Aggies Swept by Wolverines

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The Aggie softball team hit the went to Orem Tuesday afternoon and suffered two tough losses to the UVU Wolverines, 3-1, 13-4.

"I don't want to put a bad spin on it," head coach Carissa Millsap-Kalaba said, "but we lost both games. I don't know what to say about it other than we lost and it's unfortunate, and it happens. It's part of the game."

The first game seemed to be going the Aggies' way early on. USU's lead-off batter, Rachel Evans, reached first base on an error by the UVU shortstop and scored an unearned run later in the inning when Kelley Kaneshiro doubled into center field. USU could gather no more offensive luck. UVU came right back in the bottom of the first and drove in two earned runs of its own to take a lead it never relinquished.

USU pitcher Kate Greenough was able to recover. She held the Wolverines scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Millsap-Kalaba was very complimentary of her senior pitcher from Portland, Ore.

"Kate did really well," Millsap-Kalaba said. "She had to make some adjustments because there was a pretty strong headwind and that was affecting the break on her ball. It was blowing with her, and having that wind with you, you lose most of your spin. She made the adjustments she needed to and was really good the rest of the game."

Greenough ended the first of the two games with five hits, three runs – two of which were earned – three walks and six strikeouts. Her record is now 5-7 on the season. Despite the loss, Greenough's performance was impressive when coupled with the weather conditions in Orem. While Logan residents were dealing with a fierce and annoying wind, as well as sporadic bursts of pollution-saturated rain, the Lady Ags were facing a storm of their own. Millsap-Kalaba was not about to excuse her team for its performance.

"The weather affects it for both teams," she said. "But there was a really thick fog throughout the whole area. You could look right at the sun and it didn't bother you at all. There was wind, constant wind, the entire game blowing from behind the pitcher. It was pretty bad."

If the first game was rough for the Ags, then the second was downright torturous. Defensive woes plagued Utah State for the entire game, and the Aggie bats weren't there to compensate.

Freshman Mandy Harmon of Las Vegas took the mound to start things off and struggled. In the first inning, UVU advanced one on a walk and a second on a blown fielder's choice play. UVU's Megan Gardner then sent the ball sailing over the fence, bringing in three runs. Things didn't improve for Harmon. By the time the first inning was over, UVU had homered a second time and brought in two more runs to make it 5-0 in favor of the home team. Harmon bounced back in the second inning – she got two quick outs on a ground ball and a strikeout, and after UVU's next two batters reached the bases, Harmon got UVU's Amber Sackett to fly out.

In the third she got two quick outs, but that's as far as Harmon got without trouble. Harmon then allowed a double and an RBI single, hit a batter and allowed a third UVU homer. Millsap-Kabala had seen enough and went to the bull pen, relieving Harmon with Stacey Ellingsworth.

"That's how you learn, I guess," Millsap-Kabala said of Harmon. "There's no excuse, but there's definitely adjustment especially for my freshman pitcher. She's not used to pitching in that situation. She hasn't had a home run hit off her the entire season she's thrown, and in an unlucky game she had three hit off her."

Millsap-Kabala was optimistic that Harmon would recover after the frustrating outing.

"I expect her to bounce back," she said. "It's impossible for her to say, 'I'm going to go my whole career and not give up one home run.' That's a little unrealistic. I'm sure it's not the first home run that's been hit off of her, and I'm sure it won't be the last one. I expect her to get back on the saddle and start riding again. Such is life with being a pitcher. You're going to have days where it doesn't work for you and the hitters take advantage and then you're going to have days where it's going to work."

Down 9-2 after three innings, the hole from which the Ags had to extricate themselves was too deep, and UVU kept making it more difficult. The game ended in the fifth inning after UVU's Amber Sackett hit a grand slam homerun off of USU's Shasta Tyteca. Tyteca had been called in to relieve Ellingsworth. Millsap-Kabala said better is expected of her pitching staff.

"We're going to look to all of them to play their role and do their part," the Aggie coach said. "Because we have a big staff, we look at them as relievers and as closers to come in have the right mental frame of mind and be able to do their job. Today there was kind of a loss of that. They're human, and they're going to make mistakes. Is it acceptable? No. But it happens, so we have to deal with it."

USU now falls to 12-15 on the season. Millsap-Kabala said there is definitely some room for improvement.

"I don't want to lie," she said. "We're coming out of ourselves a little too much and doing things that we normally don't do. Whether it's being too anxious or not being aggressive in the moment that we need to, we let too many opportunities pass by. That's really what's hurting us. That comes with a huge amount of maturity. Being able to be mentally prepared in the moment is something that they need to find."

USU would have taken on BYU on Wednesday if it were not for inclement weather in Provo. Next up for USU is the Nevada Wolfpack here in Logan this Friday.