With one out in the sixth inning, Palauni started a two-run rally when she knocked her second home run of the season, a solo shot, over the left-field fence to cut Utah's deficit to 6-3. The Taylorsville, Utah, native has driven in five runs this year. Utah now leads the MWC with 54 home runs this year.

The Utes conclude their regular-season road schedule against UNLV today at Eller Media Stadium.

UTAH STATE

SOFTBALL: The Aggies were blanked twice by Fresno State, 10-0 and 9-0, both in five-inning contests Friday afternoon at LeRee and LeGrand Johnson Field in Logan.

The Aggies fall to 10-37 overall and 3-17 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Bulldogs improve to 33-18 overall and 15-5 in WAC action, continuing pressure on first-place Nevada for contention for the WAC regular-season title and the number one seed for next week's WAC Tournament.

USU is now 11-21 all-time vs. Fresno State.

The Aggies close out the regular season against Fresno State today. The final game of the series is Utah State senior day and the regular-season finale. With the two losses Friday, Utah State has been eliminated from advancing to the WAC Tournament which will be held at Fresno State on May 6-9.

TRACK AND FIELD: Utah State men's and women's teams each tabbed six event titles at the BYU Invitational Tri-Meet on Friday. The Aggies had a total of 12 first-places and 18 new personal records were set at BYU's Robison Track in Provo.

Collecting first-place finishes for the men was freshman Bryce Hall (shot put), sophomore Clint Silcock (high jump), junior Dylan Nielson (110h), junior Dusty Ott (javelin), senior Blake Hadfield (long jump) and senior Nick Karren (400-meter hurdles).

The first-place finishes on the women's side included freshman Spela Hus (shot put), junior Ashlee Cannon (100h), senior Tara Picket (high jump) senior Krista Larson (hammer) and both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

"I'm extremely pleased with performances today. Our athletes are coming together at just the right time in final preparations for the conference meet," veteran USU head coach Gregg Gensel said. "We added a few more qualifying marks to the NCAA regional qualifying list. We're taking the right steps and peaking at just the right time for the conference meet."

Friday was USU's final action before the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships scheduled May 13-16, hosted by USU at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium.