Aggies split doubleheader
The Utah State softball team split a doubleheader with Southern Utah Thursday in Logan. The Ags won the first game 8-1, but couldn’t overcome a seventh-inning surge from the Thunderbirds, falling 10-4 in the second game.
During the second game of the day, the score stayed tight until the top of the seventh inning. The Aggies were up 4-3 going into the inning, but SUU exploded after Aggie pitcher Heather Straight was taken out of the game after hitting the batter in the head with a wild pitch.
From there out, it was all downhill for USU.
“I think that changed the whole dynamic of the game right there,” Utah State Head Coach Lonny Sargent said. “We don’t condone it at all. I think that changed the whole outcome of the game because we were still pretty close at that point.”
After Straight left the game, the Aggies had a small pool of pitchers to choose from.
“Leslie [Higley] had pitched quite a bit in the first game, and we had to bring her back in [but] we had taken her a little too far at that point,” Sargent said. “We brought in Straight and thought she’d be able to shut the door on them. Then we bring in a kid that they had seen for four innings in another game. Once you can get their timing down, it’s pretty hard to contain those players.”
With freshman Erica Hancock pitching, the Thunderbirds had seven runners come in and put SUU up over the Aggies 10-4. Junior Sara Fleming said the lead was just too much for the Aggies to overcome the next time they were up to bat.
Fleming had two home runs in the doubleheader. Her first came during the first game in the second inning. With two runners on base, Fleming smashed the ball over the fence and put the Ags up 4-0. It was all Utah State from there.
“I think our offense really came together when we had people on we were able to get them in,” Fleming said. “That’s something.”
The Aggies went up 8-0, and were ready to end the game in the fifth inning. But a fielding error by USU allowed the Thunderbirds to get a runner home and stay in the game.
In the second game, Fleming hit a lead-off home run for USU and gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
“I saw her in the first game and I came in knowing I could hit her,” Fleming said of her home run.
However, Southern Utah was able keep the game tight and the Ags couldn’t pull away like they had in the first game. And after Schaible’s wild pitch, there wasn’t much the Aggies could do but watch player after player get on base.
“I think we were just saying let’s get this over with,” Fleming said. “They just kept getting base hit after base hit, just like a snowball effect. We just needed to find someone to stop it and once we did we were able to come back in. We were able to hit the ball hard, but it was just too much, we let them get too far ahead.”
Despite dropping the second game, Sargent said he was proud of his team. He said the Ags were excited to play an in-state team and they came out and performed well.
“We’ve got 15 wins now and our kids have got to feel good about that because that hasn’t happened in a while,” Sargent said. “We’re very proud of what our kids have done and accomplished.”
The Aggies will next head on the road for a series of games against CS Fullerton Saturday and Sunday.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu