The Utah softball team went 1-2 over the weekend in Berkeley, Calif., dropping its record in the Pac-12 conference to 5-4. Despite losing the series, junior Anissa Urtez believes the Utes have more to offer than what they showed over the weekend.
“I think we did okay. We aren’t happy with the outcome, but I think we learned a few things within the series,” she said. “We have more potential than that, and we just have to get it together.”
Cal, who was second-to-last in the Pac-12 coming into the series with Utah, came out with a vengeance in the first game of the series. Hannah Flippen hit her 11th home run of the season in the first inning, and Heather Bowen doubled home Urtez to give the Utes an early 2-0 lead. But the Golden Bears got a run back on a Taurie Pogue RBI single in the bottom of the first, and they scored again in the second inning to tie the game.
Utah was then held scoreless until the fifth inning, when an Urtez RBI double down the left field line gave the Utes a brief 3-2 lead. But the Golden Bears exploded for four runs on four hits in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding 6-3 lead over Utah.
After Nisa Ontiveros got through the Utes in the top of the sixth, Cal scored five runs in the bottom of the inning, invoking the mercy rule and handing Utah a stunning 11-3 loss. Katie Donovan took the loss, her seventh of the season.
On Saturday, the second contest of the series was rained out, so the Utes and Bears played a doubleheader on Sunday. In the first game of the two, Utah lost in heartbreaking fashion on a Cal walk-off in the eighth inning. As on Friday, the Utes struck first, which is usually a good sign — Utah was 20-3 when scoring first in a game coming into the series with the Golden Bears.
Cal answered back with a solo homer from Annie Aldrete to knot the contest up at one.
The Golden Bears scored two in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead, and then the game became a pitcher’s duel until Utah’s turn at bat in the fifth. A clutch two-run homer by Kristen Stewart — her third of the year — tied the ballgame.
The game stayed tied through the seventh, and the contest went into extra innings. The Utes could only muster one hit, and in its half of the eighth inning, Cal loaded the bases. Jazmyn Jackson took advantage by hitting a single that dropped into center field, sending Alleah Laxamana home for the 4-3 win for the Golden Bears. Miranda Viramontes took the loss, dropping her record to 6-4 on the season.
Utah bounced back from the heartbreaking loss, regrouping and winning its first game of the series in the second game of the twin bill. The two teams were held scoreless through two, but the Utes broke through in the top of the third frame, scoring three runs courtesy of Delilah Pacheco stealing home and a Bowen two-run homer. In the seventh inning, Urtez hit her first home run of the season, a two-run shot that gave Utah a commanding 5-0 lead.
Donovan pitched the full game for the Utes, earning her 12th win.
Utah faces a quick turnaround before its next game, a home contest with Weber State on Tuesday — a game that was rescheduled from its original March 29 date because of inclement weather. Head coach Amy Hogue said the Utes have to have a short memory going into the Weber State game.
“I think [the players] are pretty good at [rebounding] themselves. We’ve been on the wrong end of a lot of those close games, and then we have to turn around and play again either right away, like this weekend, or the next day,” Hogue said. “The game we play, you have to have such a short memory.”
The Utes got into Salt Lake around 4 a.m. on Monday morning and had classes that same day, followed by a much-needed day off from practice.
“We didn’t have practice today — what we needed today was to get back and get rested,” Hogue said. “We’re at home, the weather is supposed to be great, and we got on a roll at the end of [the] Cal [series] and played great the whole day Sunday, and so I think our team is pretty anxious to get out there and play at home again, and get on a roll going into the series with Arizona State.”
The Wildcats come into the Utah series 25-12 (6-1 in the Big Sky). They come into Salt Lake riding a nine-game win streak; the last time Weber State lost was on March 25 against Portland State.
Sara Hingsberger and Aubrey Whitmer lead the Wildcats on offense. Whitmer has 41 RBIs and a .438 batting average, and Hingsberger has 41 RBIs and eight home runs to go along with her .327 batting average.
The Utes and Wildcats face off on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. MT at Dumke Family Softball Stadium.
@JoeColesChrony