'BIRD SPORTS Ilt Softball team to host Utah State Saturday The SU women's softball team enters the 1998 than last year's team- and we definitely have better season with a team which was hit fairly hard by arms than we did last year." graduation, but which also returns the top two hitters Perhaps the biggest change this year over the past from a 1997 campaign that was SUU's .best since 1986. couple of seasons is that the 'Birds will again have a Last year's squad won 24 games, the fourth -best conference championship to play for. After competing total in school history and the best since the softball as an independent last season, SU joins the Midprogram moved to the N CAA Division I level in 1989. Continent Conference this year and will compete for Returning from that squad are junior catcher Christy Burge, a second-team GTE Academic All-America last year, and junior centerfielder Cami Niko. Burge led the team with a .367 batting average, while Niko was right behind at .353. Each hit five home runs and a triple and Burge led the team in doubles with 17, while Niko was second with 12. Niko led the team in RBI, with 38, with Burge second at 32, so the team returns significan t power and hitting production. Also returning for the Lady 'Birds are sophomores Heidi Simper and Sarah Poloni. Simper hit .313 as a designated player/ Christy Burge Cami Nil<o Sarah Poloni infielder last year, while Poloni hit just .207 but ranked second on the team in triples with three and third in home rims !three) and walks (13). Third baseman Tina Clark, a junior who has missed just two games in the last two years, also returns, as do outfielders Elizabeth Chamberlain (Soph.) and Jeanne Nielson !Jr.). Most notably absent from last year's squad are 2B Heather Olsen, a four-year starter, and Cherelyn Bingham, a pitcher who threw 243 of SU's 340 innings last year. Also gone are Tony Peters, a two-year starter in the outfield, 1B Jenny Hardy and SS Katie Christensen, another two-year starter. feanne Nielson H eidi Simper "We'll miss some of the players who graduated- i t's hard to replace a four-year starter like its play-in berth to the NCAA Tournament. 11 Heather [OlsenJ-but on the other hand we may have 1 expect to compete for the Mid-Con title right as muc:h athletic ability on this team as we've ever away," Peterson said. "We're excited about the had, " Head Coach Joy Peterson pointed out. opportunity for that [NCAAI play-in berth." "We have pretty good speed-we're probably faster With 256 ·wins over a 17-year span, Peterson enters 1998 SOUTHERN UTAH SOFTBALL ROSTER the 1998 season as the second-winningest coach-in any sport-in SU history. She needs 24 wins this season (last year's total) tO move into a tie with the late Cleo Petty, who coached Southern Utah baseball teams to 280 viccories over a 25-year career. During her career at SU she has guided her teams ro three national post-season appearances, including sixth and ninth-place finishes at the NAIA level. 1n addition to softball, Peterson has coached the volleyball and women's basketball programs at SU and has earned a combined total of nine district coach of the year honors including at least one in each sport. Prior to taking the reins of the SU program, Peterson served four years as head coach at Weber State, where she compiled a 67-23 record, giving her 323 collegiate victories. So far this season, the Lady 'Birds picked up their first win in the opener of N ew Mexico State's Troy Cox Invitational, a 1-0 win over Wichita State. Since that game SU has dropped nine straight for a 1-9 record. Junior Jennie Kerr had her best outing of the season, tossing a one-hitter at the Shockers. Niko is off to a hot start, particularly from a power point of view. The junior centerfielder leads the team with a .3 75 batting average, but she is already threatening some of the school's power records. The ladies host their first game of the season as Utah State comes to town Saturday at 1 p.m. Utah State is coming off a swing through northern California last weekend. The Lady Aggies opened the trip with a 2-1 win over Pacific, but then dropped three straight, one ro Pacific and two more to Sacramento State. SU begins Mid-Con play against UMKC March 27-28. The ' Birds compete in the Western Division of the Mid-Con, which includes UMKC, Western Illinois and Valparaiso. This year the host of the Mid-Con softball tournament will be the winner of the Western Division, which means the 'Birds have a chance of hosting if they fare well in league play. 1998 SOFTBALL SCHEDULE Returners Yr Hometown 3-14 Utah State At SUU (DH) 1 p.m. Christy Burge Jr South Jordan, Utah 3-27 At UMKC (DH) 3p.m. Elizabeth Chamberlain So Richfield, U tah 3-28 At UMKC (DH)* 1 p.m. Tina Clark Jr Frankt own, Colo. 3-31 At Utah State (DH) 2-p.m. Jeanne Nielson Jr Elko, Nev. Cami Niko Jr West Valley City, Utah Sarah Poloni So Bountiful, Utah Heidi Simper So Brigham City, Utah N ew comers 4-1 At Utah (DH) 1:30 pm. 4-4 Valparaiso at SUU (DH)* 1:30 p.m. 4-9 At Western Illinois (DH)* 3p.m. 4-11 At Valparaiso (DH }* 1 p.m. 4-16 At Austin Peay (D H) 2p.m. 2p.m. Sarah Adams Jr Tem pe, Ariz. 4-1 7 At Tennessee State (DH) Errtily Cederholm Fr South Jordan, Utah 4-18 At Austin Peay (DH) l Oa.m. Brittany Esplin Jr St . (;eorge, 1Jtah 4-24 UMKC at SUU (DH)* 1:30 p.m. Susan H ansen Jr Clearfield, U tah 4-25 Western Illinois at SUU (DH) Jennifer Kerr Jr North Olmstead, Ohio Emily Peshell Fr Tooele, Utah 4-29 Utah at SUU (D H) 1 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 5-1 Mid-Continent Conference Championship At Western Division Champion