McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Player of the Week

Brooke Chaffee, So., 2B, New Mexico
Brooke Chaffee from the University of New Mexico is this week¹s McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Player of the Week. New Mexico retained a one-game lead in the league standings by going 3-1 during the week. The Lobos split a twinbill with San Diego State, losing the first, 5-2, but taking the second 3-1 on Friday, Apr. 14. UNM then swept UNLV (7-5, 8-2) on Sunday, Apr. 16. New Mexico is 30-13 overall and 8-2 in league play.

A sophomore from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, Chaffee batted .625 (5-for-8) with a slugging percentage of 1.125 and on-base percentage of .727 from the seventh spot. The second baseman also turned in a solid defensive week with nine put outs and eight assists without an error. Her 3-for-3 performance was the difference between victory and defeat in game one against UNLV as she belted the second grand slam of her career during the seven-run fifth inning. She went 2-for-4, with a double in game two of the day. Against San Diego State, Chaffee did not bat during the first game, and walked twice in three plate appearances in game two. This is the first player of the week award of the season for Chaffee and the fourth of the season for New Mexico.

McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Players of the Week: Feb. 8 ­ Holly Schmillen (Jr., SS) CSU, Feb. 15 ­ Rachel Goodpaster (Jr., SS) UNLV, Feb. 22 ­ Kellie Nordhagen (So., CF) SDSU, Feb. 29 ­ Christy Sears (Sr., DH) SDSU, Mar. 8 ­ Kathy Moore (Jr., P/1B) UNM, Mar. 14 ­ Lyndsey Trevis (So., 3B) Utah, Mar. 21 ­ Sarah Maulorica (So., DP) UNM, Mar. 28 ­ Kellie Labor (Sr., OF) SDSU, Apr. 4 ­ Molly McLean (So., OF) Utah, Apr. 10 ­ Danielle Cassara (Sr., 1B/P) UNM, Apr. 18 ­ Brooke Chaffee (S0., 2B) UNM.

McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week

Sandra Durazo, Sr., P, San Diego State
Sandra Durazo from San Diego State University is this week¹s McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week. San Diego State moved into a tie for second place in the league standings after going 3-1 during the week. SDSU won the first game of a dubleheader with New Mexico, 5-2, but UNM took the second 3-1 on Friday, Apr. 14. SDSU then swept Colorado State (3-2, 8-7) on Sunday, Apr. 16. San Diego State stands 25-21 overall and 7-3 in the conference.

A product of Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, Calif., Durazo registered all three of SDSU¹s victories during the week. Durazo struck out 10 batters, walked just one and scattered 12 hits over 16.2 innings, including two complete games. Opponents hit .222 off Durazo during the week. In the 5-2 win over UNM, she went the distance, allowing just five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three. In the 3-2 first-game victory over CSU, Durazo struck out six and allowed five hits in the complete game. She came in for the final 2.2 innings of the CSU nightcap, allowing just two hits en route to the win. Durazo has won seven of her last eight decisions and took over the SDSU career record for victories with 49. She also stands second all-time with 310 career strikeouts. This marks the third pitching honor of the year for Durazo and SDSU and the fifth such recognition of her career.

McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Pitchers of the Week: Feb. 8 ­ Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM, Feb. 15 ­ Kathy Moore (Jr.) UNM, Feb. 22 ­ Geney Orris (So.) UNLV, Feb. 29 ­ Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM, Mar. 8 ­ Kathy Moore (Jr.) UNM, Nicole Truax (So.) UNLV, Mar. 21 ­ Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM, Mar. 28 ­ Sandra Durazo (Jr.) SDSU, Apr. 4 ­ Kristin Arbogast (Jr.) Utah, Apr. 10 ­ Kyla Kiester (Jr.) CSU and Sandra Durazo (Jr.) SDSU, Apr. 18 ­ Sandra Durazo (Jr.) SDSU.

Mtn. West Head Coaches:

BYU ­ Mary Kay Amicone
Overall: 10-19 (1st season)
School: 10-19 (1st season)

Colorado State ­ Teri Klement
Overall: 30-46 (2nd season)
School: 30-46 (2nd season)

New Mexico ­ Susan Craig
Overall: 610-528 (24th season)
School: 610-528 (24th season)

San Diego State ­ Kathy Van Wyk
Overall: 103-110 (4th season)
School: 103-110 (4th season)

UNLV ­ Shan McDonald
Overall: 429-374-2 (14th season)
School: 429-374-2 (14th season)

Utah ­ Mona Stevens
Overall: 135-85 (4th season)
School: 135-85 (4th season)

The Regular-Season Conference Race
After splitting a doubleheader at San Diego State and going 3-1 during the week, New Mexico held on to first place in Mountain West Conference standings with a one game lead and an 8-2 record. Utah climbed into a tie with San Diego State for second place with a 7-3 mark. The Utes swept a doubleheader at BYU after splitting a non-conference twinbill with Utah State. The Aztecs went 3-1 for the week by sweeping Colorado State after splitting with UNM. CSU started the week with a sweep of UNLV and stands 5-5 in league play. BYU is fifth in the standings after dropping both games of its home opener to Utah and is now 2-8 in conference action. UNLV suffered six losses during the week, four in Mtn. West play and is now 1-9 in conference action.

Utah Host of 2000 Mtn. West Softball Championship
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Softball Championship will be hosted by the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. All six Mtn. West softball teams will compete in the double-elimination event for the first league title May 11-13. Seedings will be decided by regular-season results in conference games.

All requests for media credentials for the inaugural Mountain West Conference Softball Championship should be submitted in writing to Director of Communications Elaine Adams at the Mtn. West office or Utah Media Relations contact Julie Lapomarda prior to the event.

Utah Favored In Inaugural Mtn. West Softball Race
The University of Utah was favored to win the first-ever Mountain West Conference softball title in a preseason vote by the league softball coaches.

An indication of the parity within the league¹s six teams is the distribution of first place votes among three teams. Utah received three top votes and 23 points to edge New Mexico that claimed two No. 1 votes and 21 points. San Diego State garnered one first-place vote and totaled 18 points for third place in the poll.

Utah returns eight starters and 13 letterwinners from a team that registered an overall record of 28-27 in 1999 and went 8-11 to place fifth in the Western Athletic Conference. The Utes finished second to Fresno State in the WAC Tournament. New Mexico posted the most wins in school history last season, going 42-14 overall and tying for second place in the WAC with a 14-7 slate. The Lobos return eight starters among 10 letterwinners under the direction of 23-year veteran head coach Susan Craig who earned WAC co-Coach of the Year in 1999. San Diego State finished tied for third in the conference in 1999 with a 16-8 league record and a 24-34 overall mark. The Aztecs return nine starters and 12 letterwinners.

UNLV finished the 1999 season with an 18-31 record and placed sixth in the conference. The Rebels return 10 starters and 15 letterwinners after losing just three players from the 1999 squad. Colorado State posted a 17-24 overall record in 1999 and placed seventh in the league race. The Rams return seven starters among 10 letterwinners. The softball program at BYU is in its first season as a varsity sport under the direction of Utah graduate Mary Kay Amicone.

Mountain West Conference Preseason Softball Coaches Poll
Pl. School (1st) Points
1. Utah (3) 23
2. New Mexico (2) 21
3. San Diego State (1) 18
4. UNLV 13
5. Colorado State 10
6. BYU 5

Mtn. West in NCAA Statistics
(as of Apr. 9)

Individual

Batting
26th-Holly Schmillen (CSU) .424

Home Runs
3rd-Sunny Smith (Utah) 14 (.33/gm)
17th-Holly Schmillen (CSU) 8 (.26/gm)
25th-Racheal Goodpaster (UNLV) 9 (.24/gm)

Runs Batted In
25th ­ Kathy Moore (UNM) 36 (.95/gm)

Triples
17th-Holly Schmillen (CSU) 7 (.23/gm)

Pitching Victories
4th-Kristin Arbogast (Utah) 23

NCAA Div. I West Regional Rankings
(Through Mar. 31)
Rk School
1. Fresno State
2. CS Fullerton
3. Long Beach State
4. Utah
5. New Mexico
6. UNLV
7. Pacific (Calif.)
8. San Diego State
9. UC Santa Barbara
10. Hawaii

Non-conference Slate
Here is a list of how the Mountain West Conference stacks up against other conferences thus far:

America East 0-0
Atlantic Coast (ACC) 3-0
Atlantic 10 1-1
Big East 1-3
Big Sky 0-0
Big South 0-0
Big Ten 7-4
Big XII 11-14
Big West 18-21
Colonial 0-0
C-USA 1-0
Ivy 0-0
Metro Atlantic (MAAC) 0-1
Mid-American (MAC) 2-0
Mid-Continent 7-3
Mid-Eastern (MEAC) 0-0
Midwestern (MCC) 3-1
Missouri Valley 1-0
Northeast (NEC) 0-0
Ohio Valley 5-0
Pacific-10 4-28
Patriot 0-0
Southeastern (SEC) 7-2
Southern 0-0
Southland 1-1
Southwestern (SWAC) 0-0
Sun Belt 1-0
TransAm 0-0
West Coast (WCC) 0-0
Western (WAC) 6-5

Independents 9-6
Non-Division I 0-0
Totals (.497) 88-89

Team-by-Team Notes
BYU had its home opener spoiled by rival Utah as it dropped two close games (1-3, 5-7 in 9 innings) on Apr. 15 to go 0-2 for the week. The Cougars drew an estimated crowd of 600 for their first game on home soil. Mindy Hanson (Jr., 1B) raised her batting average over 30 points by going 4-for-6 in the doubleheader against Utah. Brooke Cadiente (Fr., RF), hit her team-high third home run of the season in game two and also drilled a double in a 3-for-5, two RBI effort. The Cougars continue their 12-game homestand, hosting San Diego State Friday and UNLV Saturday, then non-conference foe Southern Utah on Tuesday.

All four games were decided by one run as Colorado State swept a pair at UNLV (2-1, 3-2) on Apr. 14, then dropped both games of a doubleheader at San Diego State (2-3, 7-8) on Apr. 16 to finish the week 2-2. Alyson Carter (Sr., C) hit .462 (6-for-13), including a double and five RBI, during the week¹s four games. Kyla Kiester (Jr., P) pitched two complete games and made three appearances during the week. This week the Rams return home to host South Dakota State in non-conference action on Friday, then New Mexico Saturday.

New Mexico retained sole possession of first place in the league standings after going 3-1 in conference action during the week. The Lobos split a doubleheader at San Diego State (2-5, 3-1), then swept the twinbill at UNLV (7-5, 8-2). Brooke Chaffee (So., 2B) hit .625 (5-for-8) with a 1.125 slugging percentage and .727 on-base average for the week to claim her first player of the week honor. Chaffee highlighted her performance with her second career grand slam in the first game against UNLV. This marked the third grand slam of the season for the Lobos as Melissa Fetman (Fr., OF) and Kathy Moore (Jr., P/1B) have also hit one each. A first in school history occurred in game two at UNLV when Danielle Cassara (Sr., P/1B), Moore and Lainie Horne (Sr., OF) teamed up for back-to-back-to-back home runs. Moore pitched two complete game victories during the week and held SDSU to just three hits and one unearned run in a crucial game-two win. The Lobos lead the league with a team ERA of 2.48 and a batting average of .291 on the season. New Mexico is the only Mtn. West team receiving votes in the national poll (22 votes for No. 29). The Lobos have won 12 of their last 14 games and travel to Colorado State for a Saturday twinbill.

In its final conference home action, San Diego State split a doubleheader with league-leader New Mexico (5-2, 1-3) on Apr. 14. The Aztecs held on to a tie for second-place in the league standings with a sweep (3-2, 8-7) of Colorado State on Apr. 16. Sandra Durazo (Jr., P) claimed conference pitcher of the week honors for the third time in four weeks as she became the SDSU all-time leader with 49 career victories. Durazo went 3-0 with 10 strikeouts over 16.2 innings, including two complete games. Sarah Hershman (So., 2B) belted a three-run home run in the win over New Mexico and hit her fourth roundtripper of the season in game two vs. CSU. She has hit safely in 15 of the last 17 games and leads the team with 13 stolen bases. SDSU has won 10 of its last 12 games and currently has six players batting over .300. The Aztecs close the home portion of their schedule against non-conference foe St. Mary¹s on Wednesday, then travel to BYU and Utah for the weekend.

UNLV lost six games, including four by one run, during a busy week that began with a trip to Southern Utah (2-3, 6-7) on Apr. 11. The Rebels were edged twice by Colorado State (1-2, 2-3) on Apr. 14, then fell twice to New Mexico (5-7, 2-8) on the 16th. Racheal Goodpaster (Jr., SS) batted .500 (9-for-18) with three home runs, two doubles and seven RBI but could not pull out a win for the Rebels. Goodpaster leads the team with a .398 season average, 32 RBI and is just three home runs shy of the UNLV single-season record with 12 home runs. This week, the Rebels travel to Utah and BYU for Friday and Saturday games.

Playing spoiler in BYU¹s first-ever home opener, Utah climbed into a tie for second place with San Diego State by defeating the Cougars (3-7, 9-3) on Apr. 15. Molly McLean (So., OF) hit .444 (4-for-9) and collected three stolen bases during the doubleheader. Kristin Arbogast (Jr., P) improved to 25-15 n the season with victories in both games. This week the Utes host UNLV on Friday, then face off with San Diego State Saturday.