Broncos Hit the Road to Face Streaking Spartans

Boise State (23-5, 3-3 MW) at San José State (22-10, 2-1 MW)- March 29, 7 p.m. MT, Spartan Softball Field | Live Stats | Watch
Boise State at San José State- March 30, 1 p.m. MT, Spartan Softball Field | Live Stats | Watch
Boise State at San José State- March 31, 1 p.m. MT, Spartan Softball Field | Live Stats | Watch

BOISE, Idaho – With a 3-3 record in Mountain West play, the Boise State softball team will travel to San Jose, Calif. for a three-game series against the San José State Spartans. The Spartans are riding a 9-1 over their last 10 games, and are coming off of a series victory against Fresno State, March 22-24.

SERIES HISTORY: Boise State trails the all-time series against San José State, 10-16. The Spartans, who won the conference title as recently as 2017, took the series last season in Boise by winning the first two games. The Broncos rallied in the finale for a 10-2 victory in five innings to end an 11-game skid to San José State.

Boise State has not defeated San José State on the road since the 2011 season, winning both games of a doubleheader on April 2, 2011.

SCOUTING REPORT: At 22-10 (2-1 MW) on the season, San José State is led at the plate by Jenessa Ullegue, a pitcher who is batting .407 in 59 at-bats this season. The freshman is eighth in the conference in batting average in 2019, and leads three other Spartans who are hitting .300 or better on the year. Fellow pitcher Madison Aurin leads the team in extra-base hits with eight doubles, a triple and three home runs.

In the circle, Ullegue (71.0) and Aurin (46.2) have combined to throw 117.2 innings for San José State. Ullegue leads the team with an ERA of 1.97 and 54 strikeouts, while Caroline Bowman has struck out 35 batters in 67.2 innings to round out the staff.

BRONCOS HOLD STEADY IN RPI: Despite dropping four spots, down to No. 23, Boise State held steady in the release of the second RPI on March 25. The Broncos are still the highest-ranked Mountain West team in the RPI, and remain in solid position for a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Only two non-Power 5 programs are ranked ahead of Boise State in the metric.

As a conference, the Mountain West continues to trend positively. A year after sending only one team to the NCAA Tournament, the conference has four teams ranked in the top 64 of the RPI: Boise State (23rd), Colorado State (36th), UNLV (41st) and Fresno State (57th).

GETTING IT DONE AGAINST WINNERS: The Broncos are currently 16th nationally in winning percentage with a 23-5 record (.821). What's most impressive about the team's 28-game start to the season is Boise State's success against teams with winning records. The Blue and Orange are 10-3 (.769) against teams with a record of .500-or-better this year – that mark ranks them at the top of the conference in wins, and second against winning percentage, behind only Colorado State's .777 (7-2).

The combined winning percentage of Boise State's 2019 opponents up to this point of the season is .549. They are one of four teams in the Mountain West whose opponents have posted a positive winning percentage through March 26.

CERVANTES NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Following a record-breaking performance, senior Rebekah Cervantes was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on March 26. Cervantes batted in a school-record eight runs in the final game against San Diego State. For the week, she hit a double, a triple and four home runs, while batting in a total of 12 runs. This is the third-time Cervantes has garnered conference player of the week honors.

FINDING THEIR SWING: Since a shutout loss to UNLV in the rubber match of the series on March 17, Boise State's offense has rattled off a week of outstanding performances. Over the program's last five games, the Broncos have out-scored opponents, 45-12. Over the last 10 games, the Broncos are hitting .371 as a lineup, with six different players hitting .400 or better.

MAKING PETER BRAND PROUD: Alongside leading the lineup with a batting average of .415, Kora Wade has reached base in 20-consecutive games, currently the longest streak on the team. Her on-base streak dates back to a 2-1 win over Yale, Feb. 23, while she has successfully reached base in 26-out-of-28 games this season. Also owning a 10-game hitting streak, Wade would no-doubt catch the eye of the fictitious MLB executive Peter Brand from the film Moneyball.

LIVRERI ERA STARTS WITH A BANG: At 23-5 on the season, Boise State is off to the best 28-game start in program history. Currently 16th in the NCAA in winning percentage, first-year head coach Maggie Livreri led the Broncos through the best non-conference season in school history, and has posted a better winning percentage than any other first-year head coach in the country this season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rebekah Cervantes

Kora Wade

Boise State Athletics