The Utah softball team had a three-game series with Cal over the weekend, the second home conference series for the Utes this season. They have been looking to make strong statements to the rest of the Pac-12 this season to prove they belong, and this series against the Golden Bears was another opportunity for Utah to do that.
The Utes sure took advantage.
Utah won the series against the No. 16 Golden Bears, winning two out of the three games, giving the team its first back-to-back series wins since joining the Pac-12.
Utah’s wins were anything but easy, though. The Utes were tested but continued to battle through the challenges and stayed together as a team.
“We went into this series ready to win it,” third baseman Kristen Stewart said.
In game one, Utah jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Cal countered with three runs in the second inning to steal the early advantage. It wouldn’t hold for long, though, as Utah answered back with two runs in the bottom of the same frame and three more in the third. Utah wouldn’t trail the rest of the way and went on to win 8-6, claiming the first game of the series.
Utah had 12 hits in the contest, as four Utes had multi-hit games of their own—Hannah Flippen, Kate Dickman, Bridget Castro and Kristen Stewart.
Katie Donovan came in for relief for starter Miranda Viramontes after the third inning, and she shut down any thoughts the Golden Bears had of coming back. Donovan earned her 10th win of the season and struck out eight batters in just four innings of work.
“Katie has just been awesome. Her and Miranda have really helped carry our team,” Dickman said. “They are working really hard, and they have confidence in our offense to help them out.”
After a successful opening game in the series, the Utes looked to build off of the momentum. And while Utah came out on top with another win, it didn’t come easy. In the process, the Utes handed Golden Bear ace pitcher Stephanie Trzcinski just her second loss of the season.
Cal got off to about as good of a start as a team could hope for, scoring six runs on seven hits in the first inning. Utah found itself down early but the Utes showed their poise and knew there was plenty of game ahead to come back from the deficit.
“We knew we were going to have to outhit them,” Dickman said. “Falling behind early really just fired us up.”
Utah’s bats won this game, which is something their coach has been looking for them to do.
“I was just really proud of the complete game that we put together,” head coach Amy Hogue said. “It’s something I know we’re capable of doing all the time.”
Flippen, Dickman, and Stewart all continued their hot hitting from the day before, each notching three hits, while Heather Bowen and Marissa Mendenhall also added two hits apiece.
“We just all had a lot of confidence and were excited to play this series,” Stewart said. “The hitting just is contagious, it wasn’t just one person that contributed either.”
Utah used 16 team hits and a six-run inning of their own in the fifth frame to battle back from trailing 6-0 and get the win over Cal to take the second game, and ultimately win the series.
After a stellar performances from the Utah offense on Friday, it hit a rough spot in the final game of the series on Saturday. Utah could only muster up five hits compared to Cal’s nine, and would fall to the Golden Bears in game three 4-1.
Dickman and Flippen still had solid performances, each getting two hits at the plate.
Utah got the statement series win that it went into the weekend looking for and the Utes will look to build on that in their next contest against Oregon State starting April 10.
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