PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Jess Lynch shut down Ohio State in her first collegiate start until an unfortunate sixth inning and Utah fell to the Buckeyes, 2-0. The Utes also dropped the opener this morning at the Mary Nutter Classic, 10-0, to Northwestern.

Julia Noskin continued her solid play at the plate and sits 6-for-14 on the weekend with four stolen bases. Despite that individual performance, the Utes mustered just seven singles over two contests today.

They are back in action one last time at the Mary Nutter Classic tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT against Duke

Ohio State 2, Utah 0
In an extremely tense affair, Lynch and her defense kept the Utes in the contest. Utah turned three double plays in support of the freshman, who was just one above the minimum through four innings. It also had runners in scoring position every inning but the fourth, but could not collect the key hit.

In the second, Hailey Hilburn singled and Katie Faulk was plunked but Morgan Ray sat down a Utah batter to keep it scoreless.

Next inning, Noskin reached to start the frame, stole second and went to third on Ellessa Bonstrom's single. A grounder to first was fielded well by the Buckeyes and the throw home beat Noskin. Alyssa Barrera smoked a line drive that was caught by the third baseman who was able to double up a Utah runner.

The best chance to score arrived in the fifth. Ally Dickman reached via fielder's choice, Noskin singled and Bonstrom walked to load the bases with just one out. However, Ray buckled down one more time and struck out a pair of Utes as the game remained without a run.

Utah held its nerve when Ohio State put runners on the corners to start the bottom of the inning. Lynch induced three ground balls, all hit to BreOnna Castaneda at shortstop, and Utah escaped unscathed.

Unfortunately, the resolve cracked with two outs in the sixth. Lilly Piper doubled and Emily Clark's bloop found grass to score the first run of the game. Kaitlyn Coffman followed with a single that plated another for a 2-0 lead

The Utes were not out of it though and got the lead run to the plate in the seventh after Bonstrom singled and Abby Robertson walked, but Ray was able to induce a pop up that ended the contest.

Northwestern 10, Utah 0
The 'Cats jumped on the Utes early and often in winning the opener this morning.

Rachel Lewis started the game with a walk, stole second, took third on a throwing error and scored on a Jordyn Rudd grounder. A single and wild pitch was followed by a RBI double from Morgan Newport and after another walk, Lily Novak cracked a two-run double to push the lead to 4-0.

Chantelle Ladner, making her first collegiate start, settled in and kept Northwestern off the board for the next three innings but was unable to hold on in the fifth. Lewis singled again and after an error, Rudd slapped a two-run double. Nikki Cuchran singled for the game's seventh run and Maeve Nelson walked it off a few batters later with a three-run homer.