Utah Tech University athletics were led by the baseball and softball teams who both picked up important wins over the University of Utah and Abilene Christian University respectively.
Baseball
Utah Tech dropped a game on the road March 23 to California Baptist University, 2-10.
Petey Soto Jr. had a two-out RBI single in the second inning that opened the game’s scoring. California Baptist took the lead for good in the third inning after scoring three runs. Utah Tech was held to seven hits and committed a costly four errors.
The Trailblazers returned home to host the University of Utah March 25, winning 12-8.
First basemen Aaron Perez got Utah Tech out to a fast start with RBI singles in both the first and second innings that gave Utah Tech a 2-0 lead.
Utah Tech extended their lead with five runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead. All five of those runs were scored with two out and were capped off by a three-run home run by Hunter Katschke. Katschke leads the team with six homers on the year.
The U of U mounted a rally in the seventh and eighth innings as they scored seven unanswered runs to make it a 9-8 game. Soto Jr. scored two more runs in the eighth inning with an RBI single before pitch hitter Finnegan Stewart brought Soto Jr. home with an RBI double to extend the Trailblazers lead.
The win brought the Trailblazers’ record to 15-13 and they will now travel to Smith’s Ballpark to play the U of U at their home field April 1.
Softball
Utah Tech traveled to play the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, losing 2-3. Junior Lakaiya-Braessia Kahahawai-Kekona had her third triple of the season, leading the team and scoring a run. Sophomore Maka Sonognini scored Utah Tech’s other run while also adding a stolen base and a single.
The Trailblazers stayed on the road as they traveled to play Abilene Christian University in a three-game series March 28-29. UT took the series 2-1 winning, 5-1 and 8-4 before dropping the final game 8-9.
In game one, the Trailblazers totaled eight hits and were led by a 3-3, two RBI effort from Rylie Haith. Pitcher Sauren Garton also earned her sixth win of the season as she held the Wildcats to just four hits and added three strikeouts.
In game two, Utah Tech’s offense had 15 hits as 10 different Trailblazers had hits. Senior Marisa Rubio went 3-4 with a double, her team-leading sixth of the season. On the mound, freshman Lexie Wilson threw her first complete game and held Abilene Christian to six hits over seven innings.
Utah Tech lost on a walk-off single to cap their three-game series against Abilene Christian. Both Gabi Giroux and Brooklyn Dowdle had two hits and scored two runs each.
Utah Tech came out of the series against Abilene Christian with a 14-21 record while being 5-7 in conference play. They will return home to host Tarleton State University April 4.
Women’s tennis
The Trailblazers traveled to Pocatello, Idaho, March 22 and split the weekend with a 4-3 win over Montana University and a 0-7 loss to Idaho State University.
In the match against Montana, sophomore Mariana Zurita won at the No. 1 spot, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Against Idaho State, Utah Tech had several opportunities to win matches but was not able to close them out. In the No. 3 singles spot, Maya Inouye took the first set 6-3 but fell 6-2 and 10-2 in the following sets.
“The team played hard today but just wasn’t able to close out on some opportunities,” head coach Eric Pelton said. “I’m proud of the girls and how hard they competed this weekend.”
The team then traveled to Phoenix to play Seattle University, losing 2-4. Both Inouye and Nutsa Tsintsadze were able to secure points for Utah Tech in the No. 5 and 4 singles spots respectively.
Utah Tech stayed in Phoenix to play Grand Canyon University March 29, losing 6-1. Inouye picked up her second singles win of the week, winning 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 5 singles spot.
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