USU Eastern Press Release
USU Eastern softball split with the Salt Lake Community College Bruins during a four-game series in Taylorsville on Saturday and Sunday.
After losing the first two games of the series on Saturday by scores of 7-1 and 12-4, the Eagles finally broke through to pick up two wins on Sunday.
Utah State Eastern softball coach Brittani Richins said that she was proud of the way her team played against a nationally ranked SLCC team.
“The girls were very excited and it awesome from a coach’s stand point to see them believe that they can beat a team that has such an established program,” said Richins.
Freshman pitcher Carlye Levy led the Eagles in the circle and pitched 11 shutout innings between both games. Levy pitched 12 innings on Sunday with a 2.33 ERA and had four strikeouts. In game three, Levy pitched a complete game and only allowed three hits to help give the Eagles the 3-0 win.
“She is a huge asset to our team and it will be great to have as a leader next year for our program,” said Richins.
In game four of the series, the Eagles had a 9-5 lead going in to the bottom half of the final inning. The Eagles gave up three more runs but Richins said it was her team’s determination that made the difference in getting the last out and the win.
The Eagles won game four by a score of 9-8 to cement the day as important step in the right direction for the new program.
“Beating SLCC is a huge accomplishment for our program. I am so proud of these girls for believing that they are as good as we as coaches has been telling them all year,” said Richins.
At the plate, Levy along with Ashley Sweat and Cassidy Howe each led the Eagles with five hits each and batted over .385 during the series. Sweat, Madison Blauer and Shelby Shurtliff each chipped in on offense with three RBIs and at least one double against SLCC.
Sunday’s wins against SLCC were the first to happen since the program was started last season.
The Eagles now have a 17-21 record overall and a 12-16 conference record. Their current win total has tripled last year’s win total.
Softball will now finish their final three weeks of the season at home starting with a four-game series against the College of Southern Nevada. They split with CSN last month in Henderson. First pitch for the series against CSN is scheduled for Friday at the USU Eastern softball field at 1 p.m.
All four games will be on broadcasted live on the USU Eastern Athletics YouTube channel at youtube.com/usueastern or at koalitv.com.