Utah Softball Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader at Kajikawa Classic

Friday, February 8

Tempe, Ariz.

11:00 AM

University of Utah

1-0

Western Michigan

0-1

Western Michigan

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

Utah Softball Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader at Kajikawa Classic

2/8/2019 5:05 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Utah 8 WMU 2 MU 9 Utah 0

TEMPE, Ariz. – Utah Softball split its season-opening doubleheader this afternoon at the Kajikawa Classic. The Utes started the day with an 8-2 win over Western Michigan before falling to Missouri, 9-0.

Utah plays a pair of games tomorrow at Arizona State's Farrington Stadium. The Utes will play CSUN at 12 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network and Kansas at 5 p.m. on Pac-12 Mountain

Utah 8, Western Michigan 2

Ally Dickman's three-run homer highlighted a five-run fifth as the Utes opened the 2019 season with an easy win over the Broncos.

Julia Noskin collected three hits and scored a pair of runs while Hailey Hilburn started in the circle and went four innings for the win.

Utah jumped on WMU early after Hilburn worked out of an early jam. Noskin singled and Ellessa Bonstrom reached after an error. Alyssa Barrera grounded to second and on the force play, Noskin alertly noticed an opening and came home with the game's first run.

With two outs, BreOnna Castaneda and Abby Robertson delivered consecutive run-scoring singles for a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.

Hilburn eased out of a jam in the second and did not run into trouble again until the fifth when the first two runners reached. She was lifted for Sydney Sandez and a wild pitch got the Broncos on the board. Despite that blemish, Hilburn notched the 17^th win of her career and Sandez threw two shutout frames in her collegiate debut.

Utah quickly made up for it in the bottom half of the inning. Noskin singled, a pitch hit Bonstrom and Barrera bunted them both into scoring position. Hilburn smacked a grounder to the left side and Noskin beat the throw home. A collision at the plate saw the ball roll away and Bonstrom came in for a 5-1 edge.

After a pitch hit Castaneda, Dickman dialed long distance and blew the game open. It was the fourth home run of her career.

Missouri 9, Utah 0 (6 inn.)
The Utes struggled in the second game as a costly error helped Missouri jump out to a commanding lead.

Callie Martin's two-out double got things started for the Tigers as they took a 1-0 lead. In the third, Mizzou worked a pair of two-out walks before a dropped fly ball brought in both runners. Kimberly Wert followed with a bomb to center for a 5-0 advantage.

The Tigers continued to club away at the Utes with Regan Nash adding a RBI triple in the fourth, Kolby Romaine smacking a solo homer in the fifth, Geana Torres popping a pinch-hit RBI double in the sixth and Nash capping the game with another run-scoring single.

Senior Madi Norman held the Utes to just two hits as newcomers Sydney Sandez and Chantelle Ladner bore the brunt of the damage. In her first collegiate start, Sandez allowed just three earned runs in five innings, but was saddled with the loss.