May 13, 2006
Utah 5, San Diego State 4 - MWC Championship Game
San Diego State 11, Brigham Young 7
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Devina Quintero doubled home Meghan Crouse with the go ahead run in the top of the seventh inning to give Utah a 5-4 win over San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Championship game at Eller Media Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on Saturday night. With the win, the Utes (38-19) receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Aztecs (32-13) will hope to get one of 34 at-large bids, which will be announced on ESPNews at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Four San Diego State players - freshman Monica Alnes (.600, three RBI), sophomore Taryin Casillas (.556, HR, 8 RBI), sophomore Tamani Wells (.438) and sophomore Christina Ross (2-1, 4.58 ERA) - each were named to the MWC all-tournament team.
Sophomore Chrissie Markham got SDSU on the scoreboard first in the MWC Championship with a leadoff home run in the third inning.
In the fourth, Wells reached second base on a throwing error by the Utes' third baseman. Wells moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Erin Floros and scored when sophomore Megan McDonald laced a single to right field.
A single by Wells in the fifth scored sophomore Allison Smith for the Aztecs' third run of the game.
Utah answered in the sixth with back-to-back two-out home runs to center field. Staci Hemingway hit a three-run homer and Ivette Hernandez followed her second home run of the MWC tournament to give the Utes a 4-3 lead.
SDSU tied the game at four apiece when sophomore Taryin Casillas slapped a double to left-center field to score Alnes, who singled to extend her career-long and SDSU season-best hitting streak to 15 games.
However, an RBI single by Devina Quintero in the seventh gave the Utes their final run and the 5-4 win.
Five Aztecs - Wells, McDonald, Alnes, Casillas and Markham - each had a hit in the game.
Senior pitcher Celena Velasquez (9-5) took the loss after giving up one run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Ross pitched the first 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits.
Earlier in the day against Brigham Young, SDSU scored five runs in the third inning, highlighted by a two-out, three-run homer by Casillas, en route to a 11-7 victory. Wells and Alnes each added RBI singles in the five-hit inning
Floros scored the Aztecs' first run of the game in the third off an RBI single by McDonald.
After the Cougars (42-21) scored a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, SDSU took advantage of two Brigham Young errors and tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Casillas singled home McDonald, who reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. After sophomore Allison Smith reached base off a throwing error by the Cougar second baseman, Boyer singled to right field to plate both runners.
A three-run homer by Andrea Ramirez in the top of the sixth brought Brigham Young within two runs.
However, Alnes responded with a two-run home run of her own in the bottom of the frame to secure the win and a trip to the championship game for the Aztecs.
For the game, Wells had three hits, an RBI and scored two runs. Casillas was 2-for-3 with four RBI, Alnes had two hits and three RBI, and Floros had two singles and scored twice.
Ross (16-8) earned the win for SDSU after giving up six runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Velasquez tossed the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed one run on one hit.
MWC Softball Championship
Eller Media Stadium (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Championship Game
(3) Utah 5, (1) San Diego State 4
Utah (38-19) - 000 004 1 - 5 8 1
San Diego State (32-13) - 001 111 0 - 4 5 0
Dyer, Cannon (6) and Hoffman; Ross, Velasquez (6) and Floros
WP: Cannon (20-7); LP: Velasquez (9-5)
HR: UT - Hemingway (3), Hernandez (3); SD - Markham (3)
First Game
(1) San Diego State 11, (2) Brigham Young 7
Brigham Young (42-21) - 001 123 0 - 7 11 2
San Diego State (32-13) - 105 012 x - 11 12 0
Tobias, Boyce-Humbert (3), Urincho (5) and Nix; Ross, Velasquez (6) and Floros
WP: Ross (16-8); LP: Tobias (25-11)
HR: BY - Ramirez (7); SD - Casillas (3), Alnes (3)
MWC All-Tournament Selections
(San Diego State athletes only)
1B - Monica Alnes
3B - Taryin Casillas
LF - Tamani Wells
LHP - Christina Ross