COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The league race comes down to the final weekend of the regular-season. San Diego State
(35-19-0, 13-3-0 MWC) is on top of the MWC standings by one game over Colorado State
(36-13-0, 12-4-0 MWC). The Mountain West Conference Softball Championship will be hosted
by the Rams in Fort Collins, Colo. on May 13-15, with the winner receiving an automatic bid
into the 2004 NCAA Softball Championships.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE QUICK HITS
BYU
BYU is batting .309 as a team, led by sophomore Ianeta Lei's .376 batting average.
The Cougar pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.16 and is led by sophomore Brooke Boyce's 1.86 ERA.
BYU has 52 homers in 47 games on the season, eight off the MWC single season record 60 held by both the Cougars (2003) and Utah (2001).
COLORADO STATE
CSU Head Coach Mary Yori picked up the 100th win of her career at Colorado State with the Rams game one victory over Utah on Friday. Her record now stands at 102-98 in Fort Collins.
The Rams hit seven home runs over the weekend, all coming in two games against Utah. The team's total now stands at 55. The previous team high was 26, set last season.
In the Rams' four games against Utah this season, three players have recorded slugging percentages of over 1.000: juniors Kerry Farrell (1.667) and Stephanie Roberts (1.273), and freshman Jessica Strickland (1.077). Farrell's batting average in those four games is .750, followed by Strickland's .538 average.
With four games remaining, CSU is only one win away from tying the 1989 and 2003 squads for second in team wins in a season. The 1997 team went 51-14 and holds the top spot.
NEW MEXICO
The Lobos (29-30-0 overall) dropped below .500 for the first time since Feb. 15. They started the season 25-14-0 but since then have gone 4-16-0, including 3-12-0 in conference play.
New Mexico's lucky number is two. In two-run games, the Lobos are 9-2-0 compared to 7-13-0 in one-run games and 6-11-0 in games decided by five or more.
Freshman Ryanne Hodgins has stepped up for the Lobos recently. In her last 13 games, she has hit .359 (14-for-39) with three walks, four runs scored and three RBI.
SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State plays its final five games at SDSU Field this week as a new stadium is being built for the 2005 Aztecs. The facility, due to be completed by October 2004, will seat 1,000 with room to add 1,000 more seats. A tree-lined concourse will grace the path between the new stadium and Tony Gwynn Stadium. San Diego Padre owners John and Becky Moores donated approximately $6.5 million for the combined softball/tennis facility.
SDSU has already clinched at least a No. 2 seed and first-round bye at this year's tournament from May 13-15 at Colorado State. If the Rams and Aztecs finish tied for first, San Diego State would earn the No. 1 seed because the Aztecs won three-of-four from CSU this season. SDSU has also clinched the right to host the 2005 MWC Tournament. The team that finishes in first place one year host the tournament the next, but no team can host two years in a row so Colorado State is ineligible.
The Aztecs have won 15 consecutive MWC home games, which far surpasses the previous school record for consecutive home conference victories of seven, set in 2002. SDSU recorded its first four-game conference winning streak in 1995. The record was extended to five in 1996 and six in a span from 1998-99. The current streak began with the 2003 campaign as the Aztecs went 9-0-0 in MWC home games.
Three San Diego State seniors, second baseman Joann Figueroa (Phoenix, Ariz.), center fielder Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) and third baseman Kelcy Murphy (San Diego, Calif.), will play their final home games in Saturday's doubleheader versus BYU. The senior class has by far the best record of any class in SDSU history, 155-87-1 (.640 winning percentage), and has helped lead the team to its only two NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, with aspirations to make it a third this season.
San Diego State has hit 16 home runs this season, just three short of the team record of 19, set in 1999.
UNLV
UNLV has lost 10 straight games, just two off of the school record of 12, set in 1980 and 1987.
Senior Bridget Byrne leads the MWC in hits (68) and at-bats (176).
UTAH
Utah needs just one more home run to tie the school record for home runs in a season (60), set by the 2001 team.
Senior Melissa Stahnke knocked two home runs against Colorado State to move her career total to 49, which ties her for 17th in the NCAA record books.
