the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. In the classroom, Hemingway is currently pursuing an M.S. in Exercise and Sports Science, after completing a B.S. in Sports Management. She was an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VII selection and Academic All-Mountain West Conference in 2008.
