Utah Softball Shuts-Down Utah State

Tuesday, April 23

Salt Lake City

3:00 PM

University of Utah

Utah St

4/23/2002 12:00 AM | Softball

April 23, 2002

Salt Lake City - The University of Utah softball defeated the Utah State Aggies, 5-0 in a non-conference match-up in Salt Lake City on Tues., Apr. 23. Utah improves to 23-31 overall, 7-3 in MWC play. Utah State drops to 8-38 on the season.

Utah?s Traci Keller ripped a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to put the Utes up early in the game. Teammate Melissa Stahnke homered a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth and senior Molly McLean tagged a double in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Lauren Field. Senior Lyndsey Trevis scored McLean on a base hit up the middle as the Utes won, 5-0.

On the day, Stahnke went 1-for-3 with one run and two RBI. Her home run placed her in second-place on the Utah career leaders list. Traci Keller went 1-for-2 with one run and an RBI, while Molly McLean went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Heather Bowlin started on the mound and pitched 3.1 innings. She gave up two hits, zero runs and three walks in 16 batters faced. Jen Pursell (11-15) came in and recorded the win for the Utes. Pursell threw 3.2 innings and gave up just one hit , zero runs and zero walks, including four strike outs in 12 batters faced. As a team, Utah tallied seven hits in 24 at bats, along with 5 runs and 5 RBI.

Utah State?s Breanne Smith, Casey Smith and Stephanie Vasarhely picked up one hit each in the game. Lindsay Janssen (2-19) took the loss for the Aggies after pitching 4.1 innings and giving up seven hits and five runs in 21 batters faced. Teammate Kristin Hommel came in for relief and pitched 1.2 innings. As a team, the Aggies managed just three hits in 25 at bats.

?Traci Keller did another great job for us today,? said Head Coach Mona Stevens. ?Melissa?s (Stahnke) bomb helped put us over the edge. It was so sweet, having her move into second-place on the career charts for homers. For her to do this as a sophomore and to do it at home is just incredible. It was a good game and I am happy for the win.?

UP NEXT: Utah will face Southern Utah on Wed., Apr. 24 for a single-game match-up in Cedar City, Utah at 3:00 p.m. On Sat., Apr. 27, the Utes will play in-state rival BYU in Provo, Utah (DH) at 12:00 p.m. Utah travels to Albuquerque, N.M. on Fri., May 3, facing New Mexico in a doubleheader match-up at 1:00 p.m. On Sun., May 5, the Utes will take on the Colorado State Rams at 11:00 a.m. in Fort Collins, Colo (DH). The Utes will host the Utah State Aggies in a non-conference match-up at 3:00 p.m. on Tues., May 7. On Thurs.-Sat. May 9-11, Utah will participate in the MWC Tournament held in Provo, Utah.