SAN DIEGO – Karlie Davison belted her first homer of 2024 and Sarah Ladd stranded eight runners on base over the last four innings to help propel the University of Utah softball team to a 4-3 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs on Wednesday afternoon at SDSU Softball Field in San Diego.
The Utes have now upped their win streak to seven-in-a-row and are 14-6 on the season, while the Aztecs drop to 9-11.
“Good teams win even when they don’t play well,” said coach Amy Hogue. “That was us today. We just found a way to win.
“We struggled offensively, but earned four runs very efficiently. Our righties came through big today, with [Julia]’s RBI single, Shonty’s walk and Karlie’s home run. I’m proud of our pitchers’ efforts today. Our defense made things much harder on us than they needed to be. When the defense struggles, the pressure goes on our pitchers and they handled it well and had their backs.”
The Utes were the first team to dent home plate, getting on the board in the top of the first thanks to an infield single by Julia Jimenez that plated Haley Denning, but the Aztecs drew level in their half of the first.
In the third, Utah jumped back in front when Aliya Belarde tripled and dashed home courtesy of Abby Dayton, who dropped a single into right-center. One frame later, with a runner on, Davison drilled a 1-1 pitch over the wall into center for her first circuit clout of the year and a 4-1 Utah advantage.
Ladd spent the rest of the afternoon protecting that lead. She took over in the fourth after Mariah Lopez got the first 11 outs without permitting an earned run. Ladd got the final out of the fourth to strand two runners, then did the same in the fifth, inducing back-to-back groundouts to leave a pair in scoring position.
The Aztecs were able to cut into the lead in the sixth, courtesy of a two-run hit off the bat of Macey Keester, but Ladd retired the next hitter on a bouncer back to the mound, then she came up clutch again in the seventh. After a one-out knock and an error, she induced a fly ball to right and a grounder to second to ice her team’s seventh straight victory.
Up Next
The Utes will get their Pac-12 schedule underway by taking on UCLA, opening a three-game series with a Friday matchup scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2024 campaign are now available. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the Utah ticket office…
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