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Show — J W r 1 DA.JLL ToucftBase Lady Ags finish series with win USU women By CONNOR JONES sports senior writer The Aggie women's soft ball team closed out their six-game home stretch Tuesday playing three games in two days against the New Mexico State Aggies. USU went 1-2 with NMSU losing back-toback games on Monday before they came out swinging Tuesday morning to take a win from the hard-hitting Newmags. Game one of Monday's double header was slow for the Aggies who went down 5-0 by the third inning. At the plate USU went threc-up-three-down five straight innings, giving junior pitcher Kate (ireenough little rest between outings. Grcenough went seven innings, allowing nine hits, five earned runs and striking out six from NMSU. It wasn't until the bottom of the seventh inning that USU got on the board with four runs, but it was too little too late for the Aggies who ended the game 4-5. USU was unable to keep their bats hot for game two. with the only hit coming in the form of a bloop fly ball over third base by freshman pinch hitter Gina Rawls. New Mexico, on the other hand, had no problems at the plate poking out 15 hits in just five innings before the mercy rule ended the game early. New Mexico State is far above all other WAC teams in home runs hit this season with 59 coming in to the week and 62 now, the three additional home runs all came in that second game - two of which sailed over both fences, landing in the middle of 800 East. Senior pitcher Lindsey Benson took the loss for the second game, but it wasn't all negative. Benson now stands alone in the No. 3 spot for USU's career strikeouts at 387 K's. "We didn't play very well today," said third-year head coach Candi Letts. "The team knows what they have to do to qualify for the conference tournament, and we just didn't give it the energy today." The top seven teams in the WAC qualify to play in the conference tournament which takes place next month at Fresno State. "We have to have a good attitude about it," said junior catcher Simone Hubbard. "We gotta come out fighting tomorrow." That is exactly what they did. After letting New Mexico State score one run in the top of the first inning USU fought \1 See FINISH, page 9 are headed to Hawaii BY USU ATHLETICS USU'S SIMONE HUBBARD hies a foul last Friday against Louisiana Tech. The Ags wore pink to benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute. CODY GOCHNOUR photo SPRING FOOTBALL SERIES: PARTS 6-7 OF 8 Utah State women's tennis will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii where they will compete in the Western Athletic Conference Championship Thursday, April 23 at the University of Hawaii Tennis Complex. USU enters the tournament as the seventh seed ol nine teams and will begin the championship with a match against No. 36th-ranked and secondseeded Boise State at 4 p.m. (MT). This marks the second meeting between the two schools this season. The Aggies look to redeem themselves after a 7-0 loss to the Broncos February 6. The first round for USU and Boise State will be a rematch of last year's WAC Championship where the second-seeded and No. 40thranked Broncos defeated the seventh-seeded Aggies, 4-0. Advancement in the tournament will be determined by Thursday's matches. The winner of the match between USU and the Broncos will continue action Friday, April 24 against the winner of Thursday's match between third-seeded Nevada and sixth-seeded Idaho. The Aggies ended regular season play by hosting three WAC matches at the Logan Sports Academy and Racquet Club Friday, April 17 through Saturday, April 18. USU went two for three on the weekend over Louisiana Tech, 7-0, and San jose State, 4-3, and a loss to Nevada, 7-0. Utah State improved its season record to 5-19 and 2-6 in WAC play. Connolly tabbed athlete of the week BY USU ATHLETICS CORNERBACK KEJON MURPHY, left, intercepts a pass during the annual Blue and White game Saturday, while wide receiver Xavier Bowman, right, eludes defenders after catching a pass. Both units look to be more aggressive this season. PATRICK ODEN photos Bring on the nig play WR's andDB's look to begamebreakers in '09 By TIM OLSEN and PAUL KELLEY sports editor and assistant sports editor a o With the implement of the spread offense at USU, one of the most visible changes to the causal eye may be at the wide receiver position. The spread incorporates multiple formations and receivers in order to work, and the sheer number of wideouts on the field will be something new for the Aggies. "In this offense the wide receivers are very, very important," said offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin. "Not only do they have to be able to catch the ball and get open, but they have to make blocks and any big play downfield on runs should have to be established by wide receiver blocks." With the departure of senior Otis Nelson this year's wide receiving corps has some new faces and is relatively inexperienced. However, with the implementation of the new system, pretty much every receiver is on the same page. "A lot was put on their plate early, but instead of knocking all the peas and corn and everything off the plate... finally this'last week they were able to digest it and understand it," Baldwin said. "1 felt much better with their understanding, and once you understand I think you can play to your level of ability." Xavier Bowman, Nnamdi Gwatcham and Omar Sawyer are the senior receivers, but both Bowman and Gwatcham have been limited this spring with injuries - Gwatcham especially, with a wired jaw. Bowman did play well in the Blue and White game, and talked about the benefit of the new offense after. "From a receiver's standpoint it s just enabled us to make more plays, and put us in a position to better benefit the team," he said. "It basically puts the offense in attack mode now." One of the strongest contributing classes could be the sophomore class. Austin Alder, Eric Moats and tight end Tarren Lloyd have all looked impressive in spring drills and should provide competition and depth at their positions. Baldwin expressed excitement about his sophomore group and their abilities, as well as the things they need to work on. "Eric Moats came out of nowhere as a walk-on and is very talented, he won a starting position this spring. No one's guaranteed in the fall that they're starting, but he will start as the No. 1. He just does everything right, is a bright kid and just has the capable hands to make the catch in traffic. Stanley Morrison has explosive speed but just has to play consistent. I really like his abilities, but now we're challenging him to play on a daily level of what his abilities are," he said. Baldwin was especially impressed with Alder. "In the first two weeks he was not even on the depth chart and the last two weeks he showed up to compete. He continued to make plays, and he was one of those guys that didn't comprehend everything... once he did, his abilities started to take over. He's faster than I thought and makes the catch in traffic and that's what we need," he said. The ability of these receivers to step in and contribute will be important because opposing defenses will be unable to focus on one specific player, therefore opening up the running game for both the running backs and quarterback Diondre Borel. "(The spread offense) just makes it so much harder for defenses in all aspects, especially with the run," Bowman said. "It'll create a lot more space for our running backs and one-on-one situations." Having a stable of capable receivers will not only allow the Aggies to flourish in the spread system, but will allow them to rotate throughout the game, staying fresh while wearing out opposing defenses. "I do know that the wide receivers are very vital in this offense. In the spread you want to run the football as you spread them out, but you also Cl See BIG PLAYS, page 9 Elaine Connolly of the Utah State women's track and field team was named the America First Credit Union Utah State StudentAthlete of the Week award for the week of April 12-19. The USU award is chosen by a statewide media panel. Connolly, a junior from Bountiful, Utah won the 800m in 2:09.16 at the USU Mark Faldmo Invitational on Saturday, which is the second-fastest time in Utah State history. Connolly s time is also the top time in the Western Athletic Conference this year and an NCAA regional qualifying time. Connolly was also the first leg of Utah State's 4x400 relay team that finished second in 3:46.57. This is the second week that a member of the Aggie women's track and field teams have garnered the accolade after teammate Sonia Grabowska earned the honor last week after her school-record performance in the pole vault. It also is the third week in a row for a track and field studentathlete after men's team member Steve Strickland collected the award on April 6 for his school-record time in the 3,000m steeplechase. Connolly and the USU men's and women's track and field teams will continue action Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25 at the BYU Robinson Invitational in Provo, Utah. |