By Brandon Wells
The BYU softball team will play rival Utah again in a doubleheader Wednesday night at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., this time in the comfort of the Cougars? own backyard.
The Cougars (38-11) dominated the Utes (18-25) at their home field earlier this season with a 13-0 shutout in Game 1, and stayed strong for another 5-3 win in the nightcap.
After a doubleheader victory over New Mexico last week, BYU stayed ranked at the top of the 2005 Mountain West Conference Standings with a 12-2 conference record, giving them good positioning for the upcoming MWC Tournament in San Diego. A sweep against Utah would assure BYU the number one seed in the tournament.
?We need to win both of these games to win the conference, so we will definitely play all of our starters,? head coach Gordon Eakin said. ?These are two very important games for us, so rather than depending on hoping that UNLV will lose we want to be in control of our own destiny.?
BYU suffered a casualty in last week?s game against New Mexico when catcher Lauren Watson-Perry, first in the MWC and 15th in the NCAA in batting average (.438), injured her thumb while sliding into second.
?Lauren is getting a soft cast made today and we will make the determination if she?ll play,? Eakin said. ?It?s doubtful that she?ll play, but we won?t really address that until tomorrow.?
As a team, BYU leads the MWC with a batting average of .320 and 65 home runs in 49 games. The pitching lineup is posting a 2.13 overall ERA.
