Softball swept in weekend series against Colorado State
The rain yet again plagued the Utah State softball team last weekend, but once the team got on the field, Colorado State proved too much to overcome and the Aggies lost all three games.
However, the weekend started off promising for the Aggies. In the second inning of Friday’s game the team did something it’s rarely done this season, become an offensive powerhouse. Colorado State went up 5-0 by the end of the first inning, but Utah State responded by putting up seven runs in the top of the second. Senior first baseman Bailee Trapp provided the spark for the Aggies, belting a solo home-run to right center to lead off the inning.
Trapp wasn’t the only one to go long in the frame, as freshman third baseman Lexi Orozco would come up to the plate with two outs and hit her sixth homer of the season. She drove in three runs in the process, putting the Aggies up 7-5.
That score would hold on until the bottom of the third, as the rain came in and suspended the game until the next day. When the game resumed, the Rams would go on to score six more runs and eventually pull off an 11-10 win.
Immediately after, both teams would meet back on the field for the second game of the day, and again Utah State would found early lead. Freshman second baseman Kenzie Bolin singled up the middle for her fourth hit of the day, driving in Utah State’s first run in the opening frame of the game. The Aggies then put up another run in the third after Trapp was walked with the bases loaded, sending junior left fielder Riley Plogger home.
Colorado State showed why it is the top hitting team in the conference, pulling back on the Aggies and finding a 3-2 lead by the end of the fourth.
USU showed some fight by evening the score at three all in the fifth, but the Rams came out swinging in the sixth and put up three more runs. Between Utah State’s two freshman pitchers, Chloe Nightingale and Kapri Toone, they gave up four earned runs. But the Aggies committed three errors on the day and eventually lost 6-3.
The Rams again showed on Sunday why they are the best hitting team in the Mountain West, putting up eight runs on the Aggies in the first inning alone. Those eight runs would hold through the entirety of the game and the Rams won in the end by a score of 8-4. Trapp hit her second homer of the series in the fourth, desperately trying to spark a comeback for Utah State. But the Rams’ pitching was too good on the day, and the team grabbed its 18th win in a row, and maintained a perfect record in conference play.
Utah State on the other hand, has lost six of its last eight games and fell to seventh in the Mountain West standings, and 11-17 for the season.
The Aggies now have a midweek game at Idaho State on Wednesday, before hosting New Mexico for a three-game series this weekend.
Dalton Renshaw – @dren_sports