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Utah Tech University Athletics

SB Graduates
Jason Boothe, DSU Atheltics
0
California Baptist CBU 41-10
11
Winner Dixie State DX-SB 46-7
California Baptist CBU
41-10
0
Final
11
Dixie State DX-SB
46-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
California Baptist CBU 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
Dixie State DX-SB 1 8 0 2 X 11 8 2

W: Duncan, Michelle (26-0) L: Hatch, Kayla (20-4)

Game Recap: Softball | | John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Storm graduate to West 2 Regional championship

11-0 win over CBU puts Dixie State softball in driver's seat

ST. GEORGE, Utah – There were two major events beginning on the campus of Dixie State at 11 a.m. on Friday. In the Burns Arena was the 104th Commencement ceremony for the graduating class of 2015. At Karl Brooks Field, the Dixie State softball team battled Pacific West Conference foe California Baptist in the winner's bracket contest of the 2015 NCAA Division II West 2 Softball Regionals.
 
Thanks to an eight-run second inning and a combined shutout from senior Michelle Duncan (Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert High School) and junior Aryn Feickert (Lancaster, CA/Highland ), the DSU softball team defeated CBU 11-0 in five innings. More fortuitous, the game ended early enough that five members of the softball team were able to cross the street to the arena and graduate with their fellow seniors, still in their game uniforms.
 
The Red Storm advanced to Saturday's Championship Round and improved to 46-7 on the season with the win, while the Lancers fell to 41-10.
 
"I never figured it would be an 11-0 game," Dixie State head coach Randy Simkins said. "We figured it was going to be, you know, a two-out RBI hit here or there … Getting on the board early allowed our pitcher to throw with a lead."
 
7693Dixie State seized the early momentum and was able to capitalize on opportunities in the first two innings while the Lancers left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings.
 
Freshman outfielder Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, UT/Stansbury Park) singled to lead off the first inning. She advanced to third by stealing second, her 41st swipe of the season, and advancing on a throwing error. With one out, senior outfielder Courtney Hine (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas High School) perfectly executed a sacrifice squeeze bunt to plate Bassett.
 
The Storm was able to score eight times on five hits against CBU's Kayla Hatch in the second inning to open up a 9-0 lead. Senior outfielder Courtney Sherwin (Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain High School) reached on an error after the soft liner to third bounced off the defender's glove. Consecutive singles from sophomore Mallory Paulson (Fruita, CO/Fruita Monument) and junior Autumn Woodfall (Kaysville, UT/Davis High School) plated Sherwin as the Storm's second run. With runners at second and third, Simkins went back to the play that netted a run in the opening frame – a squeeze bunt. This time, the signal was given to sophomore Josie Hartman, who executed the play well enough to earn an RBI base hit.
 
"All I could think about was, just get it (the bunt) down," Hartman said. "If I get that bunt down, it's hard to field and get an out."
 
DSU loaded the bases after Hartman stole second and Bassett drew a walk. After a sharp line drive was snared off the bat of senior Nicole Chavez (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala High School), fellow senior Courtney Hine (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas High School) beat out an infield single to shortstop, scoring pinch runner Kristie Johnson (Temecula, CA/Chaparral High School).
 
"We talk about always running hard on routine ground balls or fly balls," Simkins said in reference to Hine's infield hit. "It's the first two or three steps out of the box, if you run hard there, it changes the whole momentum of the inning."
 
Another hard running play kept the inning alive. Senior catcher Marla Reiter (Rolinda, CA/Central High School) bounced a ball to the left side of the infield. The only play was to third base, but Bassett's speed allowed her to get to bag before the throw. Sherwin, in her second plate appearance of the frame, drove a 2-0 outside pitch to the opposite field for a grand slam home run.
 
Reiter added a run with a double to the gap and Sherwin capped her five RBI day with a single to center.
 
7694Duncan battled out of two bases loaded jams in the opening innings and held the Lancers to four hits in four innings. Feickert induced a pair of ground balls and struck out the final batter of the game looking. Duncan won her 26th game of the year.
 
Dixie State will have to get through the Lancers again if they wish to get back to the West Super regional. CBU defeated Chico State 9-2 on Friday evening to advance out of the one-loss bracket.
 
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