Athletic Media Relations 30 Smith Fieldhouse • Provo, Utah • 84602 801-422-8948 • fax 801-422-0633 SOFTBALL Weekly Release — Feb. 24, 2004 - Tourn. #3: Hyatt Regency Cougar Classic Media Relations Information BYU is off to the Hyatt Regency Cougar Classic Softball contact: Lindsey Wallace The BYU women’s softball team (5-3) is off to compete in the Hyatt Office phone: (801) 422-8999 Regency Cougar Classic in Houston, Texas on Feb. 26-28. Cell phone: (801) 369-3298 E-mail: [email protected] At the Houston tournament, BYU will play four teams they’ve never faced before, plus get a shot to even up the series to 1-1 with Houston. 2004 Schedule/Results Date Opp/Event Time/Results Feb. 4 @ Hawai`i L 4-7 The Couars will face host school Houston (11-5), Villanova (2-4), Virginia Feb. 5 vs. Oregon State L 7-0 (7-2), Mississippi State (13-4) and Pittsburgh (2-3) in the five-game tourna- Feb. 6 vs. Tennessee L 11-6 ment. The Cougars will look to keep alive their five-game winning streak Feb. 7 vs. UAB W 2-1 on the road. vs. St. Mary’s W 2-1 Feb. 19 @ UC Santa Barbara W 6-2 “We have great momentum going into the tournament,” said BYU defense Feb. 20 vs. UC Riverside W 7-0 and recruiting coach Mindy Hanson. “The team is continually growing and vs. Loyola Marymount W 7-6 Feb. 21 vs. Florida International canceled starting to mesh. It will be a good measuring point for us.” vs. Central Florida canceled Feb. 26 @ Houston 6 p.m. The Cougars are coming off the Softball by the Beach Invitational where Feb. 27 vs. Villanova 11 a.m. they defeated UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Loyola Marymount. vs. Virginia 1 p.m. The final two games of the tournament scheduled against Florida Feb. 28 vs. Mississippi State 9 a.m. International and Central Florida were canceled due to heavy rain. vs. Pittsburgh 11 a.m. Mar. 12 vs. Marist 9 a.m. vs. St. Peters 11 a.m. "I was pleased with the total team effort," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin @ New Mexico State 5 p.m. said. "We came out and competed very well and had a solid defensive Mar. 13 vs. Drake 9 a.m. performance." vs. UTEP 11 a.m. Mar. 18 @ San Diego 5 p.m. Freshman Jennifer Whiteley will be returning to her hometown of Houston, Mar. 19 vs. Dartmouth 1 p.m. Texas this week as BYU takes on five teams in the tournament. Whiteley vs. Central Connecticut State 3 p.m. is coming off a great weekend where she played solid and consistent at the Mar. 20 vs. UC Riverside 9 a.m. vs. Indiana 1 p.m. Softball by the Beach Invitational. In the three games the team played, she Mar. 25 vs. Hawai`i 3 p.m. hit 5-for-11, scored three runs and knocked in 3 RBI. Mar. 26 vs. Illinois 10 a.m. vs. UC Riverside 2 p.m. BYU Schedule at the Hyatt Regency Cougar Classic Mar. 27 @ Stanford 4 p.m. Mar. 30 @ UVSC DH 2 p.m./4 p.m. Feb. 26 Houston 6 p.m. (CT) 5 p.m. (MT) Apr. 1 UNLV* DH 3 p.m./5 p.m. Feb. 27 Villanova 11 a.m. (CT) 10 a.m. (MT) Apr. 2 SDSU* DH 4 p.m./6 p.m. Apr. 8 Southern Utah 5 p.m. Virginia 1 p.m. (CT) 12 p.m. (MT) Apr. 10 UTAH* DH 1 p.m./3 p.m. Feb. 28 Mississippi St. 9 a.m. (CT) 8 a.m. (MT) Apr. 13 Utah State DH 3 p.m./5 p.m. Pittsburgh 11 a.m. (CT) 10 a.m. (MT) Apr. 15 @ CSU* DH 1 p.m./3 p.m. Apr. 17 @ New Mexico* DH 1 p.m./3 p.m. BYU All-Time Records vs. Opponents Apr. 20 UVSC DH 5 p.m./7 p.m. Apr. 22 PACIFIC 5 p.m. Apr. 24 @ Utah* DH 12 p.m./2 p.m. Houston: 0-1 Apr. 30 NEW MEXICO DH 4 p.m./6 p.m. Villanova: marks the first match up May 1 CSU* DH 2 p.m./ 4 p.m. Virginia: marks the first match up May 4 @ Utah State DH 2 p.m./4 p.m. Mississippi State: marks the first match up May 6 @ UNLV* DH 5 p.m./7 p.m. Pittsburgh: marks the first match up May 8 @ SDSU* DH 1 p.m./3 p.m. May 13-15 MWC Tournament (CSU host) TBA May 20-22 NCAA Regionals TBA May 27-31 College World Series TBA * MWC games Bold BYU home games at Miller Park www.byucougars.com BYU News Release Page 2 BYU Quick Facts Scouting the Competition Location: Provo, Utah 84602 Enrollment: 32,122 (Daytime) • Houston: www.uhcougars.com Founded: Oct. 15, 1875, by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Houston is out to an 11-5 start on the season. Three of the five losses Colors: Dark Blue, White and Tan have come from ranked teams, one from No. 8 Nebraska and two from Nickname: Cougars No. 11 Texas. The team returns 17 players after only losing one, and Mascot: Cosmo (the Cougar) welcomes two newcomers. Infield junior Michelle Keith is at the top of Affiliation: NCAA Division One the list for batting average posting a .326. Outfield junior Kim Nesloney Conference: Mountain West is not far behind batting .316 and leading the team in runs scored (9) and Field: Gail Miller Field (2,100) hits (17). DP/C junior Jenilee Skender is the team’s leader in RBI with 11. Senior pitcher Jenny Johnson was named Conference USA Pitcher Press box phone: 801-378-1973 of the Week Feb. 23 for her performance in Houston’s 5-2 week. Six President: Cecil O. Samuelson players returning from last year’s team earned 2003 All-Conference USA Women’s AD: Elaine Michaelis honors. Kristen Glowacz and Arelis Ferreris were named to the C-USA Ticket Office Phone: (801) 378-BYU1 First Team, while pitcher Jamie Falco earned Second-Team honors, and Jaci Gonzalez and Crystal Briscoe were named to the All-Freshman Softball Staff team. Last season, Glowacz led the league in home runs (14) and slug- Head Coach: Gordon Eakin (Utah) ging percentage (.713). Office Phone: (801) 422-1158 Career Record: 36-17 (1 year, 2003) • Villanova: www.villanova.com BYU Record: 36-17 (1 year, 2003) Assistant Coaches: Villanova is out to a 2-4 start on the year. The team returns 13 players Vaughn Alvey(Utah) after losing five, and brings in four newcomers to this year’s squad. Mindy Hanson (BYU ‘02) Leading the team in batting average is junior 1B/P Kari Koller with .436 Graduate Assistants: average, followed by junior OF/2B Kristen Yauch (.400) and senior 3B/1B Cynthia Fallowfield Kristen Strait (.333). Koller leads the team in hits (7), doubles (2), walks (3), and is tied on the team in runs scored (2) and home runs (1). Team Information Leading the pitching staff is junior Shannon Williams with a 1.44 ERA, Current Record: 5-3, 0-0 two wins, 17 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched. In 2003, Villanova fin- Overall record last year: 36-17 ished eighth in the nation in batting average (.303) and had four other MWC record/finish: 10-7/3rd top-30 national rankings including doubles per game, team fielding per- centage, runs per game and Ricci Lugo’s strikeout record. Senior out- Final ranking last year: N/A fielder Lisa Krueger is the only First-Team Big East Conference selection Lettermen returning/lost: 11/6 returning from last season. Starters returning/lost:7/3 Pitchers returning/lost: 3/2 • Virginia: www.virginiasports.com Newcomers: 7 (five freshmen, two transfers) Virginia is out to a 7-2 start on the season. The team returns 10 players History after losing five from last year’s team, and brings in six newcomers. First year of Softball: 2000 Leading the team in batting average with .391 is Elea Crockott, followed Overall all-time record: 117-93 by Hannah Owings (.348), Brooke Sorber (.333) and Sara Larquier No. years in CWS/last: N/A (.323). Owings leads the team in runs scored (9), home runs (3) and RBI MWC Conference Championships: One (2001) (9), while Larquier leads the team in hits (10). Pitcher Joanna Barstad Years in NCAA Regionals/last: One (2001) leads the pitching staff with a 1.36 ERA and a 2-0 record. The team’s Last post-season opponent: San Diego State head coach Cheryl Sprangel just earned her 700th win in a come-from- Result: BYU lost, 1-3 behind 4-3 nine-inning victory over Miami on Feb. 22. The team returns three All-Conference SEC winners including Heather Field, Sara Larquier MWC Preseason Polls and Erin Horn. Field earned ACC All-Tournament team and posted a 1. San Diego State (23 points, four first-place) .339 batting average, six home runs, 16 doubles and 32 RBI last season. 2. Colorado State (21 points, two first-place) Larquier earned All-ACC First team honors and ACC All-Tournament 3. BYU (18 points) team with a .350 batting average and 12 home runs in 2003. Horn 4. Utah (13 points) earned ACC-All Tournament Team after finishing the season with a 2.43 ERA, 17 wins, 159 strikeouts in 169.2 innings pitched.