Washington Huskies beat Utah Utes in weather-delayed Women's College World Series opener

Washington had to wait an extra day to make its 2023 Women’s College World Series debut, but when the Huskies met Utah in their opener, they showed they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

Behind a strong offensive performance by shortstop Rylee Holtorf, seventh-seeded Washington defeated No. 15 Utah 4-1 Friday afternoon at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

With the win, Washington will play Florida State in the next round at 6 p.m. Saturday, while Utah played Oklahoma State in Friday's late game.

“I'm proud of our team,” Washington coach Heather Tarr said. “I'm proud of everybody on our team. We have 17 women on this team. That's not a very big roster. We nearly used every single person."

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Holtorf put on a show for Washington on Friday, finishing 3 for 3 at the plate.

She hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give Washington a 2-1 lead, and the Huskies (41-13) stayed in the driver’s seat from there.

Holtorf, a sophomore who went to high school at Sandra Day O'Connor in Phoenix — the same school OU’s Grace Lyons and Jocelyn Erickson attended — hit an RBI single in the fourth before Olivia Johnson drove in the final run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

For Holtorf, it was a great start to Washington’s quest for its first national title since 2009.

“It's for sure a cool feeling, yeah,” Holtorf said. “Something we all looked up to since we were little girls. It's cool being here, cool to kind of see the results of hard work throughout the season. Just continuing to take every at-bat as it is.”

Ruby Meylan started in the circle for Washington and tossed 3 ⅓ innings. She allowed one run and two hits before Lindsay Lopez entered in relief and sealed a game that was postponed a day due to weather.

Lopez was dominant throughout her time in the circle and allowed just one hit.

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“I would say it feels really good,” Lopez said. “But I still have that head space of we're not done. We still have a lot more to do.”

Mariah Lopez pitched the whole game for Utah (40-13). She gave up seven hits and struck out five, while Kendall Lundberg drove in Utah’s lone run on a double in the top of the second.

“It was great to be here,” said Utah coach Amy Hogue, who was a senior All-American on the Utes’ 1994 team, their last to make it to the WCWS.

“I mean, they worked so hard to have the opportunity to be here in the final eight. Although we didn't play the way we wanted to today, they fought their guts out. This one sitting next to me was the leader of that, Mariah, really proud of what she did in the circle today.”

Lopez didn’t make any excuses after the game.

The Utes were ready to play Thursday night, but the postponement didn’t negatively affect them.

“We're used to adversity, especially since we live in a state with a lot of snow, canceled games, stuff like that,” Lopez said. “I don't think that had a huge effect on us.”

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Utah’s season will be on the line when it faces Oklahoma State.

The teams haven’t met this year, and the Utes will try to do whatever they can to stay alive and continue their breakout season.

“Honestly, no team is better than us at fighting back," Lundberg said. "I think that's all we got to do.”

Hogue said the pressure is off for her team following the loss.

“Now they're playing for a day off and some more fun together,” she said. “They think that's worth it.

“Plus we threw in ice cream at that Braum's place. If we win tonight, we're going straight there through the drive-through with the bus. We're going to roll down each window and take our orders (smiling).

“They just want to have more days together. They know they'll earn an ice cream, a day off, another ballgame with their group."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Washington Huskies beat Utah Utes in weather-delayed WCWS opener