Utah State's softball team, 43-19, ranked eighth nationally but third place in the Big West Conference at 24-12, has received invitation to play in the NCAA Women's Fastpitch Championships. The Aggies will go into the Region VII Tournament Saturday at Amherst, Mass., as the No. 1 seed in that tourney and the No. 7 overall seed in the 20-team field.
Game 1 in Region VII has a noon start Saturday and pits University of Connecticut, 40-8, of the Big East Conference against University of Massachusetts (33-13) of the Atlantic 10. USU plays the loser of Game 1 in a 2 p.m. Saturday game. The tournament concludes Sunday with 1 p.m. game followed, if necessary, by a 3 p.m. game.The eight region winners advance to the College World Series scheduled for May 21-25.
The Aggies completed their regular season last Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of UC-Santa Barbara, 19-29, 11-23. The Aggies won the first game 2-0, thanks to a second-inning solo home run by Lynnae Brady and a DeAnna Earsley RBI single to score Debbie Corbett. Earsley pitched her 18th shutout.
The second game went to the Aggies 3-1, Corbett scoring twice and going 4-for-4. She doubled in the first inning and scored on an Earsley single, and she singled to open the third, moved two bases on passed balls and scored on a wild pitch. The third run came when Earsley scored on an RBI double by Tanya Norton. Corbett pitched a five-hitter for the win.