LOGAN, Utah – Utah State softball (14-18, 3-4 MW) opened a three-game series against No. 23 Grand Canyon with a 15-3 loss Friday afternoon at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. 

The Aggies struck first in the second inning when senior catcher Grace Matej led off the inning with a no-doubter home run over the left field fence, her fifth home of the year and the 23rd of her career. Just two batters later, freshman infielder Kate Vance recorded her first-career home run, a shot to deep center. 

GCU answered quickly, scoring five runs the following inning. The Lopes tallied just two hits in the third, but capitalized on three walks and an error to score five with a two-run single, a two-run double and an RBI sacrifice fly. 

After the big inning by the visitors, USU weathered the storm as it held Grand Canyon to just a single hit with no runs in each of the next three innings to keep the score at 5-2, but a seventh inning onslaught resulted in 10 hits and 10 runs for GCU to break things open. Freshman infielder Jazmin Ramirez rounded out the USU scoring with her fourth home run of the year in the bottom of the seventh. 

In the pitching circle, the Aggies utilized four arms. The freshman duo of Kendall Cochran and Jordyn Lish split the first six innings, Cochran taking 2.2, Lish taking the next 3.1, before seniors Sydney Saldana and Rylie Pindel combined for the final three outs. 

UP NEXT
Utah State (14-18, 3-4 MW) will remain at home for game two of the three-game series against Grand Canyon tomorrow at noon at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field.

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 -