Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Down two runs with two outs in the seventh inning, the USD Softball team (6-5) rallied to a 4-3 win over Utah State in their first game of the Amy S. Harrison Classic in Riverside, Calif. Chloe Kaneko hit a game-tying two-run home run and Paige von Sprecken was nearly unhittable in the circle.

The Toreros quickly fell into a 3-0 hole after Grace Hernandez struggled through the first inning. The Aggies tallied three runs on three hits, sending eight batters to the plate. After allowing the first two Aggies to reach base in the second inning, Coach McElvain handed the ball over to freshman Paige von Sprecken, who pitched six innings of one-hit shutout ball.

Von Sprecken helped her cause in the top of the third with a triple to right center. The next batter, Kailey Hill, knocked her home with an infield single, bringing the score to 3-1 Utah State.

The Toreros managed just one hit the next three innings, but with their backs against the wall they came through in the seventh. Just one out from defeat, Danielle Mavridis reached on an infield single to bring up the tying run in third baseman Chloe Kaneko. She answered the bell with a game-tying two-run home run to left field. The Toreros then grabbed the lead after back-to-back singles by Caitlin Rooney and von Sprecken to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

The Aggies led off the seventh by reaching on a Torero error, but USD responded with a double play and a fly out to end the game. Von Sprecken improved to 5-1 on the season allowing no runs and just one hit in six innings pitched.

The Toreros will face Michigan State Saturday afternoon before playing UC Riverside in a Sunday doubleheader.