Utes Open Season With Split

Friday, February 6

St. George, Utah

1:00 PM

University of Utah

San Jose State

2/6/2009 12:00 AM | Softball

Feb. 6, 2009

Box Score

ST. GEORGE, Utah -The University of Utah softball team opened its season with a 1-1 record in the first day of the Red Desert Classic, defeating San Jose State, 6-5, and losing to Loyola Marymount, 11-5.

"We hit the ball well all day today," Utah head coach Amy Hogue said. "I was happy with our aggressiveness at the plate and the adjustments we made. Most importantly, I was happy with our continuing push to win all day. There were a few times where things didn't go our way, but I was proud of how we continued to play hard."

Utah 6, San Jose State 5

Ashley Smuda started her second season with the Utes by throwing a complete game against San Jose State, allowing five runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. Smuda now owns a 19-13 career record at Utah.

Senior first baseman Staci Hemingway went 2-for-2 while driving in a pair of runs. In her first start at designated player for the Utes, Brooke Olson went 2-for-3 against SJSU.

Down 2-0 after the Spartans led off the game with a home run by Sarah Taylor, Hemingway helped the Utes fight back in the second inning by driving in senior starting catcher Andrea Hoffman for Utah's first score of the season to cut its margin to 2-1.

Against the Spartans, the offensive highlight came in the third inning when Utah broke through with its bats to score four runs. Eight Utes came to the plate and the scoring started when freshman left fielder Hannah Clements reached on a single then Kara Foster got on after an error. Both Clements and Foster scored after Hoffman earned two RBI with a clutch single. Hoffman then stole second and was driven in by senior shortstop Sharee Fonoti, then Fonoti crossed the plate after a double by Hemingway.

San Jose State responded with two runs in the top half of the fifth inning to cut the Utes' lead to 5-4, but freshman third baseman Whitney Holm's first career home run in the bottom half of the fifth inning gave the Utes the edge for good. Brittany McConnell hit a home run for San Jose State in the top of the sixth inning to set the final tally at 6-5.

Loyola Marymount 11, Utah 5

The tables were turned for the Utes in the second game. This time, Utah jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Loyola Marymount with a pair of Utes crossing the plate in the first inning. Clements led the game off by reaching on an error before Foster drove her in with her first home run of the season .

Loyola Marymount rallied in the second inning, scoring five runs on three hits, including a grand slam from Amy Charpentier.

However, the Utes came back with a runs by Angie Boardman in the third inning and Foster's second two-run home run of the day in the fifth to cut their deficit to 7-5 after the top of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, LMU came back with more runs in the bottom half of the frame after back-to-back home runs by Darcy Pagnini (two runs) and Chelsi Tysdal (one run) to ultimately put the game out of reach for the Utes.

Foster now has hit 37 career home runs during her Utah career and is now tied with Cyndee Bennett (1994-97) for second in school history.

J.J. Hartung rounded out the scoring for Loyola Marymount after reaching on a single to lead off the bottom half of the sixth inning.

The Utes return to action at the Classic tomorrow at 4 p.m., against Utah State.