HURD gets fans out to women’s softball game through home run derby

Immediately following Utah State University women’s softball game against Weber State University, the HURD, a student organization responsible for creating an enthusiastic environment at all home games, hosted its first annual home run derby event.

The derby took place at the LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field at approximately 6:15 p.m., following the game. The event was planned to get more students out to support the women’s softball team.

The first 50 students at the softball game received free food and home run derby T-shirts provided by the HURD.

The home run derby competition consisted of two rounds of batting. During the first round, each of the 20 student were pitched to five times with a front toss at about a 30-foot distance. The top score from the first round was three hits out of the five pitches. The top two women and men proceeded to the next round.

Following the first round, three people were picked from the crowd to participate in a mascot race — three students versus the Aggies’ mascot, Big Blue. The race begun after each participant had spun around a few times and had gotten dizzy. Then the students and Big Blue proceeded to race back to home plate.

After the mascot race, the second round of the derby began. The final four contestants, including a former member of the women’s softball team, Morgan Carter, were pitched to ten times. The top male hitter and female hitter won various prizes.

“It was nice to be back swinging a bat in my old field,” Carter said. “I have missed this and I love that the HERD is trying to get more fans out to support our softball team.”

The women’s softball team participated in the outfield as they retrieved balls that were being hit by the participants.

“It was cool to get HURD involved because it got a lot of people to support our team, which means a lot,” said Megan Rhead, a junior on the women’s softball team.