Utah Softball Sweeps Colorado State

Saturday, April 6

Salt Lake City

12:00 PM MT

University of Utah

Colorado St

4/6/2002 12:00 AM | Softball

April 6, 2002

Box Score-Gm. 1 | Box Score-Gm. 2

Salt Lake City - The University of Utah softball team made two amazing comebacks to sweep the Colorado State Rams in a MWC match-up at Ute Field on Sat., Apr. 6. The Utes won, 3-2 and 4-3. Utah improves to 16-30 overall, 5-3 in MWC play. Colorado State drops to 16-19 on the season, 3-3 in the MWC.

In game one for the Utes, sophomore Melissa Stahnke notched the game winning hit with a full count in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Molly McLean went 3-for-4 in the game with a triple, one run and an RBI. Teammate Angie Kenney was a perfect 1-for-1 with one run scored, while Masie Ota was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Heather Bowlin went the distance, pitching 7.0 innings and gave up seven hits, two runs and one walk in 29 batters faced. Bowlin (9-14) also went 1-for-3 in the game with a double. As a team, Utah tallied 11 hits in 27 at bats, along with three runs and three RBI.

Colorado State's Amanda Kocis went 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored. Teammate Ricki Walker went 1-for-3 with a home run, one run and two RBI. Megan Masser took the loss for the Rams. Masser (3-7) pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 11 hits, three runs and two walks in 31 batters faced.

Game two saw the Rams jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Utah managed to score in the bottom of the fifth on sacrifice fly by McLean, bringing in teammate Traci Keller. In the bottom of the sixth inning Utah's Lyndsey Trevis and Niki Hayhurst each rocked a homer to tie the ball game, 3-3. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Keller singled to left center and McLean laid down a sacrifice bunt sending Keller to third. Keller scored on a wild pitch by Colorado State's Maren Christensen. Junior Jen Pursell (7-15) picked up the win in the second game. She pitched 7.0 innings, giving up seven hits, zero earned runs and one walk in 30 batters faced.

Hayhurst went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, one run and an RBI. Keller was a perfect 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored, while Kenney went 2-for-3 in the game. As a team, Utah tallied eight hits, four runs and three RBI in 23 at bats.

Melanie Mahoney went 2-for-3 in the game and pitched 6.0 innings, giving up eight hits, four runs and two walks in 27 batters faced. Mahoney took the loss for CSU, she drops to 10-6 on the season.

"I felt really comfortable all day with our play," said Head Coach Mona Stevens. "I knew we were going to hit the ball well today and it didn't surprise me at all when Niki (Hayhurst) and Shaq (Lindsay Trevis) hit those two home runs. The atmosphere and the crowd was great today. We definitely had some support and I'm happy for the wins."

UP NEXT: On Wed., Apr. 10, Utah hosts Southern Utah in a doubleheader match-up at 1:30 p.m. in Salt Lake City. The Utes will take on in-state rival BYU on Sat., Apr. 13 at 12:00 p.m. (DH) at Ute Field. Utah hits the road on Tues., Apr. 16, facing the Utah State Aggies in a single-game at 3:00 p.m. in Logan, Utah. On Thurs., Apr. 18, the Utes will host Cal-State Northridge for a single-game contest at 3:00 p.m. in Salt Lake City. Utah will face the UNLV Rebels on Fri., Apr. 19 at 1:30 p.m. (DH) and the San Diego State Aztecs on Sat., Apr. 20 at 12:00 p.m. (DH) at Ute Field. On Tues., Apr. 23, the Utes take on the Utah State Aggies in a single-game contest at 3:00 p.m. in Salt Lake City.