Utah Softball Drops Series Opener to Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite a first-inning rally that including RBI hits off the bats of Sophie Jacquez and Taylor Jacobs, the University of Utah softball team suffered a 4-3 defeat on Friday night at the hands of the Oregon State Beavers in Pac-12 Conference action at Kelly Field in Corvallis, Ore.
 
Utah's record for the season now stands at 29-18 and they are 7-12 in the Pac-12, while Oregon State is 19-25 and 7-12.
 
The Utes started the contest by scoring in the first inning for the third straight game and they set up their opportunity by loading the bases on two hits and a walk. Jacquez then broke the ice by rapping a single through the middle to bring in two. Two batters later, Jacobs stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter and also sent an RBI single into center for a 3-0 advantage.
 
Unfortunately for the visitors, the Beavers put together an opening-inning uprising of their own, which started with a triple and an Eliana Gottlieb RBI single. After a walk, Maddy Clark put the home team ahead with a three-run homer to left-center.
 
Those four first-inning tallies are all OSU would get off Mariah Lopez, who spent the next five innings silencing the Beavers' bats. She retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth, logging a pair of strikeouts in the latter two frames. Lopez permitted only two hits over her final five stanzas and didn't let a single runner reach third base.
 
Utah's efforts to tie the score proved unsuccessful, however, and the Beavers hung on for a narrow victory.
 
Up Next
Utah and Oregon State will meet for the middle game of their three-game set on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT.
 
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