Softball team wins two
The Utah State softball team took a three-game series after splitting a doubleheader with UC Riverside Saturday and sealing the win on Sunday.
With the help of three UCR errors, the Aggies pulled out an 11-0 win over the Highlanders in the first game of the series Saturday.
After not allowing a UCR run, the Aggies came up to bat and gained three runs in the first inning.
Sara Fleming and Michelle Vlahos were first up and the first two Aggies out.
With two strikes against her, Quela Leonhardt hit a single up the middle and was quickly followed by Heather Haak who walked.
Then, with two on, Amy Schaible hit a homer sending Leonhardt and Haak home for a 3-0 lead. Kelly Leos hit a single down the center and Amanda Carver hit, but was out on a fly ball, to end the first inning.
The second inning was a stand still with no runs for either team.
At the bottom of the third, after UCR couldn’t score a run, they helped load the Aggies on base with three earned errors.
Vlahos reached first base from a shortstop error, which was followed by a second error after a hit by Leonhardt. UCR sealed the three error trio after Haak reached first on a UCR center fielding error.
With the bases loaded Schaible hit a double to right field bringing both Vlahos and Leonhardt home for two runs.
In the fourth inning, a hit over the left field short stop by Vlahos advanced the runners and Ritchie came in to bring the score up 8-0.
With the bases loaded after Leonhardt walked, Haak hit a home run over left field sending home Vlahos and Leonhardt.
Schaible and Leos grounded out, to end the inning with an 11-0 lead.
UCR couldn’t bring in the heat in the final inning and the game ended with an Aggie win.
“Our pitcher Leslie Higley, she’s a tough kid, she’s one of our best,” head coach Lonny Sargent said.
The second game of the series was a different game all around.
In the first inning the Aggies held the Highlanders, even with two hits.
During the Aggies’ at bat, Fleming started out strong with a homerun over the left field fence. But the rest of the Aggies were shut down by Highlander pitcher Sara Radabaugh.
The second inning was kept at a 1-0 lead for the Aggies.
In the third inning after just one hit and three walks, the Aggies stopped UCR from scoring by tagging the first hitter out at home. But the bases were soon loaded again following a single hit and a walk pitched by Jessica Garnett to tie the game at 1-1.
Utah State was unable to score in the bottom of the third with three outs: a line drive, a pop fly and a grounder.
Heather Straight replaced Garnett in the fourth inning but it was another standstill with no runs from either team.
In the fifth inning the Highlanders broke the tie by loading the bases and hitting a single to send two UCR team members in for a 3-1 lead.
After another stop by UCR’s pitcher Radabaugh the Aggies couldn’t score.
The Aggies scored only one more run in the bottom of the sixth and the game ended with a Highlander win of 2-3. Radabaugh scored the win over Straight to bring her pitching record up to 6-17.
UCR recorded two more errors on the day.
“We told our kids ‘we can’t count on that, we’ve just got to do it ourselves’ and they stepped up and did it,” Sargent said about the UC Riverside’s errors.
The third win of the series was taken by the Aggies on Sunday afternoon.
The game began at a standstill by the pitchers until the fourth inning when Schaible came up to the plate.
With two down and one on, Schaible hit a double sending pinch runner Bjarnson home for a 1-0 lead.
No runs were scored in the fifth inning, but Ritchie was walked. With the help of a pitcher’s missed catch and a catcher’s error from the Ags, the Highlanders scored a run over the Aggies in the sixth inning.
The Aggies didn’t look back in the bottom of the sixth inning, however, and just started fresh with a double hit to left field by Garnett.
Vlahos ran for Garnett and after Tara Evans and Haak were walked, the bases were loaded.
Schaible stepped up again – this time with a single to left field bringing Vlahos in.
Evans also scored with the help of an error by a UCR left fielder.
After hitting a pop fly for an out, Leos allowed the runners to advance.
Jenna McCartney pinch ran for Haak and UCR switched pitchers.
But after a wild pitch and a fielding error by the Highlanders, the Aggies advanced bases and Schaible scored the last run of the game.
Ritchie was walked again, but Fleming was out on a pop fly and Ritchie never reached home.
“I walked three times but a walk is as good as a hit, and just a walk will pump up the team,” Ritchie said.
Sargent said, even if Ritchie is walked, they need her on base because she is a fast runner.
“If they walk me I’m OK with it, I’ll run home,” she added.
The game ended in the fifth inning with the Aggies beating UCR 4-1.
“We count on [Higley] to be able to come in on those situations and shut the door, and she was able to do that today,” he said.
Sargent said he thought the Utah State’s hits were more crucial on Sunday because the Highlanders only had one error.
“We were fortunately able to get some offensive runs behind her to help her, to not put so much pressure on our pitcher,” he added.
Utah State goes up against University of Utah at home on Wednesday and Southern Utah later this week.
“We’re always pumped up for these games they’re in-state rivalries and it’s always a goal to beat our in-state teams and we’re just going to come out with full force and ready to beat them,” said Roxanne Ritchie.
-ranaebang@cc.usu.edu