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2023 Pac-12 Softball Tournament

May 10-13, 2023 | Tucson, AZ | Hillenbrand Stadium

Utah, UCLA advance to Pac-12 Softball Championship Game

by Ryan Kelapire
May 12, 2023
Photo by Mike Christy

TUCSON — The inaugural Pac-12 Softball Championship Game is set after No. 3 seed Utah and No. 1 seed UCLA emerged victorious from the semifinals.

The two teams will square off on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2 with the title on the line.

Here's how Friday's action went down.

Utah's bats drop the Dawgs

The Utes continued to swing a hot bat, tallying 12 hits in their 8-4 win over No. 2 seed Washington. In the quarterfinals, it was Sophie Jacquez with the big hits. In the semis it was Julia Jimenez and Ellessa Bonstrom.

Jimenez opened the scoring with a two-run double in third and homered in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-0. Bonstrom belted a two-run homer in the seventh to kick start a four-run inning that gave the Utes a six-run cushion. 

"I've kind of been swinging out of my zone lately, so I just wanted to get a good pitch, I got it, and it started the whole day for me," Jimenez said.

Mariah Lopez followed up Sydney Sandez's brilliance against Cal with a complete game against the Huskies. Lopez held UW scoreless until the fifth when a pair of RBI groundouts cut the Utes' lead to 4-2. Washington brought the tying run to the plate in the 7th but Lopez got Jadelyn Allchin to ground out with the bases loaded to seal the deal.

It marked three straight complete games for Lopez, who Utah head coach Amy Hogue says has found a new level of competitiveness in this final stretch of the season. Lopez threw a no-hitter against Oregon in the regular-season finale.

"She finally got greedy enough to say give me the ball and let me keep it, and today it was a day like that where I didn't dare go out there," Hogue said. "I'm like, 'This is your game and we're gonna run with you all the way to the end.'"

Lopez's teammates are just as determined. The Utes clearly aren't satisfied with making the championship game. They're in it to win it.

"We have been looked at as the smaller team, the underdogs. We're not the underdogs this year," Jimenez said. "I think we go into games knowing we're gonna beat people. We beat big teams and that's all it's gonna take tomorrow. We're ready for the championship. This is what this team is all about. We want it and we're going after it tomorrow."

At the same time, Hogue knows what kind of challenge lies ahead.

"I don't know who we're gonna get but both teams are great," she said. "There's no denying that we're going to need everybody. Everybody from the bench, everybody in the circle."

Yanez spins shutout as UCLA blanks Stanford

NiJaree Canady vs. Brooke Yanez was sure to be a pitcher's duel and it lived up to the hype. Stanford and UCLA were scoreless through five as each hurler matched pitch for pitch.

The first two Cardinal reached base in the first inning, but Yanez promptly retired 18 straight.

Canady was touching 72 MPH with her riseball and accenting it with a curve and mid-50s changeup. The freshman spun five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out eight Bruins.

Canady was replaced by Alana Vawter to begin the sixth and the Bruins immediately capitalized. The Cardinal defense could not turn a pair of sharp groundballs into outs and then Savannah Pola lined a single into left to lead the Bruins to a 1-0 win.

They were glad to see a different pitcher in the circle.

"To be honest, I think that was great news for us because clearly NiJaree was doing some damage," said UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. "We've seen Vawter. NiJaree is legit, but that's the first time we've seen her."

The Cardinal finally put a runner on base in the seventh with an infield single from Taylor Gindlesperger, but Yanez kept rolling, retiring the next three batters to complete the shutout.

Inouye-Perez said it was the best game Yanez has pitched this season. She allowed just two hits while striking out six.

"Everything" was working for the left-hander, Inyoue-Perez said. "That's what makes her dirty. She has a great drop. She has a great rise. She was pounding the zone and getting ahead of her curve and when she does that, it really puts the hitters on the defense and you saw them with very defensive swings and missing the ball by quite a lot."

UCLA's pitching will be tested Saturday by a Utah lineup that has produced 14 runs on 20 hits in the Pac-12 Tournament, though the Bruins swept the Utes in Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago with a 24-4 run differential. Inyoue-Perez isn't shocked that Utah has reached the title game.

"They're fighters this year," she said. "They have all parts of the game this year and they're on a mission. You can see that they're playing with an edge and this is an opportunity for them. ...  Tomorrow is going to be a good battle. It's two good teams ready to compete."

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