Utah softball shuts down No. 19 Arizona to even series

Rylie Holder got the start. She went 2.1 innings and took the loss. She allowed nine hits that Utah turned into three runs.

Holder had problems from the start, although she dodged the bullet for the first couple of innings. She allowed three hits in the first inning, including a one-out triple. Utah got the runner in from third, but that’s all they got out of the situation.

Arizona’s freshman pitcher gave up two singles to lead off the second inning, but she buckled down and dismissed the next three hitters. No damage. Utah’s lead was still just 1-0.

A one-out solo shot in the third changed that, and it didn’t stop there. Three straight singles brought in a third run for the Utes. That ended Holder’s day.

Sophomore Jenae Berry came in with two on, two in, and just one out. Utah moved the runners with a bunt, but now Berry had two outs. She loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch. A strikeout got Arizona back into the dugout.

Berry did well in the fourth and fifth innings. She allowed one hit in each inning, but Utah posed no real offensive threat. Things changed in the sixth.

Utah used a single, a passed ball, and a sacrifice bunt to move a runner to third base. Then, small ball gave way to the Utes’ second home run of the day. The two-run shot off the bat of Danika Wilson ended the game for all intents and purposes.

Berry went 3.2 innings. She gave up two earned runs on four hits and a hit batter.

Arizona finally got on the board in the top of the seventh, but the Wildcats didn’t really threaten the Utah lead. It was more of the same.

The table-setters at the top of the order didn’t do much table-setting throughout the game. Both Regan Shockey and Sereniti Trice went 0-for-3.

Neither Stewart nor Tele Jennings had anyone on base to drive in for most of the game. Stewart got around that by driving in herself, but the hole was already too deep by then. Both the 3-hole and cleanup hitters had 1-for-3 days at the plate.

Those later in the lineup had similar issues. Emma Kavanagh and Kiki Escobar had 0-fer days at the plate. Grace Jenkins went 0-for-2 with a walk.

The two teams will vie for the series win on Sunday morning. The final day of the regular season will have postseason implications across the conference. If Arizona wins, it will be the second seed in the Big 12 Tournament. If the Wildcats lose, they need Kansas to defeat OSU again or they will drop behind the Cowgirls.