Final Conference Roadtrip to CSU, UNM - Week 13

BYU softball looks to extend its 9-game win streak on Thursday, May 5, at Colorado State before traveling to play at New Mexico on Friday and Saturday, May 6-7.

CLICK HERE to follow the BYU softball team on Facebook.

COUGAR QUICK HITS

— BYU has won its last nine games in a row and has come out on top in 21 of its last 22 dating back to a win over No. 9 California on Mar. 17. Notre Dame is currently the only other school in the country with a comparable run. The Cougars have outscored their opponents 167-25 in the last 22 games.

— Dating back to the last seven home games of 2010, BYU currently owns an 19-game win streak at Gail Miller Field with a 12-0 record at home this season. BYU has won nine-straight at home against conference opponents and 34 in a row against non-conference foes.

— For the third-straight week BYU claimed both the MWC Player and Pitcher of the Week awards. Senior catcher Jessica Fitu won her third award of the year while Affleck took her second in the last three weeks.

— BYU is currently in sole possession of first place atop the Mountain West Conference standings with a 7-1 conference record.

— BYU is 3-0 against Colorado State and New Mexico this season, winning 15-0 and 8-0 versus CSU and taking an 11-3 decision versus the Lobos in Provo.

— The Cougars have already claimed two wins earlier this week, a 6-3 margin over North Dakota State at home and an 11-0 victory at Utah Valley.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

The last time BYU visited Fort Collins, the Cougars dropped a 7-3 decision in mid-April 2010. The Cougars have not allowed a run to Colorado State so far this year, winning two games in Provo on two shutouts.

Brittany Palish leads the team with a .305 batting average. Caitlan Stem is first on the Rams squad with 38 hits, including 10 doubles, and 26 RBI. From the circle, CSU regularly brings out three pitchers, led by Alexa Cash with a team-low 10.45 ERA. Kelsey O’Brien leads the team with three wins on the year, while Desiree Laswell has a team-high 31 appearances.

Traveling to a two-game series in Albuquerque, BYU has not lost a game at New Mexico since 2003, going 13-0 since that time. The Cougars have won 10 straight games over the Lobos, including an 11-3 victory earlier this season. The Lobos’ three runs were the most given up by BYU pitcher Paige Affleck in the senior’s last 11 appearances.

Jessica Garcia has proved to be one of the top hitters in the MWC this year, currently boasting a .434 batting average. Garcia leads New Mexico with 31 runs, 56 hits, 14 doubles, 12 home runs, 108 total bases and a slugging percentage of .837. Pitcher Kaela DeBroeck started against BYU the last time the two teams played; she is tops on the team with a 4.79 ERA and an 8-12 record.

CURRENT COUGAR STREAKS

Sophomore JC Clayton is currently on an eight-game hit streak while senior Kristin Delahoussaye is on a nine-game hit streak. Delahoussaye also has scored at least one run in nine-straight games, scoring 16 runs in that span, and has an eight-game streak of drawing at least one run, totaling 13 walks during the streak.

ON FIRE FROM THE CIRCLE

Paige Affleck has only allowed four earned runs in her last 64.2 innings pitched, three of which came in an 11-3 win over New Mexico. Affleck has gone 7-1 with one save in that time while earning two MWC Pitcher of the Week awards.

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. Affleck has now won 86 games in her career.

TAKING MORE

BYU has 13 players with at least one stolen base so far this year, led by junior Jessica Dugas with 12 steals. Eight players have four or more. The Cougars have 68 stolen bases overall, one more than the previous team record of 67 set in 2008.

GOTTA SCORE

BYU is 22-0 when scoring at least six runs and 28-0 when leading after five innings. In addition, 12 of BYU’s 15 losses have come by three runs or fewer.

GRAND RECORDS

Senior catcher Jessica Fitu hit the fifth grand slam of her career and second of the season at home vs. UNLV, moving her into third place in NCAA history for career grand slams. Fitu’s fourth grand slam earlier this year against Cal State Northridge set a new BYU career record.