BYU Looks to Secure MWC Championship - Week 14

BYU softball needs one win to secure its third-straight Mountain West Conference championship as the Cougars face second-place Utah in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 14, beginning at 2 p.m. MT in the Deseret First Duel. Game one will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

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COUGAR QUICK HITS

— With one win against the Utes this weekend in the Deseret First Duel, BYU will claim its third-straight Mountain West Conference championship. The Cougars are currently 9-2 in the MWC while Utah is 7-3 and currently second place in the conference.

— The Cougars have the fifth-longest home win streak in the country, having won 19-straight games, including a 12-0 record this season. BYU has won nine-straight at home against conference opponents and 34 straight against non-conference foes.

— BYU has won 24 of its last 26 games, averaging a 7.8 - 1.3 margin of victory with 12 shutouts and nine games with double-digit scoring during that span.

— BYU has claimed the overall Duel trophy already this year, leading 32-23 with softball’s two games worth a total of three points the only games left to play.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

BYU and Utah were slated to play two games in Salt Lake City earlier this year and one game on May 14 in Provo, but stormy weather and MWC rules forced the two teams to play a doubleheader in Provo to close on the season. BYU has not lost to Utah at home in three years but have only hosted the Utes twice in that time, winning both games in 2010.

Brittany Parker leads the Utes with a .450 batting average but has only played in half of Utah’s games this season. Whitney Holm leads the team with nine home runs while Tara Glover has a team-best 80 total bases including eight doubles and five triples on 53 hits. Glover also has 16 stolen bases on 18 attempts. Pitcher Generra Nielson is one of the top pitchers in the MWC with a 21-11 record, 192 strikeouts and a 3.53 ERA.

UNBEATABLE AT HOME

The Cougars have the fifth-longest home win streak in the country, having won 19-straight games, including a 12-0 record this season. BYU has won nine-straight at home against conference opponents and 34 straight against non-conference foes.

Hofstra - 28

Texas A&M - 22

South Dakota - 20

Alabama - 20

BYU - 19

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 88 games in her career.

TAKING MORE

The Cougars have 71 stolen bases on the season, already four more than the previous team record of 67 set in 2008. BYU has 13 players with at least one stolen base so far this year, led by junior Jessica Dugas and freshman Lacey Millett each with 13 steals, tied for sixth-most in a season in BYU history.

GOTTA SCORE

BYU is 22-0 when scoring at least six runs and 30-0 when leading after five innings. In addition, 13 of BYU’s 16 losses have come by three runs or fewer.

HOME RUN HITTER

Junior right fielder Delaney Willard hit five home runs in four games recently against Seattle, Loyola Marymount and a doubleheader vs. Southern Utah. Willard’s four-game home run streak was the longest for a BYU player since Stephanie Hopkins hit one out in four straight in April 2008. Her five homers are the most in a four-game span since Angie Quiocho hit six out of the park also in April 2008.

NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE

Senior catcher 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.

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.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Senior Kristin Delahoussaye racked up 11 total bases (two home runs and a triple) versus Utah State 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.

WIN STREAKS

The Cougars have compiled 30 win streaks of five games or more in program history, including their recent streaks of 12 and 11 games, the first time in school history a team has had two double-digit win streaks in the same season. In 2010, BYU matched a season high with five such streaks, tying the 2005 Cougars. BYU set a program-high streak of 16 consecutive wins in both 2007 and 2009.

Win streaks of 5+ games:

2011 - 5, 12, 11

2010 - 7, 6, 9, 9, 7

2009 - 5, 16

2008 - 6, 5, 6

2007 - 5, 5, 16

2006 - 7, 8

2005 - 9, 8, 9, 5, 5

2004 - 6

2003 - 5, 12

2002 - 7, 5, 5

2001 - 8