BYU softball: Cougar softball begins season at the Red Desert Classic

Idaho State

The Bengals return 11 letterwinners from last year’s roster. BYU and Idaho State played twice last season and split games, with BYU winning 5-2 at home and Idaho State winning 7-4 at home. Amanda Fitzsimmons will return to the mound for her senior season and will look to improve upon her record of 11-13 from last year. Fitzsimmons earned 11 of the 12 Bengal wins in 2012 and also led the team offensively with a .324 batting average and nine home runs. BYU has an all-time record of 11-1 against Idaho State.

Preseason Polls

BYU softball grabbed the top spot in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference preseason poll for 2013.

All seven head coaches participated in the poll and six of the seven gave BYU a first-place vote, each worth seven points. BYU received 48 votes overall followed by Loyola Marymount with 39 and San Diego with 32. Saint Mary’s received the other first place vote as the defending conference champions and were picked to finish just behind San Diego with 31 votes. Utah Valley finished with 18 votes, CSU Bakersfield with 15 and Santa Clara with 13.

BYU also received four votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll to earn a No. 35 national ranking. The Cougars also received one vote in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 rankings.

Jamie Morris is the softball sports information director for BYU Athletic Communications.