Bowen, Utes Top Beavers 7-5 on Saturday

Saturday, April 11

Corvallis, Ore. (OSU Softball Complex)

1:00 PM

University of Utah

Oregon State

4/11/2015 12:00 AM | Softball

April 11, 2015

Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Freshman Heather Bowen went 3-for-3 with a home run and a pair of runs batted in to help guide the Utah Utes to a 7-5 win over the Oregon State Beavers in Pac-12 play Saturday afternoon at OSU Softball Complex.

The Utes moved to 28-14 overall and 6-8 in the Pac-12 with the win, while also securing its third-straight conference series victory. Meanwhile, the Beavers, who haven now dropped four of its previous five games to the Utes, fell to 24-16 overall and 4-10 in league play.

Miranda Viramontes (W, 11-6) picked up the win for the Utes in the circle, giving up just one run on two hits and striking out a pair of OSU batters in four full innings of work.

Utah managed to get a pair of runners home in the top half of the second inning when Kristen Stewart opened the frame with a single and later scored on Bowen's infield single. Bowen would later score on a RBI single from Maddy Woodard to give the Utes a 2-0 lead.

OSU got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, scoring its first run of the series when Lovie Lopez walked and later scored on a RBI single from Kori Nishitomi to make it 2-1, still in favor of the Utes.

Bowen cranked her second home run of the series in the top of the fourth inning with a solo jack that would push Utah's lead up to 3-1.

OSU would later cut into that lead when Hannah Akamine doubled home Nicole Hampton in the bottom of the sixth inning, making it a 3-2 game, but the Utes countered in the top of the seventh with RBI singles from Castro, Stewart and Bowen. Marissa Mendenhall reached base on a fielding error in the inning and Castro came home to score on the play to give the Utes a 7-2 lead.

The Beavers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Katie Donovan (S, 5), who entered the game in the fifth inning, secured the win for the Utes as she got Sammi Noland to ground out to end both the threat and the game.

Donovan earned her fifth save of the season, becoming the first Utah player to record five saves in a season since Carolyn Gran posted a school-record six saves back in 1986.

Bowen is now 4-for-6 in the series, batting .667 with a pair of home runs, three runs scored and four RBI. She has collected 10 total bases and has a staggering 1.667 slugging percentage over the first two games.

Stewart finished the game 2-for-3 at the dish with one RBI and a pair of runs scored.

OSU's Beverly Miller (L, 15-11) was saddled with the loss on Saturday, giving up all seven runs on 10 hits in her second-straight complete-game loss to the Utes.

The Utes will look to sweep the series from the Beavers as both teams are back in action on Sunday for the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. MT.