Utah Softball Starts Strong at Mary Nutter Classic

Friday, February 24

Cathedral City, Calif.

7:00 PM

University of Utah

9-0

Tennessee

13-1

Utah

Tennessee

Utah Softball Starts Strong at Mary Nutter Classic

2/25/2017 1:30 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Utes earn shutouts over No. 13 Tennessee and Houston

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - No. 17 Utah Softball started the Mary Nutter Classic with a pair of impressive wins over No. 13 Tennessee and Houston on Friday evening.

Miranda Viramontes twirled a complete-game shutout in the opener and the Utes got some timely hitting against the Volunteers for a 3-0 victory.

Katie Donovan allowed just one hit in five innings and Alyssa Barrera had four hits, three runs and two runs batted in during an 8-0 conquest of the Cougars.

No. 17 Utah 3, No. 13 Tennessee 0

The Utes attacked from the onset as Hannah Flippen doubled to start the game. After a pair of hard-hit balls to the outfield, she took third on a wild pitch. Heather Bowen came through with a single to left for a 1-0 lead.

Delilah Pacheco started the third with a single, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and then over to third on a grounder back to the circle. Once more, the Utes delivered with two outs as Anissa Urtez smoked a single to center.

Bridget Castro started the fifth with a walk and was lifted for pinch runner Ryley Ball. She moved up on a groundout and Barrera singled with two outs for a 3-0 edge.

Meanwhile. Viramontes had faced the minimum through five thanks to Kelly Martinez gunning down a pair of UT baserunners and Urtez deftly turning a double play.

The junior hurler then escaped her first real trouble in the sixth on a comebacker and struck out a pair of batters in the seventh to give her five for the contest.

This was Utah's first win against a Top-25 team at a neutral site since beating this very same Volunteer club at the 2015 Mary Nutter Classic.

No. 17 Utah 8, Houston 0 (6 inn.)

The Utes controlled the contest from start to finish with Donovan and Hailey Hilburn limiting Houston to one hit.

Utah was able to manufacture a lot of its runs thanks to some sloppy play by the Cougars. A throwing error in the first allowed Barrera to score and stake Utah to a 1-0 lead.

The freshman continued her onslaught with a two-run single in the third that scored Pacheco and Kay Kay Fronda.

In the fifth, a hard-hit ball to short was misplayed, allowing Pacheco and Barrera to scamper home. Bowen also hit a grounder to short to score Flippen before Urtez scored via a wild pitch and put the Utes up 7-0.

Flippen closed the scoring by knocking a 2-0 pitch to right and driving home Barrera for her 12^th RBI of the year.