SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Softball slammed a pair of home runs in the first inning and never looked back to seal the series against Stanford with a 13-0 victory.
Heather Bowen and
Hailey Hilburn connected off starter Maddy Dwyer to start the game and the Ute duo drove in a combined nine runs.
Miranda Viramontes notched her first Pac-12 win of the season allowing five hits in four innings of work before Hilburn pitched the final frame.
Bowen began the game with a three-run shot off Dwyer, her team leading fifth of the season. It came after a pair of four-pitch walks to
Julia Noskin and
Alyssa Barrera.
Kelly Martinez followed with a single before Hilburn cracked her third of the year for an early 5-0 lead.
After Bowen and
Alyssa Palacios walked to start the third, Hilburn smoked a RBI double to the right-center gap. With two in scoring position,
Katie Faulk grounded to first and Stanford got a force at the plate. The relay throw from the catcher back to first was errant and Hilburn scored the game's seventh run.
Utah's big inning was still to come, arriving in the fourth frame. Barrera singled and Castaneda walked before Bowen bashed a two-run double to left center. Martinez, Palacios and Hilburn connected on consecutive singles for another run, resulting in a Stanford pitching change. Free passes were issued to
Ryley Ball and
Abby Robertson before an error on an
Ally Dickman ground ball made the score, 13-0
The Utes have now won the last five series vs. the Cardinal and moved to 13-8 against them since joining the Pac-12.
Utah is back in action on Thursday at 6 p.m. when it hosts No. 4 UCLA. The whole series will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.