Utah State beaten by BYU, 9-1, in five innings Monday

LOGAN, Utah – Brigham Young scored at least one run in all five innings, spoiling Utah State’s season finale, 9-1, in five innings, Monday afternoon at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field. The namesake of the Aggies’ softball complex, 98-year old LaRee Johnson, was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, firing a strike to senior catcher Simone Hubbard.Monday was the final game in an Aggie uniform for USU’s six seniors: Hubbard, pitcher Stacey Ellingsworth,outfielder Rachel Evans, pitcher Kate Greenough, first baseman Emily Reilly and Nicole (Rupp) Tindall. The USU seniors six took a final trot around the bases after the game.Utah State ends the season with a 20-30 ledger, its second 20-win season of the 2000’s. BYU improves to 41-11. The Cougars lead the all-time series with the Aggies, 31-24.BYU scored twice in the top of the top of the first inning. Kristin Delahoussaye reached on an error by senior shortstop Rachel Evans and moved to second on an infield single by J.C. Clayton. The first run scored on a single up the middle by Andrea Ramirez. A Jessica Purcell-Fitu single brought Clayton around to score and give BYU a 2-0 lead.The Cougars added another run in the top of the second inning after a Delahoussaye double drove in Tiffany Messerschmidt. In the top of the third inning, BYU added four more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Angeline Quiocho started the rally with a walk, while Ramirez followed with a single to center. Both crossed the plate on Fitu home run to right center. Caschjen Davis-Atagi followed with another home run to straight away center to give the Cougars a 7-0 advantage.BYU made it 8-0 in the top of the fourth, as Clayton led off with a single and then moved to third on a single and error off the bat of Quiocho. Clayton crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to center by Ramirez.Utah State got on the board with a single run in the home half of the fourth as Tindall started the rally with a double to center. Tindall moved up to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by fellow senior, Hubbard. Senior first baseman Emily Reilly struck out to thwart the threat.Alexandra Hudson led off the BYU fifth with a single to center and moved to second on a sac bunt. A double to right center by Delaney Willard plated Hudson for the 9-1 Cougar advantage.The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fifth to end the game due to the run-rule.Greenough took the loss, falling to 11-16, logging two strikeouts in her three innings of work.Utah State finished seventh in the Western Athletic Conference with a 5-14 league record, just missing the WAC Tournament. The Aggies finished seventh for the third time in their five years in the conference and USU’s five league wins was tied for the most league wins, matching the 2006 squad.-USU-

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