Olympic sports recap: USU Softball grabs two wins, other Aggie teams in action
After losing eight straight games where they scored a total of 13 runs, the USU softball team finally got their bats going last week, scoring a combined 36 runs to secure two victories in four games.
They defeated in-state rival UVU 13-7 in Orem on Wednesday and won one out of three games in a home series against San Diego State over the weekend, losing the first Saturday game 3-6, winning the second 10-7, then falling 10-13 on Sunday.
The road victory over the Wolverines was revenge for two losses against UVU earlier in the season. Big plays seized the day for USU as Kay Fielder hit a 3 RBI triple in the top of the 3rd to go up 7-2, and Junior Lexi Orozco hit a grand slam in the top of the 4th, extending the lead to 11-2.
In game one against SDSU on Saturday, two home runs in the top of the 3rd by the Aztecs extended their lead to 4-1, and USU wouldn’t catch up. In the second game, the offense turned it on. Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 3rd, the Aggies scored six runs — including a three-run home run from junior Gabby Jimenez. They’d build on that lead with homers in the 4th inning from senior Stephanie Reed and sophomore Makenzie Macfarlane.
In Sunday’s affair, freshman Zaia Castruita had three hits, one home run, and 5 RBI’s, while senior Kennedy Hira also had three hits. Jimenez hit another home run, her 10th of the season. But a 17-hit effort was too much to handle, and USU dropped the series.
Overall, the Aggies are 12-23 and 3-12 in conference play with nine games remaining in the season. They sit at No. 8 in the conference.
Track and Field
Top Aggie distance runners traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to take part in the historic Drake relays.
Sophomore Spencer Nelson finished eighth place in the 5,000-meter race with a 14:08.84 – the fourth-fastest time in school history. Sophomore Bridger Altice ran a 14:16.11 and junior Roberto Porras ran a 14:16.94, good for the ninth and 10th in the school record books.
On the women’s side, junior Mica Rivera dropped a 10,000-meter time of 35:20.27 to finish ninth place in the race and claim the fourth fastest tie in USU history, while sophomore Abigail Gray ran 35:43.77 to finish No. 12 – the fourth-fastest time in history. Freshman Morgan French finished No. 16 with a time of placed 16th with a time of 36:08.49 – eighth-fastest mark.
“We had a really good night,” said Utah State head cross country coach Artie Gulden. “The kids ended up with six top-10 marks.”
Women’s Tennis
USU fell to Colorado State 3-4 on Saturday and Wyoming 3-4 on Sunday in a weekend homestand to close out the season.
The Aggies battled in both, winning three out of six singles matches and one out of three doubles matches on Saturday against the Rams, then winning two out of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches on Sunday against the Cowgirls.
The duo of junior Annaliese County and junior Gabrielle Dekkers secured back-to-back doubles victories on the weekend, (5-3 vs. CSU, 6-1 vs. UW) while both winning their individual matches against CSU.
Sophomore Renata Lombera won both her singles matches, defeating Ram junior Tracy Guo (6-4, 6-1) and Cowgirl junior Ana Fernandez (6-4, 3-6, 7-6).
The Aggies wrap up the season with a 7-13 record, going 2-8 in Mountain West play, finishing No. 10 in the conference.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s squad wrapped up their season on the road Saturday, falling to Boise St. 1-4. Two doubles pairs, senior Sergiu Bucur/ freshman Souf El, and freshman Jack Ninteman/ sophomore Roko Savin both picked up 7-5 wins and the Aggies went 2-1 in doubles. However, they were thumped in the singles matches, going 0-6.
USU finishes the year 12-8 and 3-4 in Mountain West play – good for a No. 5 finish.