Hatred can be a strong motive. In tonight’s first showdown of the season between Utah and BYU softball, there’s bound to be plenty of it.
Just ask outfielders Meghan Crouse and Kelly Matthews, two of the Utes’ five seniors who have been around long enough to witness the heated rivalry up close.
Having played in 12 games against the Cougars throughout their careers, the seniors out of Vancouver, Wash., wondered for about a nanosecond whether the rivalry ever gets old.
“No! We hate them now more than we ever have,” Matthews said while admitting she doesn’t know any of the Cougars. “I can’t stand them, and you just hope they lose in every other sport, not just in softball.”
The more soft-spoken Crouse agreed with her teammate using words just as caustic as Matthews’.
“We wanna beat them so bad every time we go down there,” Crouse said.
The conference-leading Cougars (30-14, 5-2) have taken eight of the last 12 against the Utes, including one particular game last season in Provo that Crouse still recalls with vivid resentment.
“Last year, their first baseman hit a homerun off of one of our pitchers,” Crouse said. “She was kind of mocking us as she was going around the bases. It just makes us want to beat them that much more.”
Although softball clubs are particularly known for chanting from the dugouts, the two seniors doubt either team will resort to trash-talking.
“It’s the most intense game of the whole year,” Matthews said. “We’ll get louder (with the chants) and more intense.”
“Especially when they make mistakes,” Crouse said, finishing Matthews’ sentence. “It won’t necessarily be trash-talking, it’s just that both teams play like they want to kill each other. You feel it once you get out there.”
The Utes (22-19, 5-3) are coming off a successful weekend in which they split a pair against San Diego State and swept UNLV in Las Vegas. Their conference record puts them at second in the Mountain West Conference — right behind their opponent tonight.
“That’s just even more motivation,” Matthews said.
Hoping to step in Utah’s way will be a trio of BYU pitchers with winning records: Christina Trice (11-2), Paige Affleck (9-2) and Christie Zinanti (8-7).
The Cougars are coming off a 22-2 thrashing over Utah Valley State on Wednesday. The team hit 10 home runs, including three from Daniela Snow. Snow, who leads the team with a .379 average, went 4-for-4 and set a team record with eight RBIs to total 44 on the season.
Tonight’s game will begin at 7 p.m. in Provo and will be aired on KBYU. The archrivals will face off again Saturday at 2 p.m.
Tyler CobbAfter splitting games with San Diego, and sweeping UNLV, Utah prepares to face their reprobate rival, BYU.