Norton Hits Two Home Runs, BYU Beats Utah 6-0

SALT LAKE -- Senior Jodi Norton hit two home runs to lead BYU (22-16, 3-2) in its 6-0 win over rival University of Utah (20-16-1, 1-4) at Ute Field on Friday.

"Everybody stepped up and played well today," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We had nice intensity and good energy. It was a good team win."

Norton broke up a scoreless game with a lead-off home run to center field in the fourth inning. The hit was Norton's second of the day. After Emi Snow struck out swinging, sophomore Andi Ramirez sent one deep to right center for another solo homer and a 2-0 Cougar lead.

"[Norton] has stepped up the last five or six games," Eakin said. "I've noticed a definite difference in her. She's leading the team and having quality at-bats. She did it again today."

Freshman Angeline Quiocho followed suit in the fifth inning with a lead-off smash to left field that put BYU ahead 3-0. The Walnut, California native has five home runs on the season. After Cortney Nix-Clark drew a walk, Jennifer Whiteley reached on a fielder's choice. Nix-Clark was able to take second base safely thanks to an error by Utah second baseman Kristie Keller.

The plays set the stage for Norton's third at-bat, which turned out to be a strike out. But a passed ball allowed both Nix-Clark and Whiteley to get into scoring position. Utah pitcher Meghan Dyer then threw a wild pitch to score Nix-Clark for BYU's fourth run of the day.

With Whiteley on first in the seventh inning, Norton swatted her 12th home run of the season, once again to center field, for the 6-0 final. Norton finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI.

Freshman Christie Zinanti got the shutout victory, allowing just three hits and putting away 19 of the 25 batters she faced. Zinanti did not give up a single hit after the third inning.

"Christie has been very solid on the mound for us for the last month," Eakin said. "She threw a great game today. I'm thrilled with the way she's throwing, and I'm glad she's a freshman."

BYU meets Utah Saturday at 1 p.m. (MST) at Ute Field.

Brigham Young at University of Utah (Game 1)
                   Apr 13, 2007 at Salt Lake City (Ute Field)
Brigham Young 6 (22-16,3-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c......  3  1  0  0   1  0  2  0   0
Jennifer Whiteley lf.....  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jodi Norton ss...........  4  2  3  3   0  1  3  1   0
Emi Snow rf..............  3  0  0  0   1  2  1  0   1
Andrea Ramirez dp/1b.....  4  1  2  1   0  2  2  0   2
Daniela Urincho 1b/dp....  4  0  2  0   0  2 10  0   1
 Jana Anderson pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Tracee Hoch 2b...........  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  3   0
Angeline Quiocho 3b......  3  1  1  1   0  2  1  2   1
Monica Gonzales cf.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   1
Christie Zinanti p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  5   0
Totals................... 31  6  9  5   2 12 21 12   6
University of Utah 0 (20-16-1,1-4 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
PHILLIPS cf..............  3  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
CROUSE lf................  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
DAVENPORT c..............  3  0  1  0   0  0 12  0   1
FOSTER 1b................  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
HEMINGWAY ss.............  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
KELLER 2b................  2  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
MEDINA 3b................  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   1
HOFFMAN dp...............  1  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   2
 DECKER pr...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
MATTHEWS rf..............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
DYER p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 22  0  3  0   1  1 21  1   4
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 220 2 -  6  9  0
University of Utah.. 000 000 0 -  0  3  1
-----------------------------------------
E - KELLER(10). DP - Cougars 1. LOB - Cougars 6; Utes 4. HR - NORTON 2;
RAMIREZ; QUIOCHO. HBP - KELLER; MEDINA. SB - SNOW; ANDERSON 2.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christie Zinanti....  7.0  3  0  0  1  1 22 25
University of Utah     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
DYER................  7.0  9  6  5  2 12 31 33
Win - ZINANTI (8-6).  Loss - DYER (14-10).  Save - None.
WP - DYER(17). HBP - by ZINANTI (MEDINA); by ZINANTI (KELLER). PB -
DAVENPORT(4).
Umpires - HP: Bobby Shelton  1B: Mike Brady  3B: Brett Higgins
Start: 4 p.m.   Time: 2:16   Attendance: 325
Game notes:
ID-491931
Game: BY-UT1
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 220 2 -  6  9  0
University of Utah.. 000 000 0 -  0  3  1
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON; 18/rf SNOW;
31/dp RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 24/cf GONZALES; 14/p
ZINANTI;
University of Utah starters: 20/cf PHILLIPS; 3/lf CROUSE; 14/c DAVENPORT; 12/1b
FOSTER; 19/ss HEMINGWAY; 25/2b KELLER; 9/3b MEDINA; 13/dp HOFFMAN; 4/rf
MATTHEWS; 5/p DYER;
Brigham Young 1st - NIX-CLARK popped up to 2b. WHITELEY flied out to cf.
NORTON singled through the left side. SNOW struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 1st - PHILLIPS popped up to ss. CROUSE grounded out
to 2b. DAVENPORT singled to center field, out at second cf to ss. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - RAMIREZ struck out swinging. URINCHO singled through
the left side. HOCH struck out swinging. QUIOCHO struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 2nd - FOSTER grounded out to p. HEMINGWAY grounded
out to 3b. KELLER singled through the right side. MEDINA hit by pitch; KELLER
advanced to second. HOFFMAN grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - GONZALES flied out to lf. NIX-CLARK popped up to 3b.
WHITELEY flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Utah 3rd - MATTHEWS fouled out to c. PHILLIPS singled
through the right side. CROUSE reached on a fielder's choice; PHILLIPS out at
second p to ss. DAVENPORT popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - NORTON homered to center field, RBI. SNOW struck out
swinging. RAMIREZ homered to right center, RBI. URINCHO struck out swinging.
HOCH flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Utah 4th - FOSTER grounded out to 2b. HEMINGWAY popped up
to 1b. KELLER hit by pitch. MEDINA struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - QUIOCHO homered to left field, RBI. GONZALES struck
out swinging. NIX-CLARK walked. WHITELEY reached on a fielder's choice;
NIX-CLARK advanced to second on an error by 2b. NORTON struck out looking;
WHITELEY advanced to second on a passed ball; NIX-CLARK advanced to third.
WHITELEY advanced to third; NIX-CLARK scored on a wild pitch, unearned. SNOW
walked. SNOW stole second. RAMIREZ struck out looking. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1
error, 2 LOB.
University of Utah 5th - HOFFMAN walked. DECKER pinch ran for HOFFMAN.
MATTHEWS grounded into double play 2b to 1b; DECKER out on the play. PHILLIPS
flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - URINCHO singled to shortstop. ANDERSON pinch ran for
URINCHO. ANDERSON stole second. HOCH struck out swinging. QUIOCHO struck out
swinging. ANDERSON stole third. GONZALES grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 6th - URINCHO to 1b for ANDERSON. CROUSE grounded out
to p. RAMIREZ to 1b. URINCHO to dp. DAVENPORT grounded out to ss. FOSTER
grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - NIX-CLARK fouled out to ss. WHITELEY singled to
pitcher. NORTON homered to center field, 2 RBI; WHITELEY scored. SNOW lined out
to ss. RAMIREZ singled to left field. URINCHO struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 7th - RAMIREZ to dp. URINCHO to 1b. HEMINGWAY flied
out to cf. KELLER popped up to 1b. MEDINA grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.