Huskies Host Utah For Senior Day
SEATTLE - The #5 Washington Huskies finish their home schedule for the regular season this weekend, hosting the Utah Utes for a four-game series. All four of those games will be streamed for free on the Washington live stream. Washington will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, honoring Livy Schiele, Taryn Atlee, Sis Bates, Morganne Flores, Kaija Gibson, Emma Helm, Pat Moore, and Noelle Hee.
A FRESHMAN PHENOM
Sarah Willis hit her first collegiate home run in her first start in the outfield, against #2 UCLA. Willis is the first freshman to homer against a top-five team since Jadelyn Allchin did so against #3 Texas in 2020. Allchin was also the last freshman to hit their first career home run against a top-five team, doing so against #3 Oklahoma last year. Willis is now hitting .500 on the year, with four hits in her last three games with an at-bat. Willis, Allchin, Kelley Lynch, and Madison Huskey have all hit their first career homers against top-five teams.
HITTING HISTORY
Morganne Flores needs just one home run to tie Ali Aguilar for third in Husky history with 58. Her next home run will also give her a third double-digit homer season: Flores would be the sixth Husky ever with 3+ seasons of ten homers, joining Aguilar, Kylee Lahners, Kaitlin Inglesby, Kristen Rivera, and Jaime Clark. Flores is already third in Husky history in RBI and needs just seven more to tie Kristen Rivera for second. Flores needs 17 RBI to tie for the Husky record.
A MOST POWERFUL TRIO
One more homer from Flores would give her ten on the year, joining Baylee Klingler and Sami Reynolds as a trio of Huskies with 10+ homers. It would be the first time since 2017 Washington has had three players hit 10+ homers in the same season and just the eighth time ever. Washington's 60 homers are already its most in a season since 2017.
AN AUSTRALIAN INVASION
Gabbie Plain needs just 18 more strikeouts to reach 800 in her career, the fifth Husky ever to reach that mark. Just once all year has Plain thrown 5+ innings while striking out fewer than six batters: against Cal, she struck out five in five scoreless innings. Plain's next double-digit strikeout game will be the 30th of her career, matching Taran Alvelo for the second-most in Husky history. Her next win will be her 25th: she would join Alvelo, Danielle Lawrie, and Kaitlin Inglesby as the only Huskies under Heather Tarr to record 25-win seasons.
NO K IN KLINGLER
Baylee Klingler has struck out just seven times in 126 at-bats this year, good for one strikeout every 18 at-bats. Only two players in the Pac-12 have had at least 100 at-bats and fewer strikeouts: Charity Sevaaetasi (5 in 107) and Allee Bunker (5 in 141). Klingler has never struck out multiple times in a game as a Husky and has struck out in back-to-back games just three times. This year, Klingler has more HBPs (nine) than total strikeouts (seven).
HOME SWEET HOME
Sami Reynolds is hitting .457/.596/.743 at home this year. In fact, Reynolds has not reached base just four times in 35 career home games. 12 of Reynolds' 45 career extra-base hits have come at home, despite playing 52 more games on the road thus far in her career. Reynolds is currently on a 12-game home hitting streak this season, with ten of those games against Pac-12 opponents.
STARTING STRONG
Plain had her undefeated start to the 2021 season come to a close after 23 consecutive wins, taking the loss against #2 UCLA. Plain remains the only player in the country to have reached the 20-win mark without suffering a loss. She is second in the nation in wins, just one behind Stephen F. Austin's Kassidy Wilbur.
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