Softball team loses 3 games
The Utah State softball team dropped three games to Cal Poly over the weekend in California.
The Aggies lost the first game 5-3 and were shut out in the second game 2-0.
In the first game the Aggies didn’t get into it until the second inning on a homerun from Amy Schaible – her first homer of her career.
After another run in the second inning, the Mustangs tied it up by the fourth at 2-2.
Cal Poly gave away a run to USU in the sixth inning, by walking Roxanne Ritchie with the bases loaded.
But in the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs came from behind. Beginning with a fielding error from the Aggies, the Mustangs earned three runs to end the game up 5-3.
“Defensively we did well. Offensively, we could have done better,” said head coach Lonny Sargent.
Six Utah State team members earned hits in the first game, Quela Henderson-Leonhardt, Sara Fleming, Jessica Garnett, Amanda Carver, Ritchie and Schaible.
The Mustangs dominated the second game of the doubleheader, with the help of their pitcher Eva Nelson.
Nelson struck out eight Aggie batters, pitching a perfect game.
Utah State’s pitcher Leslie Higley tried to keep USU in the game, but she couldn’t do enough. She allowed only eight hits and two runs in all six innings.
The game was a shut out by the Mustangs, which took home the 2-0 win.
In the team’s third and final game Saturday, the Aggies lost another to Cal Poly 2-0.
Much like their second game on Friday, the Aggies had trouble at bat. The Mustang’s pitcher came close to pithcing another perfect game for Cal Poly.
Sargent said Cal Poly’s two pitchers were a surprise for Utah State.
He said according to the scouting reports, neither of Cal Poly’s pitchers stood out.
“We didn’t know that they were going to perform that well against us,” he said.
Cal Poly scored an early run in the first inning and didn’t score again until the fourth.
Garnett, pitching for the Ags, held the Mustangs to two runs and four hits, but the Aggies still came up short.
Sargent said the USU pitchers did well collectively as a group and were a bright spot in the games.
Pinch hitter, Heather Haak, was the only Aggie to connect with the ball all day. She hit a single up the middle in the seventh inning.
But, Utah State couldn’t break the no-hit-streak for the rest of the game and gave the Mustangs the win.
Because of the three game losses, the Aggies dropped to 7-16 on the season and 1-5 in the Big West.
Sargent said he and the rest of the coaching staff were baffled by how the team performed, and they expected more out of their team as individuals.
“We need to move forward and learn from experiences,” he added.
The Aggies host their next game against, in-state rival Utah for a single game on Wednesday.
“We match-up well against Utah this year,” he said.
The team members know the Utah players and are motivated to compete against their friends, he said.
But Sargent wishes they would be more motivated to play to against teams in their conference.
The Aggies could “turn around and do well, or this could be a tough week,” Sargent said.
He added that he hoped the Ags learned from this weekend and he hopes they’ll play to the best of their ability.
-ranaebang@cc.usu.edu