After a tough losing streak last weekend in their series against UCLA, the Utes returned to Utah for their first slate of games at home this season in Dumke Family Stadium. The first three games saw a challenging opponent in the No. 24 University of Oregon Ducks, before the Utes capped off the weekend with a match against instate rival BYU.
Oregon — Game One
The Ducks opened the game on Friday on offense, and wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. The top of the first saw four runs from Oregon, before Aliya Belarde caught a runner out at second base, putting an end to the run with two still left on base for the Ducks. When the inning turned over to the Utes, a clean single from Abby Dayton jumpstarted Utah, before the outfielder quickly earned the first run after a double from Kaylah Nelsen. Unfortunately, this play marked the beginning of a bit of a dry spell for the Utes, while Oregon soon took over.
The following inning saw three more runs for the Ducks, bringing the score to 1-7 thus far. The bottom of the third brought Belarde her first run of the weekend, but the effort only seemed to fuel Oregon more. The top of the fourth had the Ducks earn four more, while the fifth catapulted the green and yellow all the way to 2-20. Right before the last play of the game, Sianni Sakai snagged the Utes’ third run of the day, but ultimately to no avail, as Oregon took the match at a dominating 3-20.
Oregon — Game Two
Saturday’s game began in much the same way as Friday’s, much to the worry of onlooking fans. Oregon once again opened the game on top, nailing a homer to record the first run of the day. However, Utah was ready to strike back, with Belarde and Dayton delivering singles straight off the bat. A wild pitch helped the two advance further before another error, this time by second base, helped the two home to edge past the Ducks. However, Oregon was not interested in such a play, and used the top of the second to fire off five more runs. The scoring streak ended for Oregon after Shonty Passi tagged a runner out at home, leaving one on base and halting any more scoring efforts.
Oregon grabbed one more run in the third, but it was soon Utah’s turn to be on the winning side. Dayton claimed her second run of the day after tripling to right field, and in the bottom of the fourth Karlie Davison got the scoring started when a double from Reese Lee pushed the infielder home. Another double — this time from Haley Denning — saw Passi and Lee across the plate, before Denning herself scored on a passed ball. All tied up at 7-7, the Utes took control of the rest of the match, claiming three more runs in the fifth to win it 10-7 and give the Ducks a taste of their own medicine.
Oregon — Game Three
Sunday’s face-off proved to be a more tightly contested game, with neither team being able to achieve quite the same level of high-scoring runs. However, the Utes were the ones to open the scoreboard this time around, with Davison sending a homer out to left center in the bottom of the second. Lee advanced to third on a series of errors, but unfortunately could not push through before the game turned over to Oregon.
During the top of the third, a triple followed by a double and a homer earned the Ducks four runs of their own, but afterward, the scoring energy uncharacteristically faded away on both sides. Oregon almost pushed through during the fourth, before being denied with three left on base. To finish off the game, Oregon hit one more homer in the top of the seventh to level out at five, taking the match over Utah.
BYU
Monday’s game brought the always highly-anticipated match up against infamous rivals BYU, as well as a much-needed win for Utah. The Cougars opened the scoring in the top of the second, snagging one run to inch ahead of the Utes. The game ran dry at this point, with either side struggling to get runners on base until the sixth inning. A single from Denning advanced Lee to second, while a second base error let Belarde reach and push the others to second and third. A hit from Dayton sent Lee home before a powerful double to right center from Sophie Jacquez saw the other two on-base score as well. The lightning play marked the end of the action, and the Utes took home the victory at 3-1.
Up Next for the Utes
Utah Softball returns to action tomorrow, as the Utes welcome Boise State to Dumke Family Stadium before heading out to California for a slate of games against Stanford. The Stanford games can be viewed on Stanford’s live stream-2 and will take place throughout the weekend.
