The Cougar softball team travels up to Salt Lake City Friday to face their in-state rival, The University of Utah, as the Cougars fight to defend their position as both leaders in the Deseret First Duel and also front-runner in the Mountain West Conference.

Utah and SDSU are both 9-5 and tied for second place in the conference, trailing behind BYU's 10-4 conference record, and 36-16 overall on the season.

The Deseret First Duel doesn't just compare the two Universities in softball, but extends to the other 12 sports they compete in as well, including baseball, football and basketball.

BYU is up 29.5 points to Utah's 27 in the Duel, a close race considering each game against Utah is worth 1.5 points. These two games will be valuable in maintaining their first-place rank, because as the entire weekend carries a weight of three points.

In the 2007 and 2008 seasons combined, the Cougars have dominated the Utes 5-1. The most recent pair of games between the two teams was on April 18-19, and each team won a game in the series. This marked the first time the Utes had beat the Cougars in the past two seasons, and it looks like they're out to repeat their win.

The rivalry between the two schools is evident, and has been for years.

"I'm a softball fan, but more than that I'm a BYU fan." said Hunter Hartman, a recent BYU graduate. "I'll always root for BYU."

The Cougars will rely on the strengths of key players, including Angeline Quiocho and Daniela Snow, who rank 1 and 2 in the conference in batting average. Also, Christina Trice is one of the strongest pitchers in the conference.

The Utes will look to win behind the bats of Diana Phillips and Kara Foster, hitting.390 and .343 respectively.