This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Lexington, Ky. • Junior shortstop Anissa Urtez of Utah put Kentucky on its heels with a two-run home run in the first inning, and junior pitcher Katie Donovan made sure the host Wildcats stayed there as the Utes eased to a 3-0 win in the winners' bracket final Saturday in the NCAA softball tournament.

Utah, 34-19, is one game away from a regional championship and berth in Super Regional play.

The Utes play Illinois, which beat Kentucky 3-2 later on Saturday, at 9 a.m. MDT. The losers' bracket victor would have to beat Utah twice to take the title. A second game, if necessary, will be played immediately following the first game.

Utah beat Illinois 1-0 in the regional first round on Friday.

"I think that the team gained a lot of confidence in themselves today," said Utah coach Amy Hogue, whose Utes lost a regional final at Tennessee last spring. "That's a big win, and everyone in that locker room knows that that's a great team we just beat. We have to come back tomorrow with every bit of everything we had today."

Urtez's first-inning shot off Kentucky ace Kelsey Nunley — the SEC Pitcher Of The Year — drove in junior second baseman Hannah Flippen, who reached base with a one-out walk and stole second.

"I'm proud of the way we came out in the first inning," Hogue said. "That's so critical in a game like this, at somebody else's house, to put runs up early, and pitch with confidence. I think it made a difference in the game."

"I was just looking for a strike, looking for something up, and not chasing balls," Urtez said. "It stayed in the air for a long time, so I wasn't sure if it was going to go out or not, but I just knew I had to keep running."

"It was huge," added Donovan. "You could just hear it in the dugout. I mean, all of us were so excited, so pumped up for her and the team. That kind of freed us up for the rest of the game. It got us a lot more options for pitch counts and stuff like that, pitching with the lead."

Utah added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when junior center fielder Delilah Pacheco ripped a leadoff double, reached third on an error and scored on a ground out off the bat of Flippen. Nunley fielded Flippen's ground ball and threw home too late to nail Pacheco.

That was plenty of offense for Donovan, who gave up four hits, with four strikeouts and no walks, in 62⁄3 innings.

Donovan got relief help from junior Miranda Viramontes in the seventh after Kentucky put two runners on with two outs. Viramontes struck out Jenny Schaper of Kentucky swinging on a 1-2 pitch.

"Katie was great," Hogue said of Donovan, who threw only 75 pitches and improved to 19-10 on the season. "She had so many things going for her."

Perhaps most notably, Hogue suggested, was a new pitch Donovan developed this spring.

"She's got the ball spinning down a little bit now," Hogue said. "She didn't have that last year at this time. It was fun to use it today and see the progress that she's made. She's worked hard to have that new pitch by the end of this year. We used it and it helped us, and here we are sitting up here.

"It's a tribute to this kid and the work she's put in to elevate her game," Hogue added. "Every time we give her a task, she just says, 'Okay, I'll get that done.' She's gotten better every year, and it paid off today."

The Utes played error-less softball behind Donovan.

The biggest play of the game defensively for Utah came in the fifth inning after freshman third baseman Abbey Cheek of Kentucky hit a lead-off double. The next Kentucky hitter, Schaper, lined into a double play, with the Utes catching Cheeks leaning off second base and then Schaper leaning off first.

Donovan then struck out Brooklyn Hinz of the Wildcats, who fell to 44-13.

"We just talked about it in the locker room, about how much our infield — our whole defense — plays with such confidence,'' Hogue said. "If you give us something, we'll take it." —

Storylines

R Utah beats Kentucky to move within one win of a Super Regional berth.

• Utah shortstop Anissa Urtez hits a two-run homer in the first inning.

• Utah pitcher Katie Donovan throws a four-hitter, with four strikeouts in 62⁄3 innings.