Doubleheader Against SUU, Away at Utah - Week 9

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BYU softball will host its only doubleheader of the year against Southern Utah on Wednesday before traveling to play at Utah in its first conference games of the season on Friday and Saturday.

COUGAR QUICK HITS

— BYU needs one more win over Utah to claim the overall Deseret First Duel trophy.

— BYU senior catcher Jessica Fitu enters the weekend broke the BYU and Mountain West Conference record for most RBI in a career, passing current BYU assistant coach and former Cougar player Ianeta Le’i with her 212th RBI against Seattle on Saturday. Fitu’s sac fly scored JC Clayton in the first inning.

— Junior Delaney Willard had her first game with multiple home runs, knocking out two against Seattle. Junior Caschjen Atagi and freshman Madisen Robb also hit home runs against the Redhawks.

— BYU has a 111-23 (.828) all-time record against in-state opponents. The Cougars defeated Weber State and Utah State already earlier this season. After playing SUU and Utah this week, BYU will face Utah Valley next week with additional contests against Utah Valley, SUU and Utah set for May.

— BYU currently leads the MWC in runs, hits, walks, stolen bases, opposing batting average, hits allowed and extra-base hits allowed.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

Southern Utah has not had much luck against BYU as the Cougars hold a 34-3 record in the series. The T-Birds last defeated BYU in 2006 and have since dropped 20 straight to the Cougars, including 20-0 and 9-0 losses last season. But SUU is currently on a seven-game win streak, its longest of the season.

Cora Cordova has a team-high .333 batting average, but Jenavieve Purcell leads the team with 33 hits while Darleen Fernandez has a team-high eight home runs and 59 total bases. Heather Black is the ace for SUU, currently sitting at a 12-7 record with a 3.16 ERA.

Utah and BYU have competed every year the Cougars have had a softball program with BYU holding a 28-16 margin in the series. BYU has won the last five games and has not lost at Utah since 2008. Utah has won four-straight games and seven of their last eight.

The Utes are led by Tia Palauni, a .418 hitter with five doubles and five home runs. Whitney Holm leads the team with 47 total bases, including six homers, and is hitting .248. Naomi Amu has the lowest ERA at 2.61 with five wins, but Generra Nielson has a record of 14-10 and a 3.10 ERA. Nielson tossed her first career no-hitter in an 8-0 win over Idaho State last Friday.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK GOES TO HOUSE

Senior Kristin Delahoussaye earned the MWC Player of the Week after helping the Cougars go 4-0 last week. House's biggest game came against Utah State when the senior racked up 11 total bases (two home runs and a triple) on Mar. 29, tying for the fifth-most total bases in a game by a Cougar in program history and equaling the most in a game for BYU since Angie Quiocho had 12 off three home runs against UNLV on May 7, 2010.

NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE

Senior catch Jessica Fitu became the first BYU player in history to record five hits in a game, going 5-for-5 against Cal State Northridge earlier this season. Fitu hit a grand slam and had four singles on her way to finishing with six RBI and one run.

ALL-TIME CONFERENCE WINS LEADER

Already the record holder in all BYU career pitching categories, senior Paige Affleck became the winningest pitcher in Mountain West Conference history on Mar. 19, winning the 74th game of her career over No. 9 California in the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament championship game.

TAKING MORE

BYU has 12 players with at least one stolen base so far this year, led by freshman Lacey Millett’s nine steals. Seven players have four or more. The Cougars have 44 stolen bases overall, already ninth-most in a season by a BYU team, and had a season-high four stolen bases against Florida State and Iona.

GOTTA SCORE

BYU is 14-0 when scoring at least six runs and 17-0 when leading after five innings. In addition, 11 of BYU’s 14 losses have come by three runs or less.