South Carolina beats Utah in Durham Region – Deseret News

Utah pitcher Mariah Lopez had another solid performance in the circle, but the Utes collected just one point, falling 2-1 to South Carolina in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina pitcher Alana Vawter picked up the win and threw a complete game, allowing four hits, a run and four strikeouts in seven innings. Vawter sometimes had the Utes chasing on pitches outside the offensive zone, something Utah did all too often in last week’s Pac-12 championship loss to UCLA.

“We didn’t play at our best today. We were prepared, but still had some doubts and a few awkward at-bats that pushed them too far into the game. Before you know it, we’re almost out of outs. Pretty disappointing on the first day to come out so flat,” Utah coach Amy Hogue said.

Utah struck first with an RBI double from Abby Dayton in the third inning, bringing home Aliya Belarde, who doubled earlier in the frame.

In the bottom of the third, South Carolina scored two runs after the Gamecocks put two on base with a walk and a double. A deep fly ball to left field by Jen Cummings brought in Denver Bryant from third base to tie the game, then a two-out, full-count single by Aniyah Black scored Riley Blampied and put South Carolina ahead.

Lopez was masterful starting in the fourth inning, retiring all but one of the next 11 batters she faced the rest of the way (an extra runner reached on an error), but didn’t get enough run support. The Utes had just two hits the rest of the way and never advanced a runner past first base as Vawter pitched at her best.

The senior pitcher threw a complete game: four hits, two runs and eight strikeouts in six innings.

“Mariah pitched well enough to win this game and the last one we played, and our hitters aren’t finding a way to make those adjustments. And like I said, it was pretty disappointing,” Hogue said.

The Utes are still alive in the double-elimination region, but have a long way to go to advance to the super regional, which requires them to win four straight games. That trip begins Saturday at 11:30 a.m. MDT as Utah faces the loser of Duke and Morgan State.

“We just talked about the things we can control. I asked them how it felt in the box today, why they were having such a hard time when we knew they were capable,” Hogue said. “So the conversation was about how you can kind of turn some of those things around in their minds so they can go out there and do their best because we’re on our last game and you’ve got to earn more games by winning now. So their backs are against the wall.”