Aggies look to take a swipe at SUU
While the season’s been tough for the Utah State women’s softball team, it has come up with some impressive wins, like a 4-1 victory over Fresno State University and a road victory over California State University at Northridge. But one thing has eluded the Aggies – a victory over an in-state opponent.
The Aggies will have one final chance Wednesday when they take the mound for a doubleheader against Southern Utah University 2 p.m. at Johnson Field.
“[T-birds] are playing for their conference championship next week, so I’m sure they want to enter it on a high note,” said assistant coach Jason Salv.
While the T-birds (23-30 overall, 14-6 in the Mid-Continent Conference) have fared well during conference play, they have also struggled against in-state competition, going 1-3 against Brigham Young University and 0-2 against the University of Utah. USU is a combined 0-8 against BYU and Utah.
SUU is led by pitcher Mandy Flint (13-15 with a 1.86 ERA). Flint was recently selected as the Mid-Continent pitcher of the week after holding opposing batters scoreless for 19 straight innings while fanning 28 batters. She’s set a school record with 149 strikeouts on the season.
In order for the Aggies to be successful again they’ll need to be disciplined at the plate and beware of her rise ball, Salv said. However, he said the Aggies do hit better against the other team’s ace.
“It seems like the better the pitcher, the better we play,” Salv said.
The Aggies’ pitchers haven’t been as proficient as Flint in strike-outs, but both Lisa Spencer and Xochitl Ramirez had solid weeks.
In three games last week, Spencer held opposing batters to only 11 hits in 17 innings. Ramirez pitched a complete-game shutout against Cal Poly – the team’s first of the season.
Sophomore first baseman Kara Tarbet was a nominee for this week’s Big West Conference player of the week. Tarbet went 6-for-15 from the plate over a five-game stretch. Ramirez was a nominee for BWC pitcher of the week.
“[Tarbet] has been hitting the ball pretty well as of late,” Salv said.