Aggies take two of three from New Mexico
The Utah State softball team earned its first series win of the season this past weekend, hitting eight home runs off New Mexico and scoring 18 runs in three games played.
Four home runs from the Aggies kicked off the weekend in a 7-6 win on Friday night, sophomore center fielder Stephanie Reed got it all started with a solo shot in the bottom of the first. USU struck again in the second and third innings with a pair of homers, all off the first pitch they saw, both by its seniors, both by the same name.
They may spell their names differently, but first baseman Bailee Trapp and catcher Bailey Lewis sent two-run homers over the leftfield wall in consecutive innings to give the Aggies a 5-1 lead heading into the top of the fourth. New Mexico drew within a run by the end of the frame, but Lewis would step up in her next appearance at the plate and blast another one over the wall the close out the inning with Utah State on top 7-4.
Sophomore Delaney Hull earned her first of two wins over the weekend on the day, but after giving up two runs in the fifth, she was pulled for freshman Kapri Toone. Toone pitched a marvelous three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five of the 10 batters she faced.
KKKKKapri Toone delivering the strikeout to end the day and get the W.#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/tYfwBtdhZf
— USU Softball (@USUSoftball) April 6, 2019
Unfortunately, her dominance wouldn’t carry over to the next day. Toone got the start for the Aggies on Saturday, but ended up with all six runs to her name in a 6-3 loss. The bats weren’t quite the same either. Although USU would find a 2-0 lead after two innings, New Mexico countered with a grand slam in the third and would hold onto its lead until the end. Junior outfielder Riley Plogger had another good game at the plate, hitting the lone Aggie home run in the fifth on a full count, but she and Trapp would be the only two with a pair of hits that afternoon. The Lobos came up with some timely extra-base hits in the seventh to secure the win and even up the series. However, the Lobos wouldn’t score another run.
Hull was back on the mound for the Aggies on Sunday, and she came up clutch. In an 8-0 win the Aggies would close things out in the fifth due to the run rule, earning Hull her second shutout of the season. A complete game shutout is quite a display of mastery in itself, but Hull had some help from the Aggie bats yet again. Freshman shortstop Lexi Orozco smashed a grand-slam over the leftfield wall — her eighth homer of the year — to put USU up 6-0 after just one inning.
🎥➡️ @lexi_orozco with the FIRST Grand Slam by an Aggie freshman!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/QyiGhcE4II
— USU Softball (@USUSoftball) April 7, 2019
Sophomore third baseman Kennedy Hira followed her up with a second-inning solo shot to right, and junior second baseman Ryann Holmes finished off the day with a solo shot to left-center, securing the 8-0 win, and the series for Utah State.
After a two-win weekend, USU passed Boise State up to sixth place in the conference standings, now just one win behind San Diego State. The team is back in action on Tuesday at home for a one game rivalry with BYU, the first of a home-and-home with the Cougars this season. A weekend trip to Boise kicks off on Friday, both teams having the opportunity to make up some ground in the crowded Mountain West standings midway through the season.