The past, present, and future; women’s softball with a powerhouse team

Junior pitcher Aubrey Zell throws a strike during the top of the third inning against Southern Utah University. The Broncos went on to beat the Thunderbirds 2-0 at Mountain Cove Softball Field. Photo: Daniel Patchin

The Boise State softball team is back in action, picking up right where they left off from its previous season. The ladies returned from a weekend in sunny California boasting success with three wins and one loss to begin the new year.

Players to watch:

Sophomore Devon Bridges was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List. She is the first player in school history to earn this honorable distinction, and was one of a mere eight sophomores to make the cut.

She set school records in batting average (.393), RBI (53), walks (37), on-base percentage (.531) and slugging percentage (.785). She also led the team with 16 home runs and tied for the national lead with three grand slams on her way to being named All-WAC First Team and second-team All-Pacific Region.

Senior Allie Crump became the first player in Boise State history to earn multiple all-conference selections. She batted .311 with three home runs and 12 RBI, starting all 21 WAC games in the cleanup spot for the second-place Broncos, starting eight games in the circle and compiled a 4-2 record with a 4.71 ERA in conference play.

Senior Aubray Zell earned two of her three WAC Pitcher of the Week awards during conference play as she went on to a 9-2 mark and a 2.80 ERA facing off against WAC opponents. She posted a 51:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over her 65 innings in 13 conference games, winning at least one game in each of the Broncos’ first six series, including two each in back-to-back sweeps of Hawaii and Fresno State.

The start of the 2012 season:

The Broncos were picked to finish third in a poll of the conference coaches in their first season in the Mountain West.  However, the Mountain West does not sponsor a conference tournament in softball. The champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be determined by the regular-season standings.

Boise State began its fourth season of softball Feb. 10, against Loyola Marymount and Nevada at the Aggie Stampede in Davis, Calif.

The pitchers played the dominant roles during the ladies first two games on Friday. Zell and Crump, each delivered a three-hit shutout, on the opening day of the 2012 season. The Broncos beat Loyola Marymount 3-0 and Nevada 4-0 at the Aggie Stampede.

Saturday would prove to be more of a challenge. Boise State split a pair of games on the Saturday, defeating Nevada 7-3 and falling to Loyola Marymount 10-9 in 10 innings.

Boise State will resume play at the Campbell Cartier Classic in San Diego, Feb. 17-19. The Broncos will face No. 19 UCLA, No. 12 Washington and Notre Dame. The ladies’ weekend will begin at 10 a.m. (PT) against UC Santa Barbara.

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Posted by Nikki Hanson on Feb 16 2012. Filed under Main Feature, Sports, Sports Main Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.