COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Conference play opens up this week with a full slate of games. UNLV at BYU kicks off the schedule on Thursday at 3 p.m. Friday's games include UNLV at Utah and two-time defending regular-season champion San Diego State visiting the Cougars. MWC play concludes on Saturday with the Aztecs at the Utes and Colorado State at New Mexico.
CSU, UNM and Utah will also be in non-conference action this week.
AROUND THE MWC
BYU
Freshman Jodi Norton lead the Cougars offensively last weekend, batting .462 (6-for-13),
hitting three home runs and bringing in seven RBI. Defensively, she posted 10 assists and
two putouts.
BYU begins conference play on Thursday, Apr. 1, against UNLV.
COLORADO STATE
The Rams are currently riding a season-high six-game winning streak. Over the stretch,
the team recorded a .658 batting average, while the pitching staff held opponents to just a
.214 batting average. CSU also out-hit opponents 62-44 and out-scored the opposition by
a 39-6 margin. Colorado State also recorded 22 extra base hits and held teams to just five.
The Rams as a team hit eight home runs in the final seven games of the Rebel Spring
Games last week, moving the season total to 33 and eclipsing the old mark of 26 with at
least 22 games still slated to be played this season.
The 2004 team currently ranks first in the single season record books at Colorado State
with a team batting average of .333, slugging percentage of .539 and home runs (33), ranks
second with a .970 fielding percentage, and fourth in both doubles (62) and winning
percentage (.710).
NEW MEXICO
The Lobos went 2-4-0 last weekend at the Mean Green/Wells Fargo Classic in Denton,
Texas.
Seniors Ora Hensley and Sabrina Sandberg, and junior Cassie Chavez were named to the
all-tournament team. Chavez hit a team-leading .412 with four runs scored, including a
home run and three RBI. Sandberg hit .333 with three home runs, eight RBI and four runs
scored. Hensley also hit .333, with three doubles and scored a team-high six runs.
Sabrina Sandberg's three homers over the weekend ties the number she has compiled over
her entire career. Two of her home runs came in game one of the tournament against
Harvard. She hit a grand slam in the seventh innings and a full count solo shot in the
second. Sandberg now has six homers on the year.
Sophomore Stephanie Kennedy is hitting a team-best .325 for New Mexico this season.
Junior Cassie Chavez leads the Lobos in at-bats (127), hits (40) and RBI (20), is tied for the
team lead with six home runs and 10 doubles, and is second in batting average (.315).
SAN DIEGO STATE
Aztec head coach Kathy Van Wyk won her 254th game in SDSU's 6-0 win over Buffalo on
Mar. 21, becoming the winningest coach in San Diego State history. She broke former
Aztec coach Linda Spradley's (1988-94) school record of 253 wins. From 1995-96, the two
shared head coaching duties and compiled a 48-69-0 mark.
UNLV
UNLV has played eight of its last 10 games against teams ranked in the top-25, including
three against No. 1 Arizona.
The Rebels have won seven straight against unranked opponents.
UNLV is 0-3-0 in road games this year, with all three losses coming to top-ranked Arizona.
The Rebels will not play in another tournament before the Mountain West Conference
Championship in May.
UTAH
Senior Glennis Donnelly leads the MWC in batting average (.464), slugging percentage
(.893), doubles (12), , and total bases (75).
