University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, March 9
Davis, CA
1:15 pm
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Utah State
Photo by: Rob Trubia
Preview: @bearssoftball Travels West Again, This Time for the Aggie Invitational
3/8/2018 12:24:00 PM | Softball
Northern Colorado will play six games from Friday to Monday this weekend
GREELEY, Colo.- Northern Colorado softball will travel west this weekend and play six games in the Aggie Invitational hosted by UC-Davis. UNC will play two games against host UC-Davis, two against Utah State, one against Nevada, and one against Valparaiso.
In Razorback Invitational last weekend, UNC went 2-3 with wins over Central Connecticut State (8-3) and Dartmouth (3-2). The Bears drew an unfortunate matchup against Arkansas ace Mary Haff twice, who would no-hit and shutout the team (0-9, 0-1). UNC also dropped the second game against Central Connecticut State, 0-6.
Valerie Vidal had another stand-out weekend in Fayetteville, going 2-1 with a 0.78 ERA in 18 innings pitched. Her best performance of the tournament for was a complete game, one-hitter against Arkansas, where she was tagged with the loss after errors cost the Bears a single run. Vidal was out-dueled in the game by Haff, who shut-out the lineup for the second time that weekend. For the season, Vidal has a 7-4 record with a 2.10 ERA in 73.1 innings of work. She has tallied 55 strikeouts to only 21 walks. Vidal has been dominating against right-handed hitters, allowing only a .091 average, while allow a .278 average to left-handed hitters.
The Bears pitching staff has been effective against right handers, allowing a season batting average of .190 . Comparatively, the staff has struggled against left handers, who are hitting .359 against the Bears.
Offensivley, Jordyn Wiatrak carried the team during the five games in Arkansas, batting .308 with one home run and four RBIs, while having a .538 slugging percentage. Wiatrak has a .317 batting average and a team leading two home runs, 14 RBIs this season, and a .476 slugging percentage.
The lineup for UNC struggled in the Razorback Invitational as they were out-scored 19-to-11 and out-hit 30-19. The Bears did hit well enough with runners on (12-for-43) and with the bases loaded (3-for-6). With the bases empty, UNC only managed to go 7-for-69 to limit the number of scoring opportunities for the team.
Northern Colorado will have an extended stay in Davis, Calif. with six games starting on Friday and ending on Monday. The Bears look to push their record over .500 against a solid slate of competition.
Scouting Utah State
The Aggies have started the season with a 7-7 record under fifth-year head coach Steve Johnson. Recently, Utah State went 4-1 in the Corpus Christie Tournament, with wins against Texas Southern (7-0), Omaha (5-3), and two against Texas A&M-Corpus Christie (8-5, 15-0).
Junior Bailey Lewis leads the Aggies in hitting with an impressive .422 average and is tied for the team lead with four doubles this season. Riley Plogger has been big bat for Utah State with five home runs and 15 RBIs this to lead the team. She also has an impressive .829 slugging percentage. In the circle, The Aggies have two solid pitchers atop their rotation with freshman Delaney Hull and sophomore Kelli White. Hull has a 3-1 record with a 3.00 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched and White has a 3-2 record with a 2.13 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched.
Northern Colorado and Utah State last played a three-game series in 2016, with the Aggies taking two-out-of-three from the Bears in Logan, Utah.
Scouting UC-Davis
UC-Davis has an 11-7 record in head coach Erin Thorpe's fourth season for the Aggies. Already this season, UC-Davis has faced off against five ranked teams, going 1-4 in those contests. The Aggies defeated No. 18 Oklahoma State, 3-1, but dropped two games against No. 11 Tennessee, 0-6 and 0-7. UC-Davis lost a close 0-1 against No. 23 California and also dropped a game against No. 7 Arizona 1-6.
Freshman Alyse Rojas has started the season hot with a .400 batting average, with four doubles and four RBIs. Rojas's sister, Maddie, leads the Aggies with two home runs and also has five RBIs this season, along with a .594 slugging percentage. In the circle for UC-Davis, freshman Brooke Yanez has been the ace for the team, with a 7-2 record and a 1.09 ERA in 64.1 innings pitched. Yanez has pitched eight complete games with two shutouts.
Northern Colorado and UC-Davis will meet for the first time this weekend in Davis, Calif.
Scouting Nevada
It will be the second time in two weeks that UNC and Nevada will play each other after meeting in the Libby Matson Tournament. Nevada topped the Bears, 6-2, at the end of February with Lauren Paige taking the loss. The Wolfpack went 4-1 in the Red Desert Classic, including wins over Big Sky opponents Southern Utah (12-1, 16-3) and Weber State (7-5).
Senior Erika Hansen continues to drive the offense with a .404 batting average, six home runs, and 21 RBIs for the Wolfpack. Along with Hansen, sophomore Kenzi Goins has a .404 average and has tallied two home runs with 13 RBIs this season to give the Wolfpack a potent offense. Freshman Julia Jensen has been the workhorse for Nevada this season, pitching 74 innings with a 6-4 record and a 3.12 ERA.
Scouting Valparaiso
Fourth-year head coach Katie Stake has led the Crusaders to a 9-6 record this season. Most recently, Valparaiso competed in the Lopes Up Classic, going 3-3 last weekend. The Crusaders picked up wins against South Dakota (8-7), Princeton (10-8), and UNLV (4-1). Valparaiso would drop a game to UNLV (2-1) and two against Grand Canyon (1-2, 2-6).
Junior Jaymee Lawton has been the major contributor on the Crusaders lineup. Lawton has a .400 batting average, with five home runs and 22 RBIs, all of which leads the team. Redshirt-Senior Taylor Lawson is just short of Lawton with a .395 average and leads the team with 15 runs scored. Valparaiso has a one-two punch from the circle with Senior Kenzie Grossmann and Sophomore Emily Richardson. So far this season, Grossmann has a 5-2 record with a 1.69 ERA in six starts and Richardson has a 2-0 record with a 1.05 ERA in three starts, including two shutouts.
Northern Colorado and Valparaiso play against each other for the first time in program history.
Following the Bears
UNC will start its Aggie Invitational play in Davis, Calif. against Utah State on Friday, March 9th at 1:15 P.M. (MT), followed by a game against host UC-Davis at 3:15 P.M. The Bears will two games on Saturday, March 10th with another matchup against Utah State 9 A.M. and then against Nevada at 1:15 P.M. On Sunday, March 11th, UNC will play Valparaiso at 12:30 P.M. The Bears will finish their tournament on Monday, March 12th against UC-Davis at 3 P.M. Live stats for all of the games will be provided by UCDavisAggies.com. Follow the games live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.Â
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In Razorback Invitational last weekend, UNC went 2-3 with wins over Central Connecticut State (8-3) and Dartmouth (3-2). The Bears drew an unfortunate matchup against Arkansas ace Mary Haff twice, who would no-hit and shutout the team (0-9, 0-1). UNC also dropped the second game against Central Connecticut State, 0-6.
Valerie Vidal had another stand-out weekend in Fayetteville, going 2-1 with a 0.78 ERA in 18 innings pitched. Her best performance of the tournament for was a complete game, one-hitter against Arkansas, where she was tagged with the loss after errors cost the Bears a single run. Vidal was out-dueled in the game by Haff, who shut-out the lineup for the second time that weekend. For the season, Vidal has a 7-4 record with a 2.10 ERA in 73.1 innings of work. She has tallied 55 strikeouts to only 21 walks. Vidal has been dominating against right-handed hitters, allowing only a .091 average, while allow a .278 average to left-handed hitters.
The Bears pitching staff has been effective against right handers, allowing a season batting average of .190 . Comparatively, the staff has struggled against left handers, who are hitting .359 against the Bears.
Offensivley, Jordyn Wiatrak carried the team during the five games in Arkansas, batting .308 with one home run and four RBIs, while having a .538 slugging percentage. Wiatrak has a .317 batting average and a team leading two home runs, 14 RBIs this season, and a .476 slugging percentage.
The lineup for UNC struggled in the Razorback Invitational as they were out-scored 19-to-11 and out-hit 30-19. The Bears did hit well enough with runners on (12-for-43) and with the bases loaded (3-for-6). With the bases empty, UNC only managed to go 7-for-69 to limit the number of scoring opportunities for the team.
Northern Colorado will have an extended stay in Davis, Calif. with six games starting on Friday and ending on Monday. The Bears look to push their record over .500 against a solid slate of competition.
Scouting Utah State
The Aggies have started the season with a 7-7 record under fifth-year head coach Steve Johnson. Recently, Utah State went 4-1 in the Corpus Christie Tournament, with wins against Texas Southern (7-0), Omaha (5-3), and two against Texas A&M-Corpus Christie (8-5, 15-0).
Junior Bailey Lewis leads the Aggies in hitting with an impressive .422 average and is tied for the team lead with four doubles this season. Riley Plogger has been big bat for Utah State with five home runs and 15 RBIs this to lead the team. She also has an impressive .829 slugging percentage. In the circle, The Aggies have two solid pitchers atop their rotation with freshman Delaney Hull and sophomore Kelli White. Hull has a 3-1 record with a 3.00 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched and White has a 3-2 record with a 2.13 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched.
Northern Colorado and Utah State last played a three-game series in 2016, with the Aggies taking two-out-of-three from the Bears in Logan, Utah.
Scouting UC-Davis
UC-Davis has an 11-7 record in head coach Erin Thorpe's fourth season for the Aggies. Already this season, UC-Davis has faced off against five ranked teams, going 1-4 in those contests. The Aggies defeated No. 18 Oklahoma State, 3-1, but dropped two games against No. 11 Tennessee, 0-6 and 0-7. UC-Davis lost a close 0-1 against No. 23 California and also dropped a game against No. 7 Arizona 1-6.
Freshman Alyse Rojas has started the season hot with a .400 batting average, with four doubles and four RBIs. Rojas's sister, Maddie, leads the Aggies with two home runs and also has five RBIs this season, along with a .594 slugging percentage. In the circle for UC-Davis, freshman Brooke Yanez has been the ace for the team, with a 7-2 record and a 1.09 ERA in 64.1 innings pitched. Yanez has pitched eight complete games with two shutouts.
Northern Colorado and UC-Davis will meet for the first time this weekend in Davis, Calif.
Scouting Nevada
It will be the second time in two weeks that UNC and Nevada will play each other after meeting in the Libby Matson Tournament. Nevada topped the Bears, 6-2, at the end of February with Lauren Paige taking the loss. The Wolfpack went 4-1 in the Red Desert Classic, including wins over Big Sky opponents Southern Utah (12-1, 16-3) and Weber State (7-5).
Senior Erika Hansen continues to drive the offense with a .404 batting average, six home runs, and 21 RBIs for the Wolfpack. Along with Hansen, sophomore Kenzi Goins has a .404 average and has tallied two home runs with 13 RBIs this season to give the Wolfpack a potent offense. Freshman Julia Jensen has been the workhorse for Nevada this season, pitching 74 innings with a 6-4 record and a 3.12 ERA.
Scouting Valparaiso
Fourth-year head coach Katie Stake has led the Crusaders to a 9-6 record this season. Most recently, Valparaiso competed in the Lopes Up Classic, going 3-3 last weekend. The Crusaders picked up wins against South Dakota (8-7), Princeton (10-8), and UNLV (4-1). Valparaiso would drop a game to UNLV (2-1) and two against Grand Canyon (1-2, 2-6).
Junior Jaymee Lawton has been the major contributor on the Crusaders lineup. Lawton has a .400 batting average, with five home runs and 22 RBIs, all of which leads the team. Redshirt-Senior Taylor Lawson is just short of Lawton with a .395 average and leads the team with 15 runs scored. Valparaiso has a one-two punch from the circle with Senior Kenzie Grossmann and Sophomore Emily Richardson. So far this season, Grossmann has a 5-2 record with a 1.69 ERA in six starts and Richardson has a 2-0 record with a 1.05 ERA in three starts, including two shutouts.
Northern Colorado and Valparaiso play against each other for the first time in program history.
Following the Bears
UNC will start its Aggie Invitational play in Davis, Calif. against Utah State on Friday, March 9th at 1:15 P.M. (MT), followed by a game against host UC-Davis at 3:15 P.M. The Bears will two games on Saturday, March 10th with another matchup against Utah State 9 A.M. and then against Nevada at 1:15 P.M. On Sunday, March 11th, UNC will play Valparaiso at 12:30 P.M. The Bears will finish their tournament on Monday, March 12th against UC-Davis at 3 P.M. Live stats for all of the games will be provided by UCDavisAggies.com. Follow the games live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.Â
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