Softball squad gets one win in weekend tourney
The USU softball team continued its tough preseason schedule last weekend at the Campbell-Cartier Tournament in San Diego where they posted a 1-4 record.
The rainy weekend was highlighted by a 6-5 upset over UC Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon.
“We told our team going into the tournament, my concern was where our minds were mentally, to go in and play 5 of the top 30 teams in the country,” said USU head coach Candi Letts. “And honestly, I think the girls did a great job. We came out that first night and played San Diego State to eight innings and they’re ranked No. 24. By all rights we probably should have won that game – we just didn’t get the timely hit we needed.”
After losing a tough one in the first game 3-1, a game in which USU pitcher Lindsey Benson pitched a two-hitter to no avail, the Aggies showed their toughness and jumped on Santa Barbara with an early 6-0.
The big lead was started in the first inning after a triple by senior Jeanine Hernandez, which scored the first two runs. After the Aggies got the six-run lead, Santa Barbara fought it back to 6-5 after six innings before Lindsey Benson came in to pitch the seventh and held the one-run lead for the Aggie victory.
Letts said she was proud of how the team showed resilience in coming back after a tough loss and beating a good Santa Barbara team.
After a couple of rough losses against No. 10 Washington and Long Beach State, Utah State showed some toughness once again in the last game of the weekend against No. 8 Stanford. The Aggies eventually fell to Stanford, though, 9-5.
In the Stanford game, the Aggies fell behind 7-0 after the first three and a half innings. USU Sophomore Megan McDonald got her fourth RBI of the season in the bottom of the fourth to cut it to 7-1, but Stanford would later add two more runs to go up 9-1. In the sixth inning, the Aggies tallied four runs, capped by a three-run homer by freshman Rayna Bradshaw, to make it 9-5.
The Aggies are now 3-7 on the season.
Letts said she was very excited about the play of three freshmen over the weekend, Gina Rawls, Rayna Bradshaw and Jasmine Harris.
“Gina had a really good weekend at the plate,” she said. “Jasmine has stepped in and played shortstop after we lost Kelly to injury.”
USU will have a week off before taking the field again in the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., on Feb. 27-March 1, where they will play five games.
“Our kids look at it as an opportunity to play the best teams in the country and to prepare ourselves for our conference,” Letts said. “The girls know when it counts, and if we apply what we’ve learned from playing the best teams in the country we’ll be better because of it.”
-chet.gardner@aggiemail.usu.edu