More ranked teams await USU softball team
The Utah State University softball team is playing three top 20 teams at a round robin tournament hosted in California by San Diego State University today, Saturday and Sunday.
To prepare for Saturday and Sunday, when they face the top 20 teams, the Aggies begin the tournament this afternoon by facing Northwestern State University and Loyola Marymount University, two teams Head Coach Debbie Bilbao said the Aggies can’t look past.
USU’s first game on Saturday will be against No. 3 ranked Stanford University, followed later in the day by the University of Michigan, a team also ranked in the top 20.
Fresno State University, ranked No. 16 in the nation, will be the Aggies’ final opponent of the tournament Sunday morning.
The team feels like they can compete against the best teams in the country, Bilbao said, and they proved it last week when they played three other teams in the top 20.
“The kids were hesitant, it was our first time out on dirt and grass,” Bilbao said.
This weekend, the Aggies feel a lot more confident, she said.
“It’s all business,” Bilbao said. “We’re just going to go down there and see how much damage we can do.”
Despite last week being their first time outdoors, the Aggies will have to improve some aspects of their game if they expect to do well in California.
This week they worked a lot on defensively adjusting to the opposing batters, Bilbao said, something they didn’t do well last weekend in Arizona. They also focused on hitting a little, she said, because her team doesn’t seem comfortable in the box.
Perhaps the biggest area of focus for the Aggies was on the pitching squad, Bilbao said.
“Pitching is the key,” she said. “The pitching staff needs to get ahead in the count for our team to do well.”
One of the pitchers USU has focused on is freshman Lindsay Janssan. Playing the best teams in the nation early on gives Janssan great experience for the latter part of the season, Bilbao said.
As with her pitcher Janssan, waiting patiently as a first-year coach is something Bilbao said she is willing to do with the whole team.
“They’re starting to enjoy playing,” she said. “In the last three years, a lot of them [USU players] haven’t enjoyed playing.
“We’re trying to get the program back on track,” she said.
Following Sunday’s game, USU will return to action Thursday when in plays a doubleheader with in-state rival Southern Utah.