LOGAN, Utah – Utah State softball (21-16, 5-6 MW) won both games of a doubleheader with conference-leader Nevada (30-9, 8-3 MW) on Wednesday at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. The Aggies walked off game one, 6-5, with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth and finished off the Wolf Pack 5-4 in game two.   

Game one got off to a hot start as the Wolf Pack earned two runs in the first and the Aggies answered with solo homerun on the first pitch by junior infielder Ariel Fifita followed by a single to left field on the second pitch by freshman outfielder Tatum Silva. Sophomore catcher Grace Matej was up next with a single of her own to advance Silva to second as sophomore infielder Alex Bunton was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases for junior infielder Giselle Gonzalez, who hit a two-RBI single into right field.

After a scoreless second inning, Nevada took the lead in the third with two solo home runs. The next run happened in the bottom of the fifth for the Aggies as Gonzalez hit a sac fly to center field sending Fifita in for the team's fourth run. Each team put up one run in the sixth, a solo homerun from sophomore outfielder Jaden Colunga on Utah State's side to tie the game. A blank seventh and eighth inning were posted by both teams before the Aggies secured the win with a walk-off RBI single to right field from Gonzalez. 

In the circle, redshirt sophomore Denay Smith started the game pitching 2.1 innings before being relieved by sophomore Tess Bumiller, who pitched 2.2 innings. Senior Jessica Stewart earned the win, pitching the final 4.1 innings with six strikeouts.

In the second contest of the day, Utah State scored first as Matej hit an RBI-single to center field sending Fifita home in the bottom of the first. Nevada took the lead in the top of the third with two runs and added on in the fifth with one more. In the bottom of the fifth, junior infielder Claudia Medina doubled just before sophomore outfielder Kya Pratt hit one over the fence to tie the game at three runs apiece.

The Aggies scored two more in the bottom of the sixth to go up 5-3 as Colunga hit her second home run of the day and added an RBI as freshman infielder Emerson Meggers was brought home. The Wolf Pack's comeback attempt failed as they only scored one run in the top of the seventh after Stewart struck out the first and second batters. The game ended with a lineout to first base for the final out. 

Graduate Katie Zuniga started and pitched the first five innings for Utah State with three earned runs. Stewart took over in the sixth to take the Aggies the rest of the way, throwing four strikeouts to earn her second win of the afternoon.

Up Next 

Utah State (21-16, 5-6 MW) heads to Fresno, California, for a two-game weekend series with Fresno State, beginning on Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. (MT).  

For more information on the Utah State softball program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUSoftball, on Facebook at USUSoftball and on Instagram at ususoftball. 
 
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