TEMPE, Ariz. –
Aliya Belarde blasted a fourth-inning grand slam and
Mariah Lopez became just the fourth Utah pitcher ever to reach 500 career strikeouts as the University of Utah softball team topped the Arizona State Sun Devils, 9-3, on Friday evening in Pac-12 Conference action at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
This triumph improves the Utes to 23-17 overall and 5-11 in the Pac-12, while ASU falls to 18-19 and 2-11.
"Today was such an interesting game," said coach
Amy Hogue. "We started flat and, honestly, the team seemed really off. They were on their heels and looked unsure about most everything, but then they flipped things in a hurry. The bottom of the lineup put something together and then Belarde had a chance to come up big and she busted the game open.
"Mariah got better as the game went and we just kept finding ways to plate runs. It is always nice when we can get our offense going in all parts of the lineup. TJ and Shonty and Chloe and Shelbi all found ways to give us a spark today."
The Sun Devils were the first team on the board, tallying an unearned run the opening stanza, and that lead held for three innings as ASU's Deborah Jones kept the Utes scoreless, but Utah's lineup came to life in the fourth.
The uprising that saw the Utes take their first lead of the night started with a two-out walk to
Shonty Passi and a single and hit batter followed to load the bases for Belarde. Utah's second baseman got ahead in the count, then crushed a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for a grand slam that staked the visitors to a 4-1 lead.
In the fifth, the Utes went back to work on offense and upped their lead to four courtesy of a
Julia Jimenez RBI triple. The next batter was
Taylor Jacobs, who plated Jimenez with a double to make the score 6-1 and another RBI double, this one coming from Passi increased Utah's cushion to six.
ASU did get a run back in their half of the fifth, but that was the only earned run they could manage against
Mariah Lopez. Utah's left-hander gave up only five hits in six innings and also collected five strikeouts. Lopez's final punchout of the night was also the 500th of her career, making her one of only four Utah hurlers to reach that number. The Arizona native pocketed her 14th win of the year, tying her for third in the conference.
Hits by Jacobs and Passi helped Utah put up a pair of unearned runs in the seventh before
Sarah Ladd entered the circle in the bottom of the frame to record the last three outs.
Up Next
Utah and Arizona State will collide again on Saturday, with the first scheduled to be thrown at 6 p.m. MT
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