April 1 (Wednesday)
San Diego State def. San Diego, 2-0
April 2 (Thursday)
*BYU def. Colorado State, 11-0 (5 innings)
* New Mexico def. Utah, 10-7
April 3 (Friday)
*Colorado State def. Utah, 8-5
*BYU def. New Mexico, 13-4 (6 innings)
April 4 (Saturday)
*San Diego State def. UNLV, 2-1
*BYU def. New Mexico, 10-3
April 5 (Sunday)
*San Diego State def. UNLV, 5-0
April 6 (Monday)
Utah def. Utah State, 1-0
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
April 7 (Tuesday)
UNLV at #5/8 Arizona State (DH), 1 p.m.
Utah at Utah State (DH), 2 p.m.
BYU at Utah Valley, 3 p.m.
UTEP at San Diego State, 6 p.m.
April 10 (Friday)
*BYU at Utah, 4 p.m.
*Colorado State at San Diego State, 6 p.m.
*New Mexico at UNLV, 6 p.m.
April 11 (Saturday)
*BYU at Utah, 1 p.m.
*Colorado State at UNLV, 6 p.m.
*New Mexico at San Diego State, 6 p.m.
April 12 (Sunday)
*Colorado State at UNLV, 1 p.m.
*New Mexico at San Diego State, 1 p.m.
Mountain West Conference teams in CAPS.
*Indicates MWC game.
All times local to site.
Rankings according to the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls.
WEEK 9 RECAP
BYU and San Diego State, who are receiving votes in both national polls, each went undefeated last week, as the two schools posted a combined 6-0 record. The Cougars opened the MWC season with a five-inning, 11-0 victory at Colorado State, as well as a two-game series sweep at New Mexico. San Diego State handed a 2-0 defeat to crosstown rival San Diego, before earning two wins at UNLV to extend the Aztecs' current win streak to six. New Mexico snapped an 11-game losing slump with its 10-7 victory over Utah on Thursday. Colorado State extended its win streak over the Utes to four games with Friday's 8-5 win in Fort Collins, Colo.
WEEK 10 PREVIEW
UNLV travels to Tempe, Ariz., for a Tuesday double-header at #5/8 Arizona State, before playing host to New Mexico and Colorado State later this week. Both the Lobos and Rams will also make the trek to San Diego, Calif., for MWC games at San Diego State. BYU and Utah are both slated for a week of instate-rivalries. After defeating Utah State at home on Monday, Utah will travel to Logan on Tuesday for a double-header with the Aggies. BYU heads across town to face Utah Valley on Tuesday, before the Cougars and Utes play two of three Deseret First Duel games in Salt Lake City over the weekend.
COUGAR BATS A-BLAZIN'
BYU's three conference wins last week extended its current winning streak to seven games. The Cougars, who have produced at least 10 runs in their last four games, have scored a total of 218 runs this season, while limiting opponents to 98 runs. BYU has out-hit opponents in 32 of its 40 games so far in 2009.
FRESHMAN DUO ANCHOR RAM PITCHING STAFF
Colorado State freshmen Kelli Eubanks (8-7) and Dani Chaplin (4-6) have combined for 159.3 innings in the circle with 114 strikeouts, while only allowing 47 walks. Eubanks is holding opposing batters to a .261 average at the plate, while Chaplin has held batters to a .267 average. The pair have 27 starts in 35 games for the Rams, with a combined 14 complete games.
UNM'S HUGHES NAILES GRAND SLAMS IN BACK-TO-BACK WEEKENDS
UNM has lost 15 of its last 17 games, but the Lobos are hitting .296 as a team and have eight players hitting over .300. Senior Samantha Hughes leads the team with a .388 average, and has hit two grand slams in back-to-back weekends including a walk-off grand slam on Thursday to clinch the 10-7 victory over Utah. Junior Katie Gilmore opened MWC action with a .571 average and currently leads the squad with 30 RBI. Gilmore is hitting .336 on the year.
AZTECS COMING OUT ON TOP
San Diego State has won six straight games, 13 of its last 15 games, 15 of its last 18 and 19 of its last 24. The Aztecs are outscoring their opponents, 22-3, over the six-game winning streak. SDSU is 19-0 on the season when it outhits the opposition and 20-4 when it scores first. The Aztecs are 15-0 when leading after five innings.
STATS TELL STORY OF REBELS' 2009 SEASON
UNLV holds a record of 13-2 when the squads scores six or more runs in a game. Conversely, the Rebels are 0-7 when they produce two or less. The only games in which UNLV has dropped while scoring six or more times were vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 8) and UCLA (Feb. 13). In both of those contests, the Rebels hit the seven-run barrier, but came out on the losing side.
UTES KNOCKING 'EM OUT OF THE PARK
Junior center fielder Kara Foster hit her 13th home run of the season on Thursday at New Mexico to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning. With 48 homers in her collegiate career, Foster is one round-tripper away from tying the school record set by Melissa Stanhke (2001-04).
At Colorado State on Friday, a pair of Utes hit their first home runs of the season in the top of the fourth inning, as Andrea Hoffman led off with a solo shot over the left-field wall. The home run was the second of Hoffman's career. The senior catcher connected on her first home run since homering in her first collegiate career at-bat on Feb. 10, 2006 against Colorado State. With one out later in the inning, sophomore catcher Brooke Olson connected on her first career home run to center.
