COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Utah State softball (2-1, 0-0 MW) picked up its second win of the year on day two of the Aggie Classic Friday night at Texas A&M's Davis Diamond, defeating Abilene Christian 4-2. This was the team's second win over the Wildcats in as many days. 

Utah State 4, Abilene Christian 2

In its lone game of the day, Utah State won a defensive battle behind a strong performance from freshman right-handed pitcher Kendall Cochran in her collegiate debut. Cochran held off the Wildcats with five scoreless innings in the circle before late heroics from the Aggie offense helped secure the win. 

After a scoreless first inning, USU got on the board first in the top of the second inning when a leadoff double from senior outfielder Kya Pratt laid the foundation. After a strikeout and a groundout, back-to-back walks drawn by Aggie hitters loaded the bases. Pratt then took advantage of a wild pitch to score from third and put Utah State in front. 

Cochran held Abilene Christian to just a single hit in the first three innings, buying time for the Aggie hitters to extend the lead. They eventually did in the fifth inning when a single put sophomore outfielder Faith Kroening on base. A passed ball and a groundout helped her get around to third, before a single up the middle by senior catcher Grace Matej made it a 2-0 ballgame. 

The Wildcats saw their first bit of offense in the sixth inning when three walks put an end to Cochran's strong performance. After a pitching change, they capitalized with a double to even the game at 2-2. 

In the seventh, Utah State loaded the bases before recording a single out with back-to-back-to-back singles from freshman infielder Jazmin Ramirez, Kroening and junior infielder Keely Goushá. This set the table for two-straight sacrifice flies to re-take the lead. The Aggie pitching staff then took care of business in the bottom of the inning to cement the win. 

The Aggies utilized three pitching arms, with Cochran earning the win as she threw 5.2 innings with six strikeouts, four walks and two earned runs in her debut. Senior Rylie Pindel earned one out in the sixth, before senior Emmalyn Brinka finished with the final three outs to earn a save. 

UP NEXT
Utah State (2-1, 0-0 MW) will remain in College Station for the third and final day of the Aggie Classic tomorrow. USU will play two games, first facing Bryant at 8 a.m. (MT), then taking on Providence at 1 p.m. The games will not be streamed, but will have live stats available on utahstateaggies.com 

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.

- USU -