Fifth in an 8-part series of WAC team previews.Brigham Young Cougars
2011 overall record: 40-18
2011 MWC record: 11-2 (first place)
Returning starters: 6
It was almost exactly a year ago -- on January 27, 2011 -- that the Western Athletic Conference announced it was inviting Brigham Young to become an affiliate league member in the sport of softball.
At the time, it appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction made of desperation by the conference. And today, the move appears even a bit more questionable. Of course, we won't fully know the ramifications of the WAC's decision to add BYU until NCAA Tournament bids are unveiled in May.
It could work out one of two ways. Either the rest of the nation will see the WAC for what it truly is in softball this year -- a juggernaut of a conference, where at least four of the eight teams head into the season with legitimate hopes of reaching the Women's College World Series. Or, some won't even realize the WAC added the 3-time defending Mountain West Conference champion to an already formidable group of softball teams.
Thus, the WAC's decision to add BYU could end up hurting the postseason chances of fellow top tier teams like Fresno State, Hawai'i or New Mexico State. Some also believe even BYU's postseason chances may have been better as an independent this season. Again, we won't know how this will play out until May, but it was a risky choice to add the Cougars.
The decision to add BYU, in fact, looks even more short-sighted now than it did a year ago. Last January, the WAC was still reeling from the newly-announced departures of powerful Fresno State, Hawai'i and Nevada. Adding BYU appeared to be an insurance move just to keep the conference afloat.
Before long though, the WAC offered additional membership invitations to schools like Seattle and UT-Arlington. Those followed earlier invites to Texas State and UT-San Antonio, all for the 2012-13 school year. With those four new schools, the need for a program like BYU in the conference wasn't there anymore.
And sure enough, just over a month ago BYU announced it would join the Pacific Coast Softball Conference for the 2013 season. Confused enough yet?
Various web sites and bloggers like us have already predicted the WAC will send a minimum of four teams to the NCAA Tournament this year, but it's certainly no guarantee. Clearly the addition of BYU makes the WAC deeper and stronger overall than its been in over a decade. Let's just hope the country's perception reflects the true nature of a softball conference that will likely rank among the top six or
seven in the nation.BYU enters the WAC as an immediate threat to win the conference title. The Cougars, who have advanced to seven straight NCAA Tournaments, reached a regional championship game last season in Seattle, taking a pair of games from then-No. 21 Auburn in the process. Two seasons ago, BYU reached its first Super Regional.
History is mostly on the Cougars' side. BYU is 37-5 all-time versus every current WAC team aside from Fresno State. The Bulldogs are the only WAC team with a winning record against the Cougars. Fresno State has won six of eight all-time meetings in the series, including last year when the Bulldogs won 7-3 at a tournament in San Diego. BYU went 4-1 against the conference last season, including a pair of wins at Hawai'i when the Wahine was ranked in the Top 25.
Six players, all of whom started more than 35 games a year ago, are back to lead a Cougars offense that hit .304 as a team in 2011. However, several of the greatest softball players ever to wear a BYU uniform -- including a pair of All-Americans and three NFCA All-Region picks -- are all gone, leaving some tremendous gaps in the lineup for coach Gordon Eakin to fill.
Four of BYU's six players named to the 2011 All-MWC team have graduated, including conference Pitcher of the Year Paige Affleck, a second team All-American. Affleck practically did it all in the circle for the Cougars a year ago, starting 40 games and going 26-12 with an impressive 1.98 ERA. She tossed 240 of BYU's 379 innings last season, and finished as the school's career leader in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and appearances.
Also departed are some of the biggest power hitters in school history, including two-time All-American and former MWC Player of the Year Jessica Fitu. The school's all-time RBI leader led the squad in numerous offensive categories last year, including RBI (69), home runs (12), doubles (11), total bases (116), at bats (179) and slugging percentage (.648).
Fitu was tied for the team lead in homers and doubles with first team All-MWC selection Caschjen Atagi. A .318 hitter last season, Atagi ranked second on the team in RBI (49). Astonishingly, nearly half of her hits (23 of 47) went for extra bases. Second baseman Kristin Delahoussaye, another all-conference and all-region pick, is gone too after leading the Mountain West in runs (48) and walks (42).
When you combine the offensive numbers of Delahoussaye, Atagi and Fitu, it demonstrates the losses even more. BYU will be missing more than half of its team home run total, and just under half its team total in both doubles and RBI. The trio combined for 163 hits, 152 RBI, 29 home runs, 29 doubles and 6 triples last season.
A lot of talent returns, however. Two returning outfielders -- sophomore Carly Duckworth and senior Jessica Dugas -- were named All-MWC last season. Dugas was a .345 hitter, while Duckworth hit .281 with seven home runs. JC Clayton, who started 56 games last year, led the team in both batting average (.373) and hits (66), 60 of which were singles.
A trio of solid seniors -- outfielders Tiffany Messerschmidt and Delaney Willard, and infielder Stacie (Graham) Toney -- return. Messerschmidt hit .350 in 39 starts last year, while Toney hit .268 with 15 RBI. Willard hit .259 overall but is the top retuning home run hitter after smacking 11 as a junior. Sophomore infielder Ashlee Brawley, an Arizona transfer, joins the squad after seeing limited action with 10 hits for the Wildcats last season.
Sophomore pitcher Tori Almond could find herself in the role of being BYU's go-to pitcher this season after starting 16 games as a freshman. Almond went 10-4 with a 3.13 ERA and had some flashes of brilliance along the way last year, picking up big wins over UCLA and Long Beach State.
Junior Hannah Howell had good numbers a year ago, mostly in relief. Howell, who went 4-2 with a 2.69 ERA, made two starts but appeared in 26 games. Freshman Caroline Umphlett should also contribute after an excellent high school career in North Carolina.
The non-conference schedule is demanding and will prepare the Cougars well for what should be an epic battle for the WAC title in their only year in the conference before moving on to the PCSC.
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