Softball Sweeps Colorado State

Friday, April 14

Fort Collins, Colo.

1:00 PM

University of Utah

Colorado State (DH)

4/14/2006 12:00 AM | Softball

April 14, 2006

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Staci Hemingway's homer in the seventh inning of the first game and Jackie Wong's RBI single in the seventh of the nightcap lifted the University of Utah softball team (25-12, 4-2 Mountain West) to a pair of conference wins over Colorado State at Ram Field this afternoon.

Hemingway scored the game-winning run in both games in racing Utah's winning streak to four straight games. Her one-out solo home run broke the 4-4 stalemate in the seventh inning in helping Utah bag the 5-4 win in game one with the Rams (22-14, 3-5 MWC). It was 4-4 in the seventh of second game as well when Wong hit a high chopper over the pitcher's head and into center field. The single up the middle allowed Hemingway to score and gave Utah the lead for good in the 7-4 win.

Karina Cannon got the win in both games. She threw nine innings between the two games and struck out seven in allowing only four walks. CSU tapped Cannon for 11 hits and four runs, only three of which were earned.

The Utes banged out 20 hits on the day, 11 in game one and nine in game two.

Utah takes Saturday off before returning to action on Sunday in Albuquerque, N.M. First pitch of the doubleheader with the New Mexico Lobos is set for noon (MDT).

Utah 5, Colorado State 4
The Utes and Rams exchanged runs in the first, second and fifth innings as the rivals took a 4-4 game into the final inning of play.

However, it was Staci Hemingway's homer in the last frame that lifted the Utes to victory. The one-out solo shot was Hemingway's second home run of the year.

Diana Phillips, Andrea Hoffman and Wong each led the Utes in belting six of Utah's 11 hits in the game. All three went 2-for-4 at the plate.

An RBI double by Devina Quintero in the first inning gave Utah a brief 1-0 lead as Colorado State answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. The Rams benefited from an RBI triple and a wild pitch in the bottom half of the first frame.

Utah knotted the game at 2-2 in the second when Phillips' RBI single to third scored Hoffman.

Both teams plated a pair of runs in the fifth as the 4-4 tie held until the seventh inning.

Meghan Dyer got the start in game one. She went five innings and struck out six in allowing three walks. But, CSU tallied six hits off of Dyer and scored four runs off of the starter. Only three of Dyer's runs were earned. Cannon came on in the sixth, with the score tied at 4-4, to pick up the win.

Utah 7, Colorado State 4
Utah broke another 4-4 tie in the seventh inning, this time scoring an insurmountable three runs in its final at bat.

Colorado State chalked up only one error in the second game but Utah made the Rams pay dearly for their miscue. Two of Utah first three batters in the seventh were out and Hemingway reached on CSU's lone error.

Meghan Crouse pushed Hemingway to third on a single up the middle. Hemingway would haunt the Rams when she crossed home to score the game-winner on Wong's bounding ball up the middle. The single also moved Crouse over to third.

The final two RBI of the inning came off the bat of Phillips who doubled to left field, scoring Crouse and Wong.

The Utes raced out a to 4-0 lead on the Rams in scoring three runs in the first and a run in the third.

Utah got the first inning started off with three straight singles. The third, from the bat of Jessica Shiery, scored Wong. Quintero tallied the second RBI on a sacrifice bunt while the third RBI of the inning came from Ivette Hernandez' double to center.

The Utes scored one run in the top of the third, only to see CSU tie it by scoring four in the bottom half of the frame.

The top three batters collected six of Utah's nine hits in game two. Wong, Phillips and Shiery all went 2-for-4 in the game. Phillips and Shiery each had two RBI while Wong scored two runs.

Cannon went the distance and got the win in game two as well. She fanned three and walked three in allowing nine CSU hits. Only three of CSU's four runs were earned.