Whitnie Griffith and Jordan McMain led the Buffs with two hits a piece and three RBIs between the two. Matti Snow only earned one hit but it was a big one, as it was a game-ending double knocking in the ninth and tenth run.
While starting pitcher Lauren Folta just finished her third hitless inning from the circle, the game at that point was still scoreless. However, all that changed once Tooele came to the plate in the bottom of the third.
Strangely, McMain kicked off the inning with a strike out but advanced to first on the swing-and-miss because the ball got away from Mountain View catcher Taylor Sundberg. With the help of a couple passed balls McMain moved over to third then Folta rocketed a grounder off the shin of Bruin third baseman Erika Nielson to give Tooele their first run.
The scoring continued as Griffith came to the plate and nailed a liner back up the middle bringing around Kelsey Mendenhall to score from second. Tooele then took advantage of a couple wild pitches from Mountain View starter Hailey Bradshaw and scored two consecutive runs, as both Brittany Gonzales and Grifith each slid underneath the tag at home plate giving Tooele an early 4-0 lead.
Folta did finally give up a hit in the fourth inning but that's about the only thing the visiting Bruins earned off of the Tooele ace. Though a no-hitter was not in the cards for Folta she was able to hold on to one-hit shutout.
With the shutout in place Tooele looked to blow things wide open in the fifth. With the first two batters reaching base, Griffith again found herself in a spot to drive in more runs and she took advantage, hitting a hard grounder just out of reach of Mountain View short stop Megan Goodman to score one more run.
Aly Jensen came up two batters later and hit another grounder in exactly the same spot as Griffith scored mounting a 6-0 lead.
Next the Buffs used some smart base running as coach Barry Pitt called the double steal. As Jensen was stealing second the throw from the catcher bounced off of Bruin second baseman Alyssa Olsen's glove, allowing Marissa Mendenhall to score.
After McMain knocked in the eighth Tooele run with a bloop single to right, Snow had an opportunity to end the game with two runners on. Snow did not waste any time, lining a hard-hit double to left-center to bring around two more runs giving the Buffs a 10-0 and and an early end to the game.
Tooele has now won five straight Region 7 games and play at Timpview today at 4 p.m. They also play at Springville on Friday at 4 p.m.
jgordon@tooeletranscript.com
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