‘Resilient’ Aggies win final series, end season with .500 record
LOGAN — For the fourth time in nine years, Utah State softball ended the season with a .500 record or better by defeating San Jose State in two of three games at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field.
The Aggies came out hot in game one of the series. Senior catcher Gabby Jimenez drove in four of the Aggies’ eight runs with a one-run home run and a three-run double. Sophomore second baseman Zaia Castruita smacked two home runs for a total of three RBIs.
On the defensive side of the game, senior pitcher Kapri Tone threw a complete-game shutout. She gave up three hits, one walk and had three strikeouts in her scoreless five innings to boost the Aggies to an 8-0 win by mercy rule. This moved the Aggies one step closer to their goal of reaching a .500 record on the season, at 27-27.
In game two, the Spartans came to play. Jimenez opened the game with a two-run homer, her second of three in the series, to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
In the third inning, senior shortstop Lexi Orozco tied the USU record for career home runs when she launched a three-run homer to put the Aggies up 5-1.
Despite the early firepower, the Spartans were not phased. They hammered starter Mia Reynolds, who struck out three in the first three innings, to put together a seven-run fourth inning to take an 8-5 lead.
Utah State stormed back when freshman Giselle Gonzalez pinch-hit a two-run homer to tie the game at eight. Later in the sixth inning, Jimenez hit a ball to the outfield fence that was short of clearing the wall by less than a foot. The hit was still good enough for the Aggies to try and send base runner Mazie MacFarlane home, but she was thrown out in a close play at the plate.
After a scoreless seventh inning, the Spartans hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to take game two 9-8. The loss dropped the Aggies’ record to 27-28 which meant they needed a win on Saturday to reach their goal.
Senior day festivities added extra emotion to the series-deciding game three.
Jimenez launched her third home run of the series to give USU a 1-0 lead, but San Jose State responded quickly. The Spartans posted a five-run third inning, nearly 24 hours after they posted a seven-run fourth inning the day before, to build a 5-1 lead.
Despite giving up five runs on four hits in the third inning, Toone pitched the complete game and did not surrender any more runs.
Head coach Steve Johnson said the game plan was always to “attack” even when they were down by four runs.
“We wanted to stay the same and keep attacking,” Johnson said. “We knew what their strategy was with pitching and had seen them all, we just needed to keep attacking and putting the ball in play.”
The Aggies scored two runs in the third thanks to a Makenzie MacFarlane fielder’s choice and an Emily Tidd single.
In the fifth inning, the Aggies took over. After Makenzie MacFarlane walked, Tidd launched a two-run home run that tied the game 5-5.
Tidd has had one of the best weeks of all the Aggie seniors. She recorded two hits on Tuesday at BYU, two on Saturday and the game-tying home run on Saturday.
“I just put a lot more pressure on myself coming into the last week,” Tidd said. “I wanted to go out on a good note.”
In the sixth inning, Mazie MacFarlane scored the winning run via a Castruita single to left field. MacFarlane beat the catcher’s tag at the plate to take a 6-5 lead. MacFarlane avenged herself with the game-winning run after being thrown out in a similar scenario in game two.
Toone shut down the Spartans in the seventh inning, to notch her second complete game of the week, the 30th of her career, to finish her senior season at a 14-8 record.
After the final game of the season, coach Johnson described the Aggies’ season as “resilient.” In addition to winning the series, the Aggies set four individual records in the final games of 2022.
Orozco tied the record for most career home runs in USU history with 39. She shares the top spot with former Aggie Kelley Kaneshiro. Orozco also recorded a .631 career slugging percentage which is the best in program history.
Jimenez became the leader in home runs in a single season with 15, three of which came this weekend. She also set the Aggie record for RBIs in a season with 49.
Mazie MacFarlane topped the USU leaderboard for runs in a single season with 46.
Pitchers had trouble with Bri Lerma who recorded the program’s most hit-by-pitches in a season with 15.
“The records are nice, but all those records come when you have teammates who get on base,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it is what you pass on to the next generation. Watching them talk to the younger group and the younger players that are going to be out there next year, that is the legacy they wanted to leave.”
The Aggies honored their six seniors after the game. Lexi Orozco, Emily Tidd, Gabby Jimenez, Kapri Toone, Bri Lerma and Sydnee Smith were each presented with a framed jersey by the coaching staff.
Utah State finished its season fourth overall in the Mountain West Conference standings with a 13-11 conference record and a 28-28 season record. Their finish broke expectations after the Aggies were projected to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason poll.