In beginning conference play on the road, the U softball team was expecting to get where it thought it ought to be.
The Utes came home .500.
Battling San Diego State and UNLV last weekend, the Utes won one game and lost one game from each doubleheader.
Against SDSU, the Aztecs came out roaring in the first game, downing the Utes 9-1 after six innings. The Utes got on the board first when Niki Hayhurst brought Masie Ota home on a sacrifice fly, but that was the only scoring the Utes would get.
U pitcher Jennifer Pursell was charged with two illegal pitches (which occurs when the pitcher’s foot comes off the ground) in the first inning, each costing the Utes one run. Although U coach Mona Stevens doesn’t attribute the loss to that, she did feel the calls were too picky.
“I thought they were inappropriate calls,” Stevens said. “They scored two runs without a hit.”
Pursell took the loss for the Utes, allowing 10 hits and 5 earned runs.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Utes got revenge against the Aztecs, doubling them up by a score of 4-2.
Melissa Stahnke drove in Lyndsey Trevis in the first inning on an RBI single. After the Aztecs tied the game at 1 1, Molly McLean hit her third home run of the year, a solo shot in third inning. Also in the third, Stahnke drove in Trevis once again on a single to right field.
Heather Bowlin got the win for the Utes at pitcher, throwing all seven innings, allowing just 2 runs on 8 hits.
After the series with SDSU, the Utes headed up the road to Las Vegas to take on UNLV.
Utah used a seven-run second inning to get the breathing room necessary to down the Rebels in Game 1, 9 5.
Hayhurst got back on the hitting track, starting off the seven runs with a two-run homer to right-center field.
The Utes had 13 hits against Rebel pitching and, although UNLV fought back and crept to within two runs, the Utes held off the charge and left with the victory.
In the second game, UNLV freshman Pauline Glenn hit a three-run home run in the first inning that sparked seven runs for the Rebels, as they downed the Utes 7-1.
The Utes now head to Logan, Utah, for a matchup with the Aggies this afternoon. Utah will not have to leave the state again until May.