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MWC Weekly Diamond Notes: NCAA Tournament Edition
Utah will take on No. 8 Stanford Thursday in Palo Alto, California.
May 20, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Utah will represent the Mountain West Conference in the 2004 NCAA Softball Championship. The Utes earned the automatic bid to the championship for the second time in three years with their 3-0 win over San Diego State in the championship game of last weekend's Mountain West Conference Softball Championship in Fort Collins, Colo. This is Utah's 11th overall NCAA Tournament appearance and third as a member of the MWC. The Utes are 17-25 in the tournament, including a mark of 16-17 in regional games. Utah is the No. 8 seed in the Region No. 7 tournament at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., and will start off with top-seeded and No. 8 ranked Stanford at 5:30 p.m. PDT on Thursday, May 20. The other opening day games in Palo Alto will be 12th-ranked Auburn vs. Hofstra, No. 16 Fresno State vs. Southern Illinois and Pacific vs. Southern Mississippi. Mountain West Conference vs. The NCAA Field The Mountain West Conference went 16-52-0 (.235) this season vs. institutions in the 2004 NCAA Tournament field. The most notable of the 16 victories were BYU's and Utah's wins over then No. 23 Pacific on April 22 and April 23, respectively, and San Diego State's 1-0 triumph over then 15th-ranked Fresno State on March 11. 2004 NCAA Regional Sites
May 20-23 (Thursday-Sunday)
Region No. 2 - Hosted by UCLA
Region No. 3 - Hosted by Baylor
Region No. 4 - Hosted by Florida State
Region No. 5 - Hosted by Nebraska
Region No. 6 - Hosted by Michigan
Region No. 7 - Hosted by Stanford
Region No. 8 - Hosted by Georgia Utah Wins Mountain West Tournament Utah won its third Mountain West Conference Tournament crown and eighth league title overall after defeating San Diego State, 3-0, in the championship final. Sophomore pitcher Brianna Gourdin hurled a one-hit complete game for the Utes, striking out three in the process. Sophomore second baseman Jackie Wong went 2-for-4 from the plate with a run scored to lead the Utah offense. San Diego State appeared in the championship game for the fourth straight season, losing all four years. The Utes are the only MWC team to win the conference tournament title more than once. Three of the five MWC championship games have been decided by two runs or less. Utah holds the largest margin of victory in a title game with its 8-1 win over SDSU in 2002. Utah finished the regular season in fourth place with a league record of 8-12-0. The Utes became the first No. 4 seed to win a MWC Tournament crown. San Diego State was a third-seed in 2001, but fell in the championship game to BYU, 4-3. Utah opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over No. 5-seed UNLV, followed by a 2-1 win over No. 1-seed Colorado State. 2004 All-Tournament Team Champion Utah placed four players on the MWC All-Tournament team. Sophomore pitcher Briann Gourdin won the MVP award while teammate Kate Nygaard (Jr., DH) was voted Designated Player of the tournament. Senior Glennis Donnelly (Sr., SS) and sophomore Jackie Wong (So., 2B) rounded out the Utah selections. San Diego State (juniors Danielle Touhey and Cori Janelli) and New Mexico (sophomore Iraina Ogas and freshman Ryanne Hodgins) garnered two spots on the all-tournament team, while BYU freshman Jennifer Whiteley and Colorado State sophomore Jennifer Gardener rounded out the all-tournament list. MWC Players Honored By NFCA The Mountain West Conference had 13 players honored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. In the West Region, 13 of the 29 players honored were MWC athletes. Each of these players are eligible for the NFCA Division I All-American team to be announced on May 26. The first and second team selections are listed below. MWC Tournament Notes
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