Utah State campus briefs

SOFTBALL: Senior shortstop Kelley Kaneshiro blasted her 24th career home run to tie the Utah State home run record in leading the Aggies to their first win of the season with a 6-4 victory over North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at the UCLA Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif.

In Saturday's earlier game, USU was topped by San Diego State, 10-1, in five innings.

The Aggies are now 1-3 in their opening weekend of the 2011 season and will wrap up action at the tournament today in a rematch with SDSU at 12:30 p.m. (MT).

With the win against NDSU, the Aggies are now 2-2 all-time against the Bison, while the loss against SDSU slid USU to 3-7 overall against the Aztecs.

Kaneshiro's second home run of the season gives her 24 for her career, matching Sandy Taylor (1997-2000) atop the Aggies' all-time home run list.

After a scoreless first frame, Kaneshiro blasted a solo shot to left-center to lead off the USU second, putting the Aggies on the board first. Freshman right fielder Krista Bava later laced a single up the middle to plate fellow freshman Brandy Karl, who pinch-ran for junior first baseman Ashley Ventura, who had reached on a walk.

NDSU scored one on the second and two more in the third to take a 3-2 lead. Ventura led off the Aggies' fourth with another walk and moved to second on a sac bunt by junior third baseman Tatem Day. Bava plated Ventura with an RBI single to left to tie the score at 3-3. The tie was short-lived, as NDSU scored its fourth run of the game in the fourth inning for a 4-3 lead.

USU hung a run on the board in the fifth as Kaneshiro started the rally with a single to right and advanced all the way to third on an error. Ventura drove her in with a sac fly to center to tie the score at 4-all in the top of the fifth. After a scoreless bottom of the inning for the Bison, Day led off the Aggies' sixth with a single up the middle. Day was out at second on a fielder's choice by Bava, but freshman second baseman Kassy Uchida singled to right and senior center fielder Joreigh Landers belted a two-run double to center to plate both Bava and Uchida and put the Aggies ahead, 6-4.

Sophomore pitcher Mandy Harmon completed her shutout by blanking the Bison in the sixth and seventh to seal her first win of the season, improving to 1-2 on the year. Harmon struck out five while yielding eight hits in allowing two earned runs in her complete game outing.

Day was 3-for-3 in the game with one RBI, while Bava was 2-for-3 and Landers and Kaneshiro were 2-for-4 each.