Utah State University’s softball team began the Beehive Classic in St. George with a split outcome on Friday at Karl Brooks Field. The Aggies secured a 2-1 win over Southern Utah before falling to Utah Valley 10-1 in a five-inning contest.
In the opening game against Southern Utah, both teams were scoreless through three innings and combined for just one hit during that stretch. Southern Utah scored first in the fourth inning after two singles brought in their only run of the game.
Utah State responded in the fifth when freshman infielder Jazmin Ramirez hit a leadoff home run, her second career homer, tying the game at 1-1. Senior outfielder Kya Pratt then gave the Aggies the lead with a two-out solo home run in the sixth inning, marking her second home run of the season and nineteenth overall.
Senior pitcher Rylie Pindel pitched all seven innings for Utah State, allowing four hits and one earned run while walking just one batter and facing 25 hitters. This performance earned Pindel her fourth win of the season.
In their second matchup of the day, Utah State struggled against Utah Valley. The Wolverines took control early with a three-run first inning and added six more runs in the fourth, ultimately winning by run rule after five innings. UVU converted ten hits into ten runs, aided by two errors from Utah State.
The Aggies managed five hits compared to UVU’s ten, with Kya Pratt leading offensively by going 2-for-2 at bat. Their only run came in the fourth inning when Pratt doubled to right center and was driven home by another double from freshman Kate Vance.
Four pitchers saw action for Utah State: senior Emmalyn Brinka started and took the loss after pitching one inning; freshman Kendall Cochran covered two innings; seniors Carly Limosnero and Sydney Saldaña finished out the game.
Utah State (10-7) will continue play at the Beehive Classic on Saturday with games against Utah at 12:30 p.m., followed by an afternoon rematch versus Utah Valley at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled to be streamed live on WAC International.
For further updates on Aggie softball, fans can follow @USUSoftball on Twitter, USUSoftball on Facebook, or ususoftball on Instagram.
