Utah frustrates BYU with late-game breaks in rivalry matchup

It has been 13 years since the University of Utah opened the Dumke Family Softball Stadium on its campus overlooking the Salt Lake valley.

Coach Amy Hogue has often sung its praises, and she did it again Thursday evening.

On a sunny, cool day, the Utes played host to rival BYU, and Hogue’s team took advantage of its home field’s personality to claim a 3-2 victory in Big 12 Conference action.

Utah rallied from a 2-0 deficit and ended the game when Danika Wilson’s soft single to center field scored Kennedy Proctor with nobody out in the seventh inning.

It was the first of three games the rivals will play on consecutive days with 5 p.m. starts.

Pitcher Shelbee Jones scattered six hits, retiring six of the last seven BYU hitters, freshman sensation Mia Gomez had three hits and the Utes took advantage of two Cougar errors to improve to 31-17-1 overall and 7-11-1 in league play.

“I’ve lived here all my life, and I still have that fire in me (about this rivalry game),” said Hogue, now in her 19th season as Utah’s head coach and 27th with the team overall. “This was a tight game and each team got some breaks. We just got ours at the end.”

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Utah trailed 2-0 but Gomez’s run-scoring single ended BYU pitcher Hailey Shuler’s shutout bid. In the sixth inning, the Utes loaded the bases with nobody out. Shuler then retired the next two hitters on a fielder’s choice and a strikeout but Hailee White hit a hard grounder that shortstop Tristen Turlington bobbled, and that allowed Anna Reimers to score and tie the game.

Reliever Jada Villegas came in and retired Gomez, a .386 hitter who was 3-for-3 at the plate, to end the threat. However, Jones took advantage of the momentum change and quickly retired BYU in the top of the seventh on just five pitches.

That quick half inning proved to be important because the sun was beginning to set.

Proctor was Utah’s first batter and, on a 2-2 pitch, she hit a bouncer back to the mound that Villegas caught cleanly and seemingly had an easy out.

However, first baseman Maddie Udall-Woolley lost the throw in the sun and, while she chased after it, Proctor sprinted to second and was thinking about going to third base when she was allegedly held up by Turlington.

Proctor broke free but was thrown out as BYU fans cheered. However, after a discussion by the game’s three umpires, Proctor was awarded third base due to the interference.

“I don’t know what could have been done differently. We just know our field and understand there’s a time when the sun can be a factor,” Hogue said.

The next hitter, Wilson, worked the count to 3-2 and then slapped a lazy fly ball to short center field to end the game and start this series with about as many thrills for the home team and frustration for the visitors as could fit in a nearly three-hour contest.

Danica Acosta had a nice game for BYU with three hits. She and Lily Owens also scored on Udall-Woolley’s single in the third inning. Utah escaped further damage, though, when Jones got the next hitter to hit into a double play.

Gomez provided most of Utah’s hitting punch. Reese Lee added two hits, including a double.