CLEARWATER, Fla. – It was another difficult day for Utah Softball at the SPC Elite Invitational as it suffered a pair of losses. The Utes lost to No. 23 Ohio State, 10-2, and No. 6 Tennessee, 10-1.
The Utes have one final game tomorrow afternoon against Hofstra at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed via ESPN3 and can be seen on the ESPN App
No. 23 Ohio State 10, Utah 2
Utah looked like it would take an early lead when
Alyssa Barrera and
Hailey Hilburn singled with two outs in the first but Lauren Rice got a strikeout to end the threat.
The Buckeyes struck quickly when Emily Clark belted her third homer of the season, a three-run shot. Niki Carver would follow with a RBI single for a 4-0 lead.
The scoring continued in the second with Bri Betschel singling home a runner and then a pair of wild pitches tacked on two more, putting the Utes in a 7-0 hole.
Betschel tacked on another run with a single in the third before Utah broke through.
Abby Robertson and
BreOnna Castaneda reached base before
Alyssa Palacios came through with a RBI single
After Carver's home run made the score 10-1, Utah got another run in the fifth.
Hailey Hilburn slapped a single that scored
Ellessa Bonstrom for the final score.
No. 6 Tennessee 10, Utah 1
In front of about 30 friends and family members,
Claire Feldman made her first start of the season. Unfortunately, the No. 6 Lady Vols were angry after suffering their first loss of the year and responded with a big victory.
Chelsea Seggern doubled to center and Ashley Morgan singled her home for an early 2-0 UT lead. Amanda Ayala laced a two-run single in the second before Seggern added a sacrifice fly and Morgan tacked on a RBI double for a 6-0 edge.
Utah got its first run when
Jordyn Gasper singled and scored on
Ellessa Bonstrom's first extra base hit of the season, a RBI double.
UT got a pair of runs in the fourth on an Ayala double and Utah throwing error. Then in the fifth, Gasper singled for a second time and
Alyssa Palacios reached before a pair of ground balls ended the Utah threat.
Morgan continued her strong night at the plate for Tennessee with a RBI single in the sixth and Haley Bearden added a RBI double.
Utah had a chance to extend the game when it loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning as
Alyssa Barrera and
Hailey Hilburn walked before Abby
Robertson walked. However, the Lady Vols made a pitching change that resulted in a pair of strikeouts and a ground ball to end the game.
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