Utes too much for Aggies
A three-run first inning by the University of Utah Tuesday put the Utah State University softball team in a hole from which they were unable to recover in a 6-2 loss.
“First innings have been killing us,” Aggie Head Coach Debbie Bilbao said. “We’ve got to start doing better.”
The Aggies, in the midst of an 11-game home stand at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field, have allowed runs in the first inning of their first four home games.
Utah started off the game with a double by center fielder Molly McLean and a single by right fielder Masie Ota to put two runners on base.
Aggie pitcher Kristin Hommel struck out the next batter, but with two on, Ute shortstop Melissa Stahnke hit a shot over the fence in right center to give Utah a 3-0 lead.
Despite being down early, USU catcher Breanne Smith said she didn’t think it put much extra pressure on USU.
“I personally don’t feel that as a pressure,” Smith said. “You’ve got seven innings and that’s the first one. You have seven innings to hit the ball and get [the runs] back. I think we know there’s a lot of ball game left and we can come back from that.”
Utah struck again in the third scoring three runs on two hits and an Aggie error.
The Utes started out with a pair of singles and then put a third runner on by beating out an Aggie throw to second base on an infield grounder.
Ute center fielder Niki Hayhurst hit a sharp grounder to Aggie second baseman Marcie Neff with the bases loaded. While attempting to make a play, Neff bobbled the ball, allowing a Utah runner to cross the plate.
Still with the bases loaded, the Utes scored their final two runs when left fielder Traci Keller was hit by a pitch and McLean drew a walk. At the end of the third Utah owned a 6-0 lead.
“We just give up too much,” Bilbao said. “We give up too many key hits, we walk too many people and then we make errors. You’ve got to be strong defensively and you’ve got to pitch well.”
The Aggies were held scoreless until the fifth inning when they started to make a comeback.
Leading off the inning, left fielder Aimee Johnson hit a double down the left field line and was driven in when the next batter, center fielder Casey Smith, hit another double down the left field line.
With Smith on second, first baseman Kara Foster singled to center for her second hit of the game, advancing Smith to third.
On her attempt to steal second, Foster was caught in a run down, but the momentary distraction allowed Smith to steal home. Utah retired the next two batters to stifle the comeback.
“I’m just glad to help out the team whenever I can,” Foster said. “I’m glad I got the chance. It was just a lot of fun I could come in and make a difference.”
Despite not being able to catch up with Utah, Smith said it was good the team was able to start a comeback.
“We did comeback,” she said. “We stayed energetic, we stayed positive and relaxed. We played our game.”
USU appeared to be making another run in the sixth. The Aggies started the inning by putting their first two runners on, but were unable to advance them as Utah pitcher Jennifer Pursell retired the final six batters she faced.
Hommel received the loss for USU, giving up nine hits, four walks and striking out six.
The Aggies scored their two runs on five hits.
“Two runs should be enough to win a ball game,” Bilbao said. “We just give up too much.”
The Aggies are now 3-29 on the season while Utah improved to 13-24.