Utes a hit in UVSC win

After going hitless in Utah's Mountain West Conference softball opener last weekend against UNLV and San Diego State, Ivette Hernandez was ready to unload her frustration on Utah Valley State College.

Hernandez let loose on UVSC pitchers Ericka Jones and Kristy Miller by going 3-for-3 with two home runs and a double in an 8-5 win over the Wolverines.

"It was a relief actually," Hernandez said. "I was very frustrated with my performance. I'm glad I took it and used it for a positive instead of a negative."

Hitting the ball is an area the entire Ute team has had success in. In Utah's 10 wins, now 11, they are hitting .310 from the plate.

"We have such great hitting," Utah coach Mona Stevens said.

That was evident on Tuesday, as seven different batters reached base on hits.

It did, however, take Utah three innings to find its groove at the plate.

UVSC led 1-0 through three innings thanks to a home run by Shyanne Durrant.

But after managing only two hits in three innings, Utah broke loose in the fourth by scoring five runs on four hits.

Lynsey Wall opened the inning with a walk. A batter later Glennis Donnelly reached base on a double, allowing Melissa Stahnke to bring home the two on a single.

Devina Quintero then platted Stahnke on a single to right field to give the Utes a 4-1 lead. With two outs, Hernandez drilled her first homerun of the game over the left field fence.

"I knew it would take us one time through the batting order to start seeing that pitching," Stevens said. "It is a lot slower than what we have normally been facing. The kids did a great job of adjusting and starting to hit. I knew that they would."

Once Utah got the lead, ace pitcher Brianna Gourdin did a good job of keeping UVSC off balance at the plate. Gourdin, last week's MWC pitcher of the week, upped her record to 9-3 by pitching six innings, allowing only five hits and striking out six batters.

"She was pitcher of the week in the conference last week and she showed why," Stevens said.

A two-run homer by Kate Nygaard and a solo shot by Hernandez in the sixth upped Utah's lead to 8-1.

UVSC scored four runs in the seventh off freshman pitcher Samantha Schroeder and had its first five batters reach base on four singles and a double.

With no outs, Gourdin was reinserted back into the game and quickly retired the side.

Utah has one more non-conference game on Friday against Southern Utah before resuming league play on Saturday at BYU.

"We've had such a heavy duty preseason, and these kids have had enough losses come at them that now every game is important," Stevens said. "Every game shows them that they can consistently win. That's what they need to do, consistently win. That's why this game is important. It does a lot for their confidence to keep them going."