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Softball Earns 7-4 Win at Dixie State

by Utah Athletics
Apr 6, 2021

ST. GEORGE, UTAH – Haley Denning went 3-4 with a triple and two runs scored to help lead Utah to a 7-4 non-conference win over Dixie State Tuesday at Karl Brooks Field. Starter Sydney Sandez (7-3) earned the win, pitching 5-2/3 innings, while Mariah Lopez earned the save by retiring all four batters she faced after entering the game with a 5-4 lead and two runners on in the sixth.
 
Utah improves to 13-15 with the win, while Dixie State falls to 15-17.
 
Denning led off the game with a triple and scored on a bouncer to second base by Julia Noskin to give the Utes a 1-0 lead. Noskin later scored from third while Ellessa Bonstrom was involved in a run-down between first and second base, but the Utes could not do more damage, leaving the bases loaded.
 
After a Dixie State run in the bottom of the second, Utah added one more in the third when Alyssa Barrera doubled and then scored from third during a run-down. In the fourth inning, Aliya Belarde singled home Alyssa Palacios and Denning to extend Utah's lead to 5-2.
 
Dixie State chipped away at the lead, scoring one run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to pull within one at 5-4, but pinch-hitter Elicia Espinosa came through with a two-out single to right in the top of the seventh to score Barrera and Belarde for the eventual final score of 7-4.
 

STANDOUT STAT
Today's three-hit effort was Denning's team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season and her fifth with three hits.

NOTABLE

  • Alyssa Barrera doubled and scored twice today, and is now tied for the team lead with four doubles on the season.
  • Freshman Aliya Belarde recorded the first two RBI of her career in the fourth inning
  • Denning's triple to lead off the game was her third of the year to take over the team lead (Barrera, 2).
  • Sandez increased her team-best win total to 7, and Lopez earned her first career save.

ON DECK
Utah and Dixie State will square off again at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Karl Brooks Field in St. George, followed by a neutral-site matchup with Southern Utah. Both games will be livestreamed.

 

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