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Knoxville, Tenn. • Dominant pitching and timely hitting helped the Utah softball team's first postseason trip in nine years get off to a pleasant start.

Freshman Katie Donovan flummoxed opponents with a change-up, her teammates twice provided some home-run cushion and No. 2 seed Utah beat No. 3 seed Virginia Tech 6-1 on Friday in the first game of the NCAA softball Knoxville Regional at Lee Stadium.

"It's a good start for us," Utah coach Amy Hogue said. "We have a lot of tools, and getting kind of the nerves out today was a big deal."

No. 2 seed Utah (35-17) will face No. 1 seed Tennessee on Saturday at 11 a.m. MDT. The Volunteers beat Longwood 2-0 on Friday.

The former looked like a threat to win this regional. The latter lost its ninth game in 10 tries.

"They're a tough team," Virginia Tech coach Scot Thomas said of Utah. "The thing about them is, they don't beat themselves."

Virginia Tech's first mistake was starter Maggie Tyler's 1-2 pitch to Kate Dickman in the bottom of the first. Utah's center fielder hit the solo shot to right field, becoming the first on her team to reach double-digit home run milestone this season.

First baseman Bridget Castro extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run in the third. Her sixth home run of the season was her first since Utah's first 11 games.

"She came in and kind of down," Castro said. "And I love that pitch. So, it was natural for me to turn on it."

Heather Bowen's single made it 4-0 and forced Tyler (15-13) from the circle.

"We were just clutch," Hogue said. "We actually didn't swing the bat great. When we had people out there and needed to get those runs in, we did."

Donovan (17-8) stayed perfect until Virginia Tech right fielder Michelle Prong reached on an error in the fourth. She surrendered her first hit one batter later, when Virginia Tech catcher Katey Smith singled, but Utah left fielder Maddy Woodard gunned down Prong at third to end the inning.

Donovan (2.58 ERA) pitched four scoreless innings and struck out six of the 13 batters she faced. The run support helped.

"You can really go after hitters and let your defense do a little more work," Donovan said. "It's just more fun to play when you have a couple of runs."

Utah tacked on two more runs in the fourth before Virginia Tech center fielder Lauren Gaskill's solo home run in the sixth spoiled the shutout.

"Our thinking was just give the other two an opportunity to get the jitters out with a lead," Hogue said of pulling Donovan for Kayce Nieto and Sammy Cordova. "They did their job. We asked them to go out there and throw a lot of strikes, and they did."

"Katie doesn't need a lot of rest. That kid, we can give her the ball the whole time." —

Utah 6, Virginia Tech 1

• Katie Donovan cruises through four scoreless innings to notch her 17th win of the season.

• Kate Dickman hits her 10th home run of the season in the first inning.

• Bridget Castro relocates her power with a two-run home run in the third.