Softball continues homestand against BYU
Coming off its first home victory of the season last Friday against Sacramento State University, the USU women’s softball team will be looking to end its seven-game homestand with a bang against Brigham Young University Wednesday afternoon at Johnson Field.
The Aggies (6-31, 2-10 in the Big West Conference) and the Cougars (22-19, 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference) will play a twinbill, beginning at 2 p.m.
The two teams last met March 21 in Provo, where BYU won both contests 8-0 and 11-1. Both games were cut short because of the eight-run mercy rule.
Although the Cougars are only in their second year of existence as a Division I-sanctioned program, they are contenders for the MWC and are a Top-25-caliber team, said USU head coach Pam McCreesh after the Cougars defeated the Aggies in Provo.
One of the main reasons BYU is much improved from last year’s 16-27 team has been the addition of freshman outfielder Oli Keohohou.
Keohohou – one of the top recruits in the country, according to McCreesh – has pummeled opposing pitching, hitting .471 with 48 RBIs, 16 homers and a mammoth slugging percentage of 1.039.
After losing two closely contested games on the road to No. 14-ranked University of Nebraska, the Cougars got back on track, sweeping a pair of home games against Southern Utah University last Friday.
While the Aggies have struggled to find consistency at the plate, they have shown marked improvement during BWC play, including a 12-hit performance in their 9-8 victory over the Hornets on Saturday.
Freshman outfielder Casey Smith and second baseman Danielle Rodriguez lead the Aggies in batting average, hitting .287 and .250 respectively.