Stakes not with softball in Vegas tourney loss
The USU softball team went 1-4 last weekend at the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, capturing its lone win against Seton Hall, 7-4.
With the losses, the Aggies fell to 3-6 on the season, as they have lost five out of the last six games.
Speaking about the team’s performance at the tournament, Head Coach Candi Letts said, “Overall it wasn’t bad. We fell short a couple of the games. The thing is we’re competing, and we’re competing at a high level. The teams there were very, very good. We’re on track to improving to where we need to be. I’m pleased with the progress.”
The opening match of the tournament on Saturday, Feb. 17 was against Mississippi State, a team unfamiliar to the Aggies but familiar to Letts as she played against them before coming to USU. Going into the match, Letts said her team was up for the challenge and excited to play a new opponent.
“(The team is) excited about when they get to play people they haven’t played before,” Letts said. “Mississippi State is a very good team. Our team felt very good and felt like they could play anybody.”
After four innings of play, the Bulldogs took a substantial 5-1 lead. The Aggies responded with two runs in the top of the fifth by freshman 2B Nicole Rupp and junior 3B Amy Schaible to bring the score to 5-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mississippi State added another run to solidify its lead at 6-3. The Aggies had a chance to complete their comeback in the top of the seventh with two on, but a combination of strikeouts and a hit to left field ended the game in favor of the Bulldogs.
“We battled in that game and fell a little short,” Letts said. “We played even with them but fell short. We kept getting people on in scoring position, we stole some bases, we got our bunts down. That’s a real positive in my book.”
In the second game of the day, USU dropped a close 6-5 match to Portland State. The Aggies fell behind early in the game but a two-run home run from freshman OF Emily Reilly brought USU to tie the game at 5-5.
Commenting on Reilly’s home run, Letts said, “It was big. That was a big swing. Emily just blasted that. That got us back in the game. That showed that we’re not beat until the umpire says the game’s over. That was huge, just another young freshman stepping up to help the team have success.”
Despite the homer, a Portland State run in the bottom of the seventh won the game for the Vikings.
“We made some mental mistakes in that game,” Letts said. “We got down, but we always found ways to come back. The kids fought back to get in that game. It was a punch in the stomach. We felt it. It was a game we felt like was right there. We just fell short. That’s a team we definitely know we can beat.”
Sunday was a bittersweet split day for the Aggies. The day started out with a brutal 13-1 beating by 11th-ranked California. The game was run-ruled in five innings. The lone USU run came off an RBI fielder’s choice by junior SS Tara Evans that brought Reilly home.
“We didn’t start out real well,” Letts said. “Cal’s aggressive. I think their overall experience is what did us in. We made one little mistake and they capitalized on it. They make the most of it. They’re just a better team than we are, and we learned a lot from that.”
Sunday afternoon was kinder to the Aggies as they beat Seton Hall, 7-4. The key to this victory was a powerful hit from sophomore 1B Aubrie Stroman that brought in four runs. Seton Hall brought in three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but it was not enough to steal the win from USU.
“We knew going in we should definitely win that ball game,” Letts said. “We did a lot of good things. For us to come on top and to try to hold it was a different experience. That was a big win. We really haven’t been in that situation. It was good for us to be in a situation like that. It’s good to know that teams won’t quit and die.”
The final game of the tournament for the Aggies was against the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Once again, the Aggies fell behind 4-0 early on and had to fight to try to win. The best the Aggies could scrape was one run in the top of the sixth as Reilly brought in senior UT Charity Weston with a single up the middle.
Weston, a star on the USU soccer team and now a pinch-hitter, was running for Stroman.
“What went well in that game was our freshman pitcher did very well,” Letts said, “Our energy level was very good. We went there to win and leave it on the field. We left a lot of people on base that game. We always couldn’t get the timely hit in that game. As far as to go nose to nose with a MWC team was very good. You never feel good about a loss but if you do, you know you can play with them.”
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu