Utah State softball dominates three-game home opener
On Saturday, the Utah State softball team started off its home opener with a doubleheader against the Northern Colorado Bears.
The Aggies suffered through a close loss in game one with a score of 8-9, but soon redeemed themselves with a 16-7 sweep that ended with a two-run walk off home by senior Noelle Johnson.
Although the Aggies had eleven hits on the board for game one, including two home runs — hit by junior infielder Victoria Saucedo and sophomore catcher Brina Buttacavoli — their bats were no match for Northern Colorado’s defense.
“As far as hitting goes, we’re starting to improve a lot,” Saucedo said. “As long as we keep it consistent, which it looks like we are, we’ll be steady.”
Johnson, with the loss of game one, walked off of the mound after the seventh inning with eight strikeouts and fourteen first pitch strikes, leaving the extra inning to freshman Katie Schroeder.
“We’ve got too many errors,” said coach Steve Johnson. “Our pitchers aren’t going to strike out 15 a game so we’ve just got to make sure we’re making plays behind them.”
Utah State softball came back for game two ready to win. Gloves were in the air and on the ground with arms ready to throw as the defense stepped up its game.
The USU offense stepped up to the plate as well, with senior catcher Kirstyn Namba starting off the game with a home run and Noelle Johnson ending it with the two-run walk off.
Junior April Brown ended the game with eight strike outs and the win under her belt.
The Aggies took on the Bears once more on Sunday for game three of the series, blowing them away and finishing the game in the fifth inning with a 14-4 victory.
Northern Colorado had eight hits by the end of the game while USU had 17. The Bears circled through three pitchers while the Aggies circled the bases. Noelle Johnson hit back-to-back dingers over the fence, both with RBIs adding to the team’s 14 for the day.
“Right now our offense is really rolling,” Steve Johnson said. “It’s a big step for us.”
Softball struggled with their bats and getting their swings just right in preseason, but have now dominated offensively. At this point in the season, USU is above .500 for the first time in 20 years.
The Aggies are getting ready for conference play as they start off the Mountain West games on March 24th against New Mexico.
“It starts with having fun. As long as we have fun on and off the field we’ll carry momentum,” Saucedo said. “We know what we’re capable of, our pitchers are doing a great job, as well as the whole team with hitting, and we’re having fun. As long as we keep a smile on our face we’ll do pretty well.”
Steve Johnson said that the three-game series was important for the team before they begin conference play.
“I think when you hit as well as we did for all three games here, we’ve just got to have that confidence,” Steve Johnson said. “We’ve just got to continue that momentum. We have to attack just like we did. We’re starting to put a lot more pressure on teams than we have in the past and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing as conference play rolls in.”
—kenna.cook@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @kennaacook