Utah Softball Swept at South Florida

Wednesday, March 9

Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)

5:00 PM

University of Utah

12-6

USF

13-9

Utah

USF

3/9/2016 12:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

March 9, 2016

Box Score

TAMPA - Utah Softball dropped both ends of a doubleheader this evening at South Florida, 6-1 and 9-1. Delilah Pacheco extended her hitting streak to 13 games while in the circle, Katie Donovan and Hailey Hilburn each set season-high marks.

Game 1: USF 6, Utah 1
Despite matching her season high with seven strikeouts, Katie Donovan and the Utes were defeated in the opener, 6-1. Freshman Ally Dickman had two of Utah's six hits in the contest but the team went 1-for-15 with runners on base.

Hannah Flippen started the game with a single down the left-field line. After moving to third on groundouts by Delilah Pacheco and Anissa Urtez, Kristen Stewart blooped a ball to first base that was misplayed, allowing the Utes to pull in front, 1-0. Utah had been 12-0 this season when scoring first.

The Bulls responded during their first at-bat, tying the game with a RBI single to left and then taking the lead on a bases-loaded walk. The sacks remained packed with no one out but Donovan got a pair of strikeouts and a popup back to the mound to keep the deficit at one run.

In the second, Dickman led off with a hit up the middle. She moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Bridget Castro but was left stranded after a pop up and groundout.

USF added a run in the third when Mia Fung hit her fifth homer of the year for a 3-1 lead. The Bulls tacked on another tally in the fifth with a two-out run-scoring double to the right-center gap and would add a pair in the sixth on a single to center and ensuing error.

The Utes loaded the bases in the seventh, making things interesting for the home side with two outs. However, a strikeout ended the contest quietly.

Game 2: USF 9, Utah 1 (6 Inn.)
Hailey Hilburn went a personal best 5 and 1/3 innings but ran into trouble late as Utah was defeated by the Bulls in the nightcap, 9-1

USF opened the game with a two-run homer off the bat of catcher Lee Ann Spivey. She would add a RBI single in the third for a 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Utah bats continued to struggle.

In the second, Kay Kay Fronda reached on fielder's choice and stole second but was stranded after a Utah groundout.

In the third, Hannah Flippen singled to keep the inning alive. The junior stole second and Delilah Pacheco reached via the walk. However, the Utah could not capitalize.

The momentum looked like it would shift in the sixth after Shelby Pacheco nabbed a base runner to close the bottom of the fifth. Flippen and Delilah Pacheco each reached on infield singles to start the inning. With one out, Kristen Stewart slapped a grounder to second that was dropped on the transfer. However, believing she was out, Pacheco left second base and got involved in a run-down. This allowed Flippen to scamper home with Utah's only run as USF got out of the inning.

USF would leave no doubt in the sixth, scoring six times to end the contest.

Utah has a day off before taking on host Indiana State and UCF on Thursday. The Utes take on the Sycamores at 10 a.m. ET before playing the host Golden Knights at 2:30 p.m. ET