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STANFORD, Calif. - No. 15 Utah Softball smashed Stanford in the second game of its Pac-12 series, 11-4.
Heather Bowen lashed a grand slam and drove in six runs while
Hannah Flippen set a new Utah mark for runs scored during a career.
Bowen set the tone from the onset as the first three batters reached (walk, walk, single) and she crushed her first home run since conference play began. It was Utah's third grand slam of the season (Martinez, Flippen)
With two outs in the second, Flippen smashed the first pitch she saw for a triple to center. She set the record when
Anissa Urtez delivered a RBI single to left. Flippen wound up scoring three times today and picking up three hits. She broke Sandy Rhea's career runs mark of 177, which had stood for almost two decades.Â
In the third, Utah continued its onslaught as
Bridget Castro singled and scored on an
Ally Dickman double.
BreOnna Castaneda collected her second hit of the day and
Kelly Martinez tapped a ball in front of the plate. With Dickman coming home, Stanford's pitcher flipped the ball to the catcher who dropped it, allowing another run to score.
After a pair of walks and a force out, Urtez struck again, singling up the middle for an 8-0 lead. Urtez finished the day with three hits and two driven in.
Stanford started to get things going in the fourth, notching six hits, all singles, and capitalizing on an error to plate four runs off
Miranda Viramontes. However, the junior could do no wrong the rest of the game, improving to 8-1. She also struck out four batters during the contest before
Hailey Hilburn pitched a scoreless seventh to close it out.Â
Utah closed the scoring during its half of the seventh with
Bella Secaira starting things by singling to right. An
Alyssa Barrera single followed a sacrifice bunt by
Delilah Pacheco and Flippen delivered a RBI single. Urtez legged out an infield grounder and then Bowen capped her day by driving in Flippen and Barrera for a second time.
The two teams meet again tomorrow in the series finale at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT. You can watch the game live on the Pac-12 Networks or stream it via pac-12.com/live
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