Upcoming Event: Softball versus Salt Lake Community College on October 21, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Softball
vs Salt Lake Community College
The University of Utah Athletics
Softball Heads to New Mexico Tournament
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Softball
February 23, 1999
Troy Cox Softball Classic
Feb. 26-28, 1999
Presley Askew Complex
Las Cruces, N.M.
THIS WEEK: Utah (2-3) plays in its second tournament this season. The Utes travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to play in the Troy Cox Softball Classic, hosted by New Mexico State University, at the Presley Askew Complex in Las Cruces, N.M.
POLL WATCH: Utah received 29 votes to rank 30th in the USA Today/NFCA pre-season poll released on Jan. 27. Other Western Athletic Conference teams ranked or receiving votes were defending national champion Fresno State, voted No.1; Hawai'i, placed 17th; and Colorado State, receiving nine votes to place 39th. The next poll will come out the first week of March.
TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS: The Troy Cox Softball Classic field is made up of 11 teams. The tournament begins with pool play on Friday and Saturday, with Utah placed in the Crimson Pool. From there, teams will be broken down into bracket play late Saturday and Sunday morning.
Two teams either ranked or receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll are in the Crimson Pool with Utah. Minnesota is ranked 22nd and Oregon State received seven votes to rank 42nd. In the White bracket, Northwestern received 16 votes to rank 36th and Texas Tech garnered 12 votes to rank 38th in the pre-season poll.
TOURNAMENT FIELD
Crimson Pool: Utah, Arkansas, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Wichita State and Oregon State.
White Pool: Butler, New Mexico, Northwestern, Penn State and Texas Tech.
UTAH Batting Order:
Pos. No. Player B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) LF 3 Lisa Hashimoto L/R Jr. Brigham City, Utah (Box Elder HS) RF 21 Amberly Johnson L/R So. Sandy, Utah (Alta HS) SS 23 Michele Larsen R/R Fr. Eugene, Ore. (Chuchill HS) CF 4 Jenny Monson R/R Jr. South Jordan, Utah (Bingham HS) C 32 Sunny Smith R/R Jr. Pleasant Grove, Utah 1B 39 Nicole Wikinson R/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Louisiana State) 3B 16 Lyndsey Trevis R/R Fr. Glendora, Calif. (Glendora HS) DP/P 7 Sarah Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) 2B 18 Carrie Kosderka R/R So. Roseburg, Ore. (Roseburg HS)Pitching Rotation:
Pos. No. Name B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) (1) 7 Sarah Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) (2) 24 Kristin Arbogast R/R So. Eugene, Ore. (North Eugene HS) (3) 00 Jeanette Herbert R/R Fr. West Valley, Utah (Granger HS)Off the Bench: Pos. No. Name B/T Yr. Hometown (Previous School) C/3B 10 Stacey Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) 2B/OF 12 Stacy O'Farrell L/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Ricks JC) UT 13 Molly McLean L/R Fr. Riverton, Utah (Bingham HS) C/OF 22 Stephanie Johnson R/R Fr. Rockford, Ill. (Guilford HS)
UTAH'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Friday Wichita State 12:00 p.m.
Minnesota 4:00 p.m.
Saturday Arkansas 2:00 p.m.
New Mexico State 4:00 p.m..
Bracket Game 6:00 p.m.
Sunday Bracket Game 9:00 p.m.
Championship Game 11:00 a.m.
THE OPPOSITION: No information was provided by Wichita State.
Minnesota is 12-2 after winning all seven of its games to win the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C., last weekend. The Golden Gophers defeated Maryland, 6-,5 in eight innings in the semifinals and No. 24 Illinois-Chicago, 1-0, to win the title.
Arkansas is 8-3 and has won six straight. Last week, the Lady 'Backs swept a doubleheader from Oklahoma City University on Tuesday and went 4-0 at the Hampton Inn Invitational, taking two games from Pittsburg State (9-0, 7-1) and McNeese State (2-1, 7-2).
New Mexico State is 0-12, facing a tough early season schedule. Like the Utes, the Aggies took last weekend off after competing in Arizona State's Fiesta Bowl Tournament. Against ranked teams in that tournament, NMSU lost to No. 26 California (7-0), No. 27 South Carolina (2-0), No. 19 Alabama (1-0) and No. 3 UCLA (2-0). New Mexico State was swept by No. 4 Washington, No. 2 Arizona and No. 24 Illinois-Chicago in doubleheaders at the Arizona Pepsi Softball Challenge, Feb. 5-7.
NEXT WEEK: Utah opens Western Athletic Conference play at San Diego State on Friday and Saturday. The Utes and Aztecs will play a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 p.m. PST and a single game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PST at the SDSU Softball Field.
UTES OPENED SEASON IN ARIZONA: Utah opened its 1999 season at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. The Utes went 2-3, facing four ranked teams over the course of the weekend.
Utah opened the tournament by dropping a 3-1 pitcher's dual to No. 7 Texas, then regrouping to upset No. 21 Florida State, 5-2 on Friday. Facing one of the top pitchers in the nation in Texas' Christa Williams, the Utes only mustered three hits. Sophomore Sarah Farnworth was solid in a losing effort, surrendering only three runs (one was unearned). Sunny Smith spoiled the shutout for Williams with a solo home run in the seventh.
The Utes ironed out their first-game jitters by scoring two runs in each of the third and fourth innings in a 5-2 win over the Seminoles. Kristin Arbogast earned the victory on the mound in six innings of work, giving up seven hits and two runs. Farnworth came in to pitch the seventh. The Utes' sticks were led by Sunny Smith's double and two RBIs, while Amberly Johnson also drove in a pair of runs. Lisa Hashimoto tripled in the Utes' win.
Utah earned its second split against ranked teams on Saturday, downing No. 19 Alabama, 2-1, and falling to No. 3 UCLA, 8-0. Sarah Farnworth pitched a masterful four-hitter in the upset of Alabama. Michele Larsen and Nicole Wilkinson drove in a run each in the 2-1 victory. Carrie Kosderka went 2-for-2. The Bruins proved to much for Utah, winning 8-0 in five innings behind the pitching of former national team member Amanda Freed. UCLA pounded out nine hits and drew three walks against Arbogast, who evened her record to 1-1 with the loss. Utah also committed four errors in the game.
Utah wrapped up the tournament on Sunday with a 5-1 loss to Maryland. Farnworth struck out five but gave up seven hits in six innings to fall to 1-2. Hashimoto went 2-for-4 at the plate with a stolen base. Johnson went 1-for-2 and drove in Utah's only run.
HEAD COACH MONA STEVENS... is in her third season as Utah's head coach. Stevens owns an 82-42 overall record and a 41-23 mark against Western Athletic Conference teams. In her first season, Stevens led Utah to the NCAA Tournament and a third-place finish in the WAC. Last year, Stevens guided a Utah team that started seven freshmen to a 36-21 overall record and a third-place finish in the WAC at 19-13. Stevens hasn't slowed down during the off-season. Last fall, she was named head coach of the USA Softball Junior National Team that will compete in the 1999 World Games in Taipei, Taiwan, June 17-27.
The former Ute player and assistant coach came home in September of 1996 following a two-year stint at the University of Massachusetts. Stevens was the associate head coach for the Minutewomen during the 1995 and '96 seasons, and was named UMass' head coach in June of '96, three months prior to being hired by her alma mater. In each of her two seasons at UMass, Stevens helped the Minutewomen reach the NCAA Tournament and win the Atlantic-10 Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
Stevens began her coaching career as an assistant at Utah from 1981-84. In addition to her collegiate coaching portfolio, Stevens has been a nationally recognized pitching instructor over the past 14 years. She has also worked internationally, and was the owner of Mona Stevens Enterprises from 1989-99.
QUOTING STEVENS: On her team's play in the Fiesta Bowl Tournament - For the most part, I was pleased with what we did. We played four top ranked teams and ended up going 2-2 against them. I think that gives a pretty good idea of where this team is right now. Having to face Christa Williams (Texas) and Amanda Freed (UCLA)two of the best pitchers in the nationour first weekend, I thought that we did fairly well.
We played Texas tough and battled well against Christa Williams. It was nice to see Sunny (Smith) and Sarah (Farnworth) hit well against her. Sunny got a home run and Sarah got a stand-up double. Beating Florida State and Alabama was great. It was a nice way to start the season and establish ourselves. The score of the UCLA game (8-0) was not an indication of how that game went. We felt that we were in it the whole way until it just got away from us in the last inning.
Overall, I thought that the kids played well. Our only disappointment was the loss to Maryland; but, if I had to choose a game to lose, it would be the last game of the weekend so that we would have that bad taste in our mouths for the next two weeks. The bright spots were that out lefty slappers were tremendous. We also ran the bases very well. If we made any errors on the bases at all it was on the side of being aggressive.
On where her team needs to improve - Our pitchers just needed to be on the dirt and we needed to see live pitching come at us for the first time. So, we've got some refining to do, and our first weekend showed us where needed work. We don't need a major overhaul, we just need to tighten some nuts and bolts here and there. We also just need to keep getting smarter. One coach commented (at the Arizona State tournament) that you can tell Utah is a young team, but a very good team and one that will be around for a while.
On this weekend - We were glad to have this past weekend off. We pushed hard getting ready for that first weekend and our kids needed the time off. We'd like to go down there and do very well this weekend. The pool of teams in that tournament runs the gamut. There are some strong teams there like Oregon State, Minnesota and New Mexico State. But, our goal is to go win the tournament. If we play well and fix a few things, we could do just that. We want to be one of the top teams in our pool so that we don't have to play three games on Saturday to move along in bracket play and get too fatigued. We're capable of winning down there, but we're still young. However, this group is learning quickly. If that continues, We'll have a very successful season.
FROM THE TRAINING ROOM: Junior outfielder Jenny Monson has a partially torn hamstring and is questionable for this weekend.
WAC PRE-SEASON POLL: Utah was picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference softball race this season in a poll of the league's coaches. The Utes received 52 points in the voting. Fresno State, the defending NCAA Champion, was picked first with 64 points and garnered eight of the nine first-place votes. Hawai'i received the remaining first-place vote was placed second with 54 pointsjust two more than Utah. Colorado State was picked to finish fourth with 40 points, followed by UNLV (35), San Diego State (30), San Jose State (21), New Mexico (14) and Tulsa (14).
1999 OUTLOOK
OVERALL: Seven starting position players and the top two pitchers return to a team that amassed a 36-31 overall record and finished third in the WAC with a 19-13 mark. The only significant loss is two-time All-American Sandy Rhea, who ranked in the top 10 in the WAC with a .372 batting average and 20th in the nation with 34 stolen bases.
INFIELD: After breaking in an entirely new infield last season, Utah's defense should be much more consistent in 1999. The most significant change was moving Nicole Wilkinson from shortstop, where she was the everyday starter last year, to first base. Taking over Wilkinson's former residence will be freshman Michele Larsen. Stevens feels Larsen could be a great one for the Utes. Both second basemen from last year return in sophomore Carrie Kosderka and junior Stacy O'Farrell (formerly Holmes). Kosderka will continue to get the majority of the playing time. Lyndsey Trevis, a freshman from Glendora, Calif., and Stacey Farnworth, a sophomore from Upland, Calif., will handle the duties at third. As was the case last season, Stevens wants Farnworth to also see time at catcher. Having Trevis on board will make that option more readily available. Trevis is one of the strong, power-hitting newcomers that has Stevens excited about her team's ability to score runs. She also gives the Utes a strong arm and a great glove in the infield.
OUTFIELD: Once again the most seasoned area of the team, three starters return in the outfield. Among those patrolling the lawn will be co-captains Lisa Hashimoto and Jenny Monson. Monson, a native of South Jordan, Utah, possesses the rare combination of both speed and strength, and was the only player to rank in WAC's the top seven last season in both stolen bases (15 in 19 attempts) and slugging percentage (.545). She also ranked 15th in the conference in batting (.343), seventh in RBI (37), eighth in home runs (6) and fourth in triples (6).
Hashimoto is also a tough out at the plate. A misleading .252 hitter in '98, the junior from Brigham City, Utah, is a deft slap-hitter who also has the ability to swing away, making it difficult to align an effective defense against her. Although Hashimoto is the returning starter in left field and Monson in center, Stevens may shuffle her outfield around and play Hashimoto some in center this season.
Allowing Stevens that flexibility is the potential talent playing next to her two juniors. Sophomore Amberly Johnson started the second half of last season in right field. Also inserted into the line-up at times as the designated player, the Sandy, Utah, native hit .312 in 51 games to post the fourth-best batting average on the team. Much like the rest of the Ute outfield, Johnson is extremely fast and covers a lot of territory.
The latest addition to the outfield is freshman Molly McLean, a three-time first-team all-state pick from Riverton, Utah. Originally recruited as an infielder, McLean was moved to the outfield on a trial basis this fall and appears to be there to stay.
PITCHERS AND CATCHERS: Last year, Stevens was faced with the daunting task of breaking in an entirely new pitching staff, as well as a sophomore catcher with limited experience and a freshman catcher. Despite the youth movement, Utah had the third-best earned run average in the WAC (2.09). With her top two pitchers and catchers returning, Stevens lists these positions as team strengths heading into the 1999 season. Kristin Arbogast, who posted a 12-7 record in '98, had the 12th-lowest ERA (2.72) in the WAC. She also surrendered the fifth-fewest walks (1.64) and the sixth-lowest opponents' batting average (.240) per seven innings.
With a 19-11 record in '98, Sarah Farnworth ranked fourth in the WAC in wins and also owned the league's fifth-lowest ERA (1.68). Her effectiveness was further demonstrated by opponents' .233 batting average against her, the fourth-lowest mark among league hurlers. She also gave up the sixth-fewest hits (6.31) and the third-fewest walks (1.55) per seven innings. A real iron horse, Farnworth threw 216-1/3 innings and completed 25 startsboth second-best marks in the WAC. She also made the fourth-most appearances in the conference (36).
The third pitcher on the staff is Jeanette Herbert, a redshirt freshman from West Valley City, Utah, who is looking to make her debut. The former Granger High School standout puts good movement on the ball, and has a nice curve ball and change-up.
Sunny Smith, a junior from Pleasant Grove, Utah, started the majority of the games behind the plate last year. Smith, who hit .304 on the season with five home runs and 22 RBI, picked up her productivity during the conference season to rank 20th in the WAC in hitting (.330) and seventh in home runs (4). Stacey Farnworth, the cousin of pitcher Sarah Farnworth, will also be inserted into the line-up at catcher. The third catcher on the team is freshman walk-on Stephanie Johnson from Rockford, Ill.
OFFENSE: Without question, Utah will be a better offensive team in 1999. One of the newcomers expected to make an immediate impact is Larsen, who, in Stevens' opinion, was Utah's best offensive player at the Colorado State tournament last fall. Along with Larsen, Kosderka is another solid line drive hitter. Those two will not only give Utah solid defense up the middle, but also two dangerous bats in the line-up. Trevis will add some power to the batting order, and with Monson and Smith will give the Utes three legitimate home run threats.
The Utes also have some serious speed to contend with. Between Hashimoto, Monson, McLean, Johnson and Holmes, the Utes have five people who will start at a position or designated player that can fly. Because of that, Utah will put some pressure on other teams with its speed. Out of that same group, with the exception of Jenny Monson, the Utes have four lefty slappers who should be able to get on base frequently. And, all four can stand in and hit.
STANDINGS
(As of Feb. 22) WAC Overall
W-L Pct. W-L-T Pct.
1. Fresno State 0-0 --- 4-0-0 1.000
2. New Mexico 0-0 --- 17-1-0 .944
3. Hawaii 0-0 --- 10-2-0 .833
4. UNLV 0-0 --- 6-6-0 .500
Colorado State 0-0 --- 4-4-0 .500
6. Tulsa 0-0 --- 6-9-0 .400
Utah 0-0 --- 2-3-0 .400
8. San Jose State 0-0 --- 5-9-0 .357
9. San Diego State 0-0 --- 2-4-0 .333
THIS WEEK
Febraury 23 (Tuesday)
*Hawai'i at Fresno State (2), 6:00 p.m.
February 25 (Thursday)
Colorado State and Fresno State
at NFCA Lead-Off Classic, All Day
February 26 (Friday)
Colorado State and Fresno State
at Lead-Off Classic, All Day
Hawaii at Arizona Tournament, All Day
San Jose State at UNLV (2), Noon
New Mexico and Utah at New Mexico State Invitational, All Day
February 27 (Saturday)
Colorado State and Fresno State
at NFCA Lead-Off Classic, All Day
Hawai'i at Arizona Tournament, All Day
New Mexico and Utah at New Mexico State Invitational, All Day
San Diego State at CS Northridge Tournament, All Day
February 28 (Sunday)
Colorado State and Fresno State
at NFCA Lead-Off Classic, All Day
Hawai'i at Arizona Tournament, All Day
New Mexico and Utah at New Mexico State Invitational, All Day
San Diego State at CS Northridge Tournament, All Day
*San Jose State at UNLV, Noon
* WAC game
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