Softball Announces Full 2022 Season Schedule
SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah softball program has officially released its full schedule for the upcoming 2022 season, as announced by head coach Amy Hogue and the Pac-12 Conference on Monday. The schedule features games against NCAA champion Oklahoma and three other teams that earned births to the 2021 Women's College World Series. On air, Utah will have 14 games televised by the Pac-12 Network.
The Utes kick off the season playing in four tournaments across four consecutive weekends: Arizona State's Kajikawa Classic Feb. 11th-13th, UC San Diego Feb. 18th-21st, Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Feb. 25th-27th and the Judi Garman Classic Mar. 3rd-8th.
To view the opponents Utah will face during these tournaments click here.
Utah will find out exactly where they fall among some of the top softball programs in the nation during those first four tournaments. In their first game of the season, the Utes go up against Oklahoma State who posted a 15-3 record in the Big 12 (2nd) and an overall record of 48-12, earning a trip to the 2021 Women's College World Series.
Down the road, their toughest challenge of the season will be against the Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday Feb. 27th, to close out the Mary Nutter Classic. In 2021, Oklahoma took home their fourth consecutive Big 12 title beating Oklahoma State 10-2 to earn the top-seed in the Women's College World Series and eventually go on to win their fifth national championship.
Utah welcomes fans back into Dumke Stadium for their home opener on Tuesday Mar. 15th, with a double-header against Wisconsin. Two days later, Pac-12 conference play will commence with a three-game series against Oregon Mar. 18th-20th, at Dumke Stadium. The Ducks finished third in the Pac-12 last season with a 14-10 record.
In their home conference slate, the Utes will host three of the top-five teams in the Pac-12 from 2021 (Arizona, Oregon, Washington).
Following the conference opener, Utah will play a home and away against Weber State (Mar. 26th-27th) and will host Utah Valley on Tuesday Mar. 29th.
Utah then travels to Stanford April 1st-3rd, for their first conference road trip and will have a short turnaround welcoming rival BYU to Dumke Stadium on Tuesday April 5th.
The California Golden Bears visit Salt Lake City that next weekend, April 8th-10th, before Utah makes its second road trip of the season down to Tempe, Ariz., for a three-game set against the Sun Devils (April 14th-16th). The Utes will then go up against Weber State for the final time in Ogden on Tuesday April 19th, preparing for their next home conference series against Arizona April 22nd-24th.
Utah makes their only trip to southern California April 29th-May 1st, taking on the reigning Pac-12 champion UCLA Bruins at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles. The Bruins finished 2021 with a 19-2 conference record, 47-7 overall, and earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Down to its last two conference matchups, the Utes welcome Washington for their home series finale May 6th-8th and will close out the regular season on the road at Oregon State May 12th-14th. The Huskies finished 18-5 in conference play (45-14) and just missed out on a trip to the College World Series after being knocked out in the Super Regionals by Oklahoma.
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