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Utah Tech’s Sadie Gardner (9) heads home safely against Southern Utah in the Trailblazers’ 13-3 victory Saturday, April 29 in Cedar City, Utah | Photo by Stan Plewe, Utah Tech Athletics, St.
ST. george – The trophy is in their hands. Western Athletic Conference Softball Regular Season Championship Trophy, ie.
And with three games left on the schedule, Utah Tech University could clinch the title this weekend.
After defeating rival Southern Utah last weekend in Cedar City by scores of 13-3, 9-6 and 16-6, the freshmen are now 31-16 overall and 16-5 in the WAC.
That puts them at their magic number of 2 — any Utah Tech win combined with a loss to Grand Canyon (40-11, 14-7) could give them the crown late Friday when UT hosts Utah Valley. afternoon. A doubleheader follows Saturday at noon. The series will be played at Carl Brooks Field.
Blazers make their mark
Despite going 4-3 in conference undefeated play at Brigham Young midweek, the Trailblazers capped off an impressive week following coach Randy Simkins’ 500th win a week ago.
Senior Shea Clements was named the Wassey Player of the Week. She went 10-14 (.714), 7-7 with four steals, three RBI and four runs scored in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep. She had 10 hits, four doubles, four RBI, three walks and five stolen bases.
And Utah Tech freshman Tanya Windle was named to the 2023 TUCCI/NFCA Division 1 National Top-25 list. Windle has started in all 44 games for the Trailblazers this season and leads the conference with a .444 average.
Utah Tech 16, Southern Utah 6
The Trailblazers closed out their fourth straight WAC series of the season with a 16-6 road win over Southern Utah on Sunday afternoon at Katherine Berg Field.
Utah Tech sent 12 batters to the plate in a seven-run first inning and had a commanding 12-3 lead after four innings in the books.
The Thunderbirds (6-30, 3-18) spoiled the Blazers’ bid to end the game by the run rule with a three-run rally in the fifth to send the game to Utah Tech 12-6 going into the sixth. But the Blazers added one run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to tie the game.
Hannah Hagbanks went 5-for-5 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Lauren Almeida was part of a 2-for-4 day, driving in four runs with two walks and two runs scored, while Clement and Carly Eldredge each collected two hits.
Double header sweep
The Trailblazers led from wire to wire. In the 1st game scoring single runs in the first two innings before exploding for six runs in the fourth.
Almeida got Utah Tech on the board when she cashed in a two-out double by Clements with an RBI-single. Rachel Campbell plated two with her fifth home run of the season for the Lasers to lead off the second inning.
Utah Tech broke the game open in the fourth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate, six of which drove in runs, as part of a six-hit barrage.
The early run support capped a strong start from fifth-year pitcher Kate Dolinski (W, 10-4), who limited the Thunderbirds to just two hits in her first four innings.
However, SU’s Emily Gonzalez connected for a two-out, three-run homer to send the game into the sixth inning. Gonzalez led the Thunderbirds at the plate in the twin bill, scoring four hits — three of them home runs — and seven RBI on the day.
In game 2, the Trailblazers trailed 3-1 after three innings. The deficit was short-lived as Utah Tech posted eight unanswered runs and scored two runs in each of the next four offensive frames to take a 9-3 lead.
The Blazers tied the game in the fourth inning to go up one in a row, with RBI singles from LB Kahawai-Kekona and Eldredge. Utah Tech took the lead in the fifth when Oakley Trapp drove home Clement with a double down the left field line. Campbell later hit a home run single to extend UT’s lead to 6-3.
Utah Tech would tack on two more runs in the sixth before Campbell put the exclamation point in the seventh with his second homer of the day and sixth of the year, a two-run shot up the middle to give the Blazers a six-run cushion. .
SUU made it interesting in the seventh, after two Blazer errors tied the game, Gonzalez came up and hit her second three-run homer of the afternoon to cut Utah Tech’s lead in half.
That would be the case for the T-Birds though as freshman Sauren Garton (W, 11-5) recorded the final score to win Saturday’s shutout and move Utah Tech into first place in the WAC standings.
BYU 4, Utah Tech 3
Wednesday’s non-conference matchup in Provo saw the Trailblazers take a 2-0 lead before the Cougars added one run in the bottom of the third and three more in the fourth.
UT’s runs crossed when Laura Lockard plated Campbell with an RBI single to left. Windle hit her third home run of the season to make it 2-0.
Utah Tech cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth on Trapp’s RBI single, but could get no closer.
Copyright Saint George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.
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