TUCSON, Ariz. –
Julia Jimenez and
Ellessa Bonstrom both homered and combined to drive in five runs, helping to propel the No. 15 University of Utah softball team past the No. 5 Washington Huskies by a score of 8-4 on Friday evening in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals at Hillenbrand Stadium.
For the Utes, who are now 36-13, this locks up a spot in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game, which will be played at 8 p.m. MT on Sunday.
"It's been a little bit of a revenge tour so far this weekend," said head coach
Amy Hogue. "Two teams that beat us in series during the season were lined up first and our team wanted revenge.
"Mariah with the complete game was huge for us and [Julia] had an amazing day at the plate. We knew we needed insurance runs and Halle's pinch-hit broken-bat single started our biggest rally of the game. I loved Bonstrom's bomb today and am looking forward to her leading us in the championship game tomorrow night. This team came for that ring and they have earned the chance to go get it tomorrow."
Neither side could break the ice in the first two innings, but the Utes found life in the third, using three singles to load the bases with one out and
Aliya Belarde broke the scoreless tie by coming across on a wild pitch. When Jimenez then dropped a double into right, two more Utes scored to put Utah ahead, 3-0.
Jimemez added to her RBI total by blasting a solo homer in the fifth, but Washington proceeded to cobble together their first scoring threat in the bottom of the stanza, loading the bases with nobody out. Utah starter
Mariah Lopez made sure the lead didn't completely evaporate, however, inducing back-to-back fielder's choices followed by a flyout to hold on to a 4-2 edge.
That score held until the Utah offense went back to work in the seventh, which started with a
Halle Morris single and, two batters later, Bonstrom hit a two-run moonshot to dead center that doubled her team's lead. An RBI single courtesy of
Kendall Lundberg and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of
Abby Dayton later in the frame allowed the Utes to carry an 8-2 advantage into the final half-inning.
The Huskies refused to go quietly, starting their half of the seventh with a homer before loading the bases with nobody out, but Lopez used a pair of flyouts to bring Utah to the precipice of victory. A grounder to first provided the clinching putout that put the Utes one win away from a championship.
Up Next
Utah will now take on top-seeded UCLA on Saturday at 8 p.m. MT in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game.
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