USU softball downed by Washington

Three pitchers, twenty-eight hits and four homeruns made for a long and hot day on the field for the Aggies.

Utah State lost to the Washington Huskies on Monday coming out with a score of 20-7. Unfortunately, Aggie pitching was no match for the Huskies’ batting lineup.

The game may have started with a K on the board for senior Noelle Johnson, but it took a harsh turn soon after.

The tough loss didn’t come as much of a shock to assistant coach KC Smurthwaite.

“Washington is a top-ten team in the nation and posed a great opportunity for us to see where we are at as a team,” Smurthwaite said.

Smurthwaite said the game against the Huskies worked well to see where the Aggie’s strengths and weaknesses lie.

“We have almost a dozen new players on this year’s squad,” he said. “We wanted to gauge where they are at against the top competition in the NCAA.”

Utah State is in the preseason right now and still has a full slate of games to find improvement.

“The Utah State Softball program as a whole has improved dramatically over the past two years,” Smurthwaite said. “We plan to be at a higher level come springtime. We need to put in the hard work now to reap the benefits in the spring.”

USU softball has four more tournaments scheduled before it plays its first conference game in March.

— kenna.cook@aggiemail.usu.edu

Twitter: @kennaacook