RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Utah State softball (7-3, 0-0 MW) fell in its fifth and final game at the Cal Baptist Classic Sunday afternoon at John C. Funk Stadium, losing to Hawaii 16-8 in six innings. 

After USU defeated Hawaii yesterday, the Rainbow Wahine used an explosive hitting effort today to even the season series at 1-1. While the Aggie bats were strong throughout, Utah State struggled to keep up and had to play from behind through much of the contest. The Aggies scored first in the second inning when senior catcher Grace Matej doubled to make it a 1-0 game, but Hawaii answered with nine runs in the bottom of the inning to take firm control.

The Aggies attempted to claw back through the next few innings. In the third inning, a sacrifice fly from senior infielder Alex Bunton brought freshman outfielder Haylee Lopez home. Each side scored two runs in the fourth — for Utah State, it was a double by freshman infielder followed by a triple for Matej and a pop fly by sophomore catcher Jaelyn Castillo in quick succession to cut the lead to 11-4. 

Utah State continued to push back in the sixth inning, putting four more runs on the board. Back-to-back bases-loaded hits by pitch by Matej and Castillo scored the first two runs, followed by Ramirez scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single for sophomore outfielder Faith Kroening. This cut the Rainbow Wahine lead to 13-8. USU was unable to get any closer though, being shut out in the sixth before Hawaii scored three runs to secure the run-rule victory. 

In total, USU had nine hits to Hawaii's 15, including four hits for extra bases. 

The Aggies utilized five pitchers in the contest, the senior duo of Emmalyn Brinka and Carly Limosnero taking the majority of the time in the circle. Brinka started and pitched 1.2 innings, while Limosnero closed with the final 2.2. 

UP NEXT
Utah State (7-3, 0-0 MW) will travel to Athens, Georgia, next weekend for five games in three days at the Georgia Classic from Feb. 20-22. There, they will face Virginia Tech, then have two games against both Georgia and Seton Hall. 

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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