49ers shut down Ags
After 23 straight games on the road, the Utah State softball team settled in for three games at home this weekend.
Going up against Long Beach State – the No. 1 team in the Big West Conference – the Aggies’ homecoming was less than warm, however, as the 49ers outscored USU 29-0 in the three games.
In Saturday’s doubleheader, the Aggies fell 19-0 and 4-0. USU was held to just two hits in the first game and only five hits overall.
The Ags committed four errors and gave up 20 hits, including a leadoff home run to LBSU’s Lauren Johnson.
Long Beach’s Oli Keohohou, a transfer from BYU, hit two home runs – a grand slam in the in the first game and a two-run homer in the second.
In the second game of the doubleheader, USU’s Leslie Higley allowed seven hits in seven innings. But the Ags couldn’t get a runner across the plate, leaving five stranded.
In Sunday’s game, LBSU’s Meredith Cervenka pitched a complete game shutout. The Aggies tallied just five hits in the 6-0 defeat.
Marcel Torres started things off offensively for the 49ers, driving in two runs on a first-inning double to center.
In the second, with the bases loaded, Higley walked Torres, allowing Johnson to score.
Leftfielder Lindsay Markabury drove in a run on a sacrafice fly to center in the third inning, putting the 49ers up 4-0.
The Ags would hold Long Beach for the next two innings, but a Keohohou single and a Torres homer to start the sixth put the game away for good.
USU committed three errors and left 10 runners stranded in Sunday’s loss.
The Ags will next travel to Provo for a doubleheader with BYU Tuesday, before returning to Logan for seven-straight games.
-acf@cc.usu.edu