A Six-Game Slate in Hawaii On Deck for Utah Softball

SALT LAKE CITY – For the second straight season, the University of Utah softball team has gotten off to an 11-4 start and as the beginning of their Pac-12 schedule draws near, the Utes will have an opportunity to continue building momentum when they head to the Hawaii Spring Fling, where they'll play six games over four days at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, starting with two contests on Friday and concluding with two more on Monday.
 
Utah's time in the Aloha State starts on Friday with a 10 a.m. HT (1 p.m. MT) tilt against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, followed by a clash with the Santa Clara Broncos at 12 p.m. HT. Saturday's festivities begin at 2 p.m. HT, when the Utes will meet the Niagara Purple Eagles and Utah's second Saturday showdown will pit them against the Pacific Tigers at 4 p.m. HT. After a day off on Sunday, the Utes and Purple Eagles will square off again on Monday at 1:30 p.m. HT before Utah clashes with the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine at 4 p.m. HT.
 
Hawaii Spring Fling Schedule

             
How to Follow
Unfortunately, there will not be a live video stream available at the Hawaii Spring Fling, but live stats links will be available for every contest.
 
Last Time Out
The only team to defeat the Utes in their most recent tournament, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, was the now-No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners and Utah outscored their other four opponents 25-6 on route to a 4-1 record.
 
Nobody was a tougher out in the Utah lineup during the previous week than Aliya Belarde, who went 10-for-18, smacked her first homer of the year and drove in six runs. She also scored five times and led the squad in total bases. Belarde's best day came on the team's final day in California, as she led the Utes past Ohio State and Long Beach State by going 5-for-8 and driving in five runs.
 
Kaylah Nelsen is coming off her best week as a Ute so far, matching Belarde's RBI total with six and supplying nearly all the offense in her team's tournament-opening win over Texas Tech. Haley Denning hit .471 at the Mary Nutter Classic and has hit in nine straight games, while Julia Jimenez homered and drove in five runs in Palm Springs to boost her RBI total to a team-high 15.
 
Utah was also bouyed by the work of pitcher Mariah Lopez, who won both her starts, earned a save against LMU with three scoreless innings of relief work and posted a 1.40 ERA across those three outings. In nine games, Lopez has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any appearance and she's issued more than one walk only once. Sydney Sandez provided the perfect capper for her team's time in California with seven shutout innings against Long Beach State. Utah's six shutouts so far in 2023 are nearly as many as they had in all of 2022.

Scouting the Opposition
Of the five opponents who'll be waiting for the Utes in Hawaii, only the Rainbow Wahine enter the tournament with a winning record, as they stand at 9-6. Hawaii began the season with three straight victories, then spent the season's second week going 4-1 at the UNLV Desert Classic.
 
No one in the Hawaii lineup has been more dangerous than junior Mya'Liah Bethea, who's hitting .364 with six homers, tied for seventh in the nation. Hawaii's pitching staff has been anchored by sophomore Brianna Lopez, who sports a 5-2 record and a 1.54 ERA. In her last outing, Lopez fired a seven-inning two-hitter against St. Bonaventure, registering her first shutout of the year.
 
For the Bonnies, this will be their second straight week in Hawaii and they'll be searching for their first win of the season, while the Broncos shook off a slow start to the year and have won three of their last four. That success has been led by Santa Clara's top two hitters, Sammy Needham and Ashley Trierweiler, both of whom are hitting well above .400. Needham will arrive in Hawaii carrying a nine-game hit streak, while Trierweiler has scored 17 runs in her team's last eight games and leads the Broncos with a .467 average.
 
Team Stat Leaders (as of 2/22/23)

 
 
National Rankings - Individual 

• Haley Denning and Aliya Belarde have piled up 22 hits so far in 2023, tying both of them for 21st in the country.
• Denning has swiped 14 bags as a senior, the fourth-highest mark in Division I.
• Mariah Lopez has racked up 55 strikeouts compared to only six walks in nine appearances in the circle and her strikeout-to-walk ratio of 9.17 is eighth-best in the nation among those who've thrown at least 40 innings.
• Lopez can also claim one of the nation's highest strikeout totals, as her 55 Ks are tied for 20th.
• Julia Jimenez has been credited with three sacrifice flies through 15 games, tied for eighth-most nationally.
• In 51 at-bats in 2023, Belarde has been struck out just once. Only three players in the country have more at-bats to their credit with only one strikeout.

 
National Rankings – Team

• Utah's 49 stolen bases are the NCAA's fourth-highest total and are almost twice as many as any other squad in the Pac-12. They are also more than halfway to the program's single-season record of 92 steals set in 1994.
• Utah's hurlers have tossed six shutouts so far in 2023, tied for 10th in the nation. They've already nearly matched their total of eight shutouts in 2022.
• The Utes' pitching staff has posted a 1.65 ERA, good enough for 22nd in Division I. The Utes have held the opposition to two or fewer runs 12 times in 15 contests.
• UTah's hurlers have also struck out 54 batters compared to only nine walks, giving them a 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is tied for ninth in the nation.
• The Utes have turned 20 double plays through the season's first 15 games, tied for 20th in the country.

Utes Receive Votes in National Polls
For the second time in 2023, the Utes received votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll, but they were also on the minds of the voters in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Utah is attempting to break into the top 25 for the first time since 2020, when they rose as high as No. 20.
 
Starting Fast
In each of their last six games, the Utes have scored in the first inning and the 21 runs they've tallied in that initial frame are their second-highest total in any inning in 2023. Utah had its largest first inning outburst during their Feb. 24 win over Texas Tech, when a fielder's choice and an three-run Kaylah Nelsen double put up a four-spot and gave the Utes a lead they'd never relinquish.
 
Setting the Table
One of the most important reasons for Utah's success on offense has been the work of Haley Denning and Aliya Belarde at the top of the order. Denning and Belarde own the team's top two batting averages and are in the top 10 in the conference in runs scored. Belarde has also driven in 12 runs, surpassing the combined total from her freshman and sophomore years.
 
Milestone Watch
Ellessa Bonstrom and Haley Denning both entered the year with significant milestones within their reach and they've continued to close in on those accomplishments. Bonstrom, who has driven in 12 runs so far in 2023, is 40 away from becoming the program's all-time leader in that statistic and she's also 18 walks and three sacrifice flies from reaching the top of the Utah leaderboard in those categories.
 
Denning has swiped 14 bases through her team's first 15 games and those thefts have pushed her into third-place all-time in school history with 81 steals. She needs 19 more to become only the third Ute to ever reach 100 career stolen bases.
 
More History for Hogue
One season after becoming the all-time wins leader in the history of Utah softball, head coach Amy Hogue has already surpassed two more milestones in 2023. With her team's win on Friday over Northern Colorado, Hogue became the first coach to reach 400 wins in program history and two days later, she picked up the 600th victory of her head coaching career.
 
Lopez Named First Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week
For the first time since 2017, a Utah pitcher was honored with a weekly award. Mariah Lopez earned the title of Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week after starting the season with 14 1/3 scoreless innings and three straight victories. The last Utah pitcher to receive a weekly award was Miranda Viramontes, who was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week in 2017.
 
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).