May 7 (Thursday)
*COLORADO STATE def. UTAH, 5-3
*UTAH def. COLORADO STATE, 12-3
*BYU def. NEW MEXICO, 6-3
May 8 (Friday)
*UTAH def. NEW MEXICO, 5-2
*BYU def. COLORADO STATE, 4-1
May 9 (Saturday)
*NEW MEXICO def. UTAH, 5-2
*SAN DIEGO STATE def. UNLV, 7-1
*COLORADO STATE def. BYU, 7-5
2009 NCAA REGIONALS
COLUMBUS REGIONAL - MAY 14-16
Game 1: BYU vs. Kentucky, 5 p.m.
Game 2: No. 11 seed (#11/10) Ohio State vs. Canisius, 7:30 p.m.
TEMPE REGIONAL - MAY 15-17
Game 1: #23/23 LSU vs. Cal State Fullerton, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: No. 10 seed (#9/12) Arizona State vs. SAN DIEGO STATE, 7 p.m.
LOS ANGELES REGIONAL - MAY 15-17
Game 1: UNLV vs. RV/#25 Fresno State, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 seed (#2/2) UCLA vs. Long Beach State, 3:30 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 14 RECAP
The MWC closed out the 2009 regular season last week. BYU earned a 2-1 record on the weekend with wins over New Mexico and Colorado State, while the Rams and Utah each went 2-2. In other conference action, San Diego State defeated UNLV, 7-1, on Saturday.
2009 NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Three teams will represent the Mountain West Conference in the 2009 NCAA Softball Championship. BYU earned the league's automatic bid after winning the MWC crown with a 12-2 record in Conference play, while San Diego State and UNLV received at-large bids after posting overall records of 33-18 and 31-19, respectively. The three berths mark the sixth time in the league's 10-year history that the Mountain West will send multiple teams to the postseason. It also marks only the second time since the inception of the Conference that three MWC teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
COUGARS CLINCH MWC CROWN
After sweeping San Diego State in a doubleheader on May 2, BYU clinched the 2009 MWC title outright, marking the fourth time the squad has earned the league crown. The Cougars earned their first MWC championship in 2001, and placed first in the Conference in 2005 and 2007. BYU has totalled a 78-21 record against MWC opponents during the past five seasons. The Cougars, who started the 2009 season on a 33-game road trip, had a 16-game winning streak that spanned from March 24 - April 30, which tied for the longest run in school history.
PRODUCTIVE FROSH AN ASSET FOR RAMS
Colorado State has relied heavily on production from a number of underclassmen this season, including freshman first baseman Christine Thomsen and freshman center fielder Jenna Krogh, who have started 47 and 50 games, respectively. Thomsen finished her freshman campaign leading the Rams with 31 RBI on the season. She also ranks second on the squad with a .368 batting average and third with an on-base percentage of .414. Krogh hit safely in 14 of the Rams' 15 conference games this season but the season finale, earning a 17-game hitting streak overall. She led Colorado State with a .431 batting average and a .463 on-base percentage during the Conference schedule.
SENIORS LEAD LOBOS AT THE PLATE
New Mexico's lone seniors Samantha Hughes and Analise Rubalcava led the Lobos offensively throughout the 2009 season. Hughes is eighth on the league's hitting list with a .387 batting average and has hit 17 doubles to rank seventh nationally. Rubalcava, who hit at a clip of .343 this season, also led UNM during conference play with a batting average of .391. The duo, who were named to the 2009 All-MWC Team on Monday, became the first pair of Lobos to be earn such distinction since 2006.
FLOROS A FACTOR FOR SAN DIEGO STATE
With San Diego State's at-large berth into the 2009 NCAA Tournament, senior catcher Erin Floros becomes the first Aztec in school history to play in three postseasons (2006, 2008, 2009). Earlier this season, she missed 14 games to a bout of appendicitis, and while she was sidelined, SDSU lost six games, including three at the Fifth Annual Mardi Gras Invitational in Lafayette, La. The Aztecs are 21-7 since her recovery, and Floros currently leads her team with four home runs and 30 RBI in 2009. With three RBI vs. UNLV on Saturday, Floros has 101 in her career and needs one more to tie for first on the school's all-time career RBI list. Her .993 fielding percentage is also the best in school history.
HULL, DE LA TORRE ETCHING NAMES INTO UNLV RECORD BOOKS
UNLV junior Jaci Hull is only the second player in school history to record at least 50 RBI in a single season. She currently has 52 on the year, and is six shy from the 58 RBI Kim Rondina collected in 1995. Fellow junior Alyssia De La Torre is only the second Rebel ever to record at least five doubles, five triples and five home runs in a single season. Senior Marissa Nichols accomplished the feat in her freshman campaign with 17 doubles, eight triples and 18 home runs in 2005.
UTES KNOCKING 'EM OUT OF THE PARK
Utah hit four home runs last week to build its MWC-leading home run number to 58 this season. The school's single-season team mark is 64, set during the 2004 season. Twelve different Utes connected for round-trippers this year, led by junior Kara Foster, who tallied two homers last weekend to bring her 2009 total to 18. Foster has knocked out 53 home runs in her collegiate career to break the school record for career home runs, previously set by Melissa Stanhke, who tallied 49 homers from 2001-04.
2009 NCAA REGIONAL MATCH-UPS
COLUMBUS REGIONAL - May 14 - 16 Game 1: BYU (39-16) vs. Kentucky (32-21), 5 p.m. ET
Game 2: No. 11 seed Ohio State (44-9) vs. Canisius (27-22), 7:30 p.m. ET
The Cougars (39-16) will participate in the Columbus Regional in Columbus, Ohio. BYU will face Kentucky (32-21) in the opening-day game on Thursday, May 14. The Cougars, who hold a 6-10 all-time record in the championship, will be making their fifth consecutive appearance and sixth overall in the NCAA Tournament. In other first-day action, No. 11 seed Ohio State (44-9) will host Canisius (27-22).
The Columbus Regional will mark the first matchups between BYU and both Canisius and Kentucky. The Cougars faced Ohio State on Feb. 23, 2007, falling 8-3 in the Palm Springs Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. Junior righthander and 2009 MWC Pitcher of the Year Christie Zinanti will have the opportunity to exact revenge on the Buckeyes, as she received the loss in the 2007 contest.
TEMPE REGIONAL - May 15 - 17 Game 1: LSU (32-16-1) vs. Cal State Fullerton (29-19), 4:30 p.m. PT
Game 2: No. 10 seed Arizona State (40-16) vs. San Diego State (33-18), 7 p.m. PT
The Aztecs will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the Tempe Regional and will begin with competition against host and defending-national champion Arizona State (40-16) on Friday, May 15. San Diego State will be competing in its fifth NCAA Tournament and holds a 7-8 all-time record. ESPNU will broadcast the entire Tempe Regional live, including the preliminary game between LSU (32-16-1) and Cal State Fullerton (29-19).
Arizona State leads the all-time series with San Diego State, 27-8. The teams last met on March 8, 2008, when the Sun Devils defeated the Aztecs, 3-1, in the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
San Diego State is 15-46 all-time vs. Cal State Fullerton. Earlier this season, the Aztecs swept the Titans in a home-and-home series, as SDSU defeated Cal State Fullerton, 6-0 on March 20, and 3-0 on March 21.
The Tempe Regional marks the first-ever meeting between San Diego State and LSU. The Aztecs have also never faced Arizona State nor Cal State Fullerton in the postseason.
LOS ANGELES REGIONAL - May 15 - 17 Game 1: UNLV (31-19) vs. Fresno State (36-18), 1 p.m. PT
Game 2: No. 2 seed UCLA (41-9) vs. Long Beach State (34-19), 3:30 p.m. PT
In their first postseason appearance since 2005, the Rebels are slated to face Fresno State (36-18) in the Los Angeles Regional at 1 p.m. PT on Friday, May 15. UNLV has participated in nine NCAA Tournaments and is 17-18 overall in postseason play. The Los Angeles Regional will also feature No. 2 seed and host UCLA (41-9) vs. Long Beach State (34-19) at approximately 3:30 p.m. PT.
UNLV, who has participated in three Women's College World Series (1990, 1991 and 1995), is 9-42 all-time vs. Fresno State, as the squads last met on Feb. 21, 2008, when the Bulldogs handed the Rebels a 2-0 loss in Cathedral City, Calif. Friday's contest marks the first meeting between UNLV and Fresno State in the postseason.
UCLA leads the series with UNLV, 16-1, including a 3-1 mark in the NCAA Tournament. The last meeting between the teams was Feb. 13, 2009, when the Bruins defeated the Rebels, 9-7, at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
UNLV holds an 18-34 all-time record against Long Beach State, with the last meeting resulting in a 4-2 victory for the Rebels on March 14, 2009, at the National Invitational Tournament in San Jose, Calif. The Rebels are 0-1 vs. the 49ers in postseason play.
