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 Hits the Road for Spring Vacation
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Softball
March 9, 1999
COMING UP: Utah (5-9, 0-3 WAC) makes its annual Spring Break trip. The Utes open their road trip at the National Invitational Softball Tournament this Friday through Sunday in San Jose, Calif. Utah will then play a doubleheader against Rutgers next Tuesday in Berkeley, Calif., at 12:00 p.m. PST. Utah closes out the trip at the KIA Klassic next Thursday through Sunday in Fullerton, Calif.
NIST Tournament
March 12-14 - Twin Creeks Softball Complex - Sunnyvale, Calif.
Rutgers
March 16 - Berkeley, Calif. - 12:00 p.m. PST (DH)
KIA Klassic
March 18-21 - Titan Softball Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
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 3B 10 Stacey Farnworth R/R So. Upland, Calif. (Upland HS) 1B 39 Nicole Wikinson R/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Louisiana State) 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) 2B/OF 12 Stacy O'Farrell L/R Jr. Sandy, Utah (Ricks JC) UT 13 Molly McLean L/R Fr. Riverton, Utah (Bingham HS) 3B 16 Lyndsey Trevis R/R Fr. Glendora, Calif. (Glendora HS) C/OF 22 Stephanie Johnson R/R Fr. Rockford, Ill. (Guilford HS)POLL WATCH: Utah received four votes to rank 46h in the USA Today/NFCA poll released on March 3. Other Western Athletic Conference teams ranked or receiving votes were Fresno State at No. 3, Hawai'i at 24th and Colorado State with 10 votes to place 40th.
UTAH UPDATE: The Utes are 5-9 overall and 0-3 in Western Athletic Conference play. Utah has competed in two tournaments. Utah went 2-3, facing four Top 25 teams, at Arizona State's Fiesta Bowl Tournament, Feb. 12-14 in Tempe, Ariz. Utah tied for third place, posting a 3-3 record at the New Mexico State's Troy Cox Softball Classic, Feb. 26-28. The Utes lost a three-game series to open conference play at San Diego State, March 6-7.
Junior catcher Sunny Smith leads the team in hitting with a .371 average, two home runs and five RBI. Sophomore catcher/third baseman Stacey Farnworth is second on the team in hitting with a .333 batting average, two home runs and three RBI. Sophomore Sara Farnworth leads the pitching staff with a 1.09 ERA and a 4-3 record.
STACEY FARNWORTH NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After a great showing at the Troy Cox Softball Classic (Feb. 26-28) and earning all-tournament honors. Sophomore catcher/third baseman Stacey Farnworth was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week on March 1. The Upland, Calif., native went 6-for-13 (.462) with three RBI, three runs scored, two doubles and two home runs in six games. She helped lead the Utes to a 3-3 mark at the tournament. Farnworth hit a home run in the top of the sixth inning to give Utah a 4-2 win over Arkansas. She also hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Utes a 1-0 victory over Penn State.
AFTER SPRING BREAK: Utah continues its Western Athletic Conference schedule with a three-game series at San Jose State, March 27-28.
NIST TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
THE FIELD: The National Invitational Softball Tournament field consists of 20 teams, four of which are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Poll released on March 3 and six more that are in the receiving votes category, including Utah at No. 46. Other ranked teams in the field: No. 8 Arizona State, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 20 California, No. 23 Iowa, No. 34 Notre Dame, No. 40 Colorado State, No. 42 Texas Tech and No. 44 Arkansas.
The field will be broken down into five pools of four teams. Utah is in Pool C. After three games of pool play on Friday, the teams will be placed into bracket play on Saturday. The championship games will take place on Sunday.
SCOUTING POOL C: Cal Poly-SLO is 6-12. Last weekend at home, the Mustangs swept a doubleheader against St. Mary's and dropped two games to No. 20 California. Northern Illinois is 1-5. The Huskies have not played since opening the season Feb. 13-14 at the University of Minnesota's Metrodome Classic. It's only win was over Western Illinois. No current information was available on Creighton.
UTAH'S SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 12 vs. No. Illinois 9:00 a.m. PST
vs. Creighton 11:00 a.m. PST
vs. Cal Poly-SLO ( No. 43) 7:00 p.m. PST
Saturday, March 13 Bracket Play TBA
Sunday, March 14 Championship Game TBA
UTAH VS. RUTGERS
SCOUTING RUTGERS: The Lady Knights have yet to play a game this season. Rutgers returns 14 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's team that went 25-22 overall and 10-5 in the Big East Conference. Senior catcher Angie Catalano hit .383 with seven home runs last season. Senior pitcher Juliette Brooks went 13-9 with a 2.30 ERA.
KIA KLASSIC PREVIEW
THE FIELD: The KIA Klassic field consists of 16 teams, 10 of which are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Poll released on March 3 and two more that are in the receiving votes category, including Utah at No. 46. Other ranked teams in the field: No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Fresno State, No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 DePaul, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 10 Southwestern Louisiana, No. 19 Oregon State, No. 25 Florida and No. 35 Cal State-Northridge.
The field will be broken down into four pools of four teams. Utah is in Pool C. After three games of pool play on Thursday and Friday, the teams will be placed into bracket play late Friday and into Saturday and Sunday.
SCOUTING POOL C: Arizona State, ranked eighth, is 17-3 following sweeping a doubleheader from No. 25 Cal State-Northridge on March 6. The Sun Devils are 6-2 against ranked teams this season. Cal State-Fullerton, the tournament host, is 11-7 after going 4-2 at the Easton Showcase Tournament, March 5-7. Liberty is 11-9 after splitting a doubleheader with Cleveland State at home on March 8.
UTAH'S SCHEDULE:
Thursday, March 18 vs. Arizona State (No. 8) 3:00 p.m. PST
vs. Cal State-Fullerton 7:00 p.m. PST
Friday, March 19 vs. Liberty 1:00 p.m. PST
Championship Bracket Play TBA
Saturday, March 20 Championship Bracket Play TBA
Sunday, March 21 Championship Bracket Play TBA
UTAH NOTES
LAST WEEKEND: Utah opened its Western Athletic Conference season by dropping three games to San Diego State on Saturday and Sunday at SDSU Softball Field. The Utes dropped the opener 2-1 and lost the second game on Saturday 3-2 in eight innings. Trailing 1-0 in game one, Utah rallied with two outs in the top of the seventh. Lisa Hashimoto followed a single by Carrie Kosderka with a single of her own and advanced to second on an error by right fielder Kellie Nordhagen. Stacy O'Farrell, pinch running for Kosderka, advanced to third on the play and scored on a single by Amberly Johnson, who went 3-for-4 in the game.
Ute starter Sarah Farnworth gave up two walks to open the bottom of the seventh that led to the win. In the loss, Farnworth gave up two earned runs off of six hits and four walks while striking out five.
The same fate befell Utah in the nightcap despite the fact that the Utes outhit the Aztecs nine to three. Jenny Monson scored the first run of the game with a solo home run in the top of the fifth. Monson went 2-for-4 in the game.
After the Aztecs scored two unearned runs thanks two Ute errors in the bottom of the fifth, Utah rallied to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Hashimoto opened the frame with a double. Then with two outs, Sunny Smith reached on an error by shortstop Vanessa Villegas and Hashimoto scored to send the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Nordhagen walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a single. Arbogast went the distance for the Utes giving up one earned run off of three hits and five walks.
San Diego State defeated Utah 3-0 on Sunday afternoon. Arbogast gave up three earned runs off of five hits and two walks in just over two innings of work to fall to 1-6. Farnworth surrendered no runs off of five hits and struck out three after relieving Arbogast in the third. The Utes were outhit by the Aztecs 10 to four.
After getting a run in the first, San Diego State broke the game open with two runs in in the third. The Utes left two runners on base in the sixth in three more in the seventh.
HEAD COACH MONA STEVENS... is in her third season as Utah's head coach. Stevens owns an 85-48 overall record and a 41-26 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 the San Diego State series - It was a tough, frustrating weekend. We had 17 hits but only managed to score three runs in the doubleheader on Saturday. We outhit them, had less errors, but just couldn't string the hits together. We didn't execute on bunts and just had a lot of other miscues as well. Our pitching just wasn't real sharp. We made too many mistakes and gave up too many walkstoo many critical walks. Kristin (Arbogast) and Sarah (Farnworth) will work on fine tuning some things this week because they are better than they've shown. Our defense and offense was really pretty goodagain other than the fact that we couldn't get the clutch hit. Our defense was especially good when you consider that played under pressure the whole weekend. I think the difference was San Diego State played so relaxed, and we were not at our best. We've had 12 to 15 players down in bed with the flu over the last few weeks. We've also had some injuries to our key leaders, such as Jenny Monson and Gator (Nicole Wilkinson). Two other leaders, Lisa Hashimoto and Sunny Smith were really sick last weekend. On the Spring Break trip - I'm looking forward to playing a bunch of games in the next 10 days and getting on a roll. We can just go play, play, play and get the kinks out. I think we will have an excellent tournament at San Jose State. There will be a good cross section of teams there, and we hope to do well in that tournament. The KIA Klassic has a very strong field. We hope to do well early in the road trip at San Jose State and against Rutgers, and carry that momentum into the tournament at Fullerton. Anybody who does well in that tournament usually goes on to have a very good year. I am hopeful that we can pull all the pieces together and have a good road trip.
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).
STANDINGS
(As of March 3) WAC Overall
W-L Pct. W-L-T Pct.
1. Fresno State 3-0 1.00 16-3-0 .842
UNLV 3-0 1.00 9-8-0 .529
San Diego St. 3-0 1.00 7-11-0 .289
4. Hawai'i 3-3 .500 14-9-0 .609
5. San Jose St. 2-3 .400 7-14-0 .333
6. New Mexico 0-0 .000 21-3-0 .875
7. Tulsa 0-2 .000 6-13-0 .316
8. Utah 0-3 .000 5-9 .357
Colorado St. 0-3 .000 7-10-0 .412
THIS WEEK
March 9 (Tuesday)
Tulsa at California (2), 1:00 p.m.
*Colorado State at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m.
March 10 (Wednesday)
*Colorado State at Fresno State (2), 6:00 p.m.
March 12 (Friday)
Colorado State, San Jose State and Utah at NIST, All Day
Fresno State at Florida State Tournament, All Day
*New Mexico at Tulsa, 1:00 p.m.
*UNLV at Hawaii, 6:00 p.m.
March 13 (Saturday)
Colorado State, San Jose State and Utah at NIST, All Day
Fresno State at Florida State Tournament, All Day
*New Mexico at Tulsa (2), 1:00 p.m.
Southern Utah at San Diego State (2), 1:00 p.m.
*UNLV at Hawaii (2), 2:00 p.m.
March 14 (Sunday)
Colorado State, San Jose State and Utah at NIST, All Day
Fresno State at Florida State Tournament, All Day
* WAC game
All times local
Kristin Arbogast - 24
P - R/R - 5-6 - Fr.
Eugene, Ore. (North Eugene HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: has won her last three starts ... pitched Utah to a 2-1 win over third-ranked Fresno State on May 2 ... recorded four strikeouts against the Bulldogs ... had a season-high seven strikeouts while giving up just one unearned run and two hits in a complete-game win over Southern Utah on April 28 ... shutout Georgia Tech on March 25, striking out five while only surrendering two hits and a walk in six innings ... blanked Indiana State, recording four strikeouts, on March 27 in the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic ... also got a win over Florida State at the Buzz Classic ... won her first collegiate start against Ohio State on Feb. 13 in the Arizona State Tournament ...
Kellie Culligan - 13
UT - R/R - 5-8 - Sr.
Sandy, Utah (Southern Utah)
Career Notes: x
1998: delivered with a pinch-hit three-run double against Wright State at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic on March 27 ... drove in a run with a double and scored a run against San Jose State on March 1 ...
Sarah Farnworth - 7
P/DP - R/R - 5-3 - Fr.
Upland, Calif. (Upland HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: equally valuable on the mound and at the plate ... ranks in the WAC ... leads the team in ... led Utah to a 6-1 win over eighth-ranked California on Feb. 21 on the mound and at the plate ... gave up a run on just five hits, and went 3-for-3 with a home run, a triple two runs scored and two RBI against Cal ... had five-consecutive wins from March 1-8 ... season-high eight strikeouts in seven innings in a win over Utah State on April 22 ... in a win over San Jose State on May 1, struck out seven and gave up just four hits and one unearned run ... six strikeouts in win over Southern Utah (April 28) ... five strikeouts in three games ... hit a home run and had two RBI in a 2-for-3 effort against Georgia State (March 28) in the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic ... 2-for-3 with a double in win against Florida State (3-for-4 with a run scored at Tulsa on April 3.
Stacey Farnworth - 10
INF/C - R/R - 5-3 - Fr.
Upland, Calif. (Upland HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: has been used in the line-up primarily as a third baseman, but has also been uses as a catcher ... has been used primarily as a third baseman the last two months of the season ... hit her first collegiate home run, a three-run shot, in the second game of a doubleheader against UNLV on April 17 ... went 3-for-3 in that game ... went 5-for-13 with a triple and two RBI in the four-game series against Tulsa (April 3-4)
Jeanette Herbert - 00
P - R/R - 5-9 - RS-Fr.
West Valley, Utah (Granger HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: Redshirting.
Lisa Hashimoto - 3
OF - L/R - 5-3 - So.
Brigham City, Utah (Box Elder HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: third on the team with 25 runs scored ... .248 batting average ... successful on all six stolen base attempts ... went 3-for-4 with one of one of her two triples, and RBI and two runs scored against San Jose State on May 1 ... also had a triple against Illinois-Chicago in the championship of the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic on March 29 ... 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI at Colorado State on April 11 ... 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double against Hawai'i on April 24 ...
Stacy Holmes - 12
INF - L/R - 5-3 - So.
Sandy, Utah (Ricks JC)
Career Notes: x
1998: starting second baseman most of the season ... had a season-best six-game hitting streak from April 18-24 ... first career triple against Utah State (April 22) ... 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI against Detroit Mercy (Feb. 14) in the Arizona State Tournament ... went 2-for-2 with an RBI against Georgia Tech (March 25) ... 2-for-3 with an RBI against San Jose State on May 1.
Amberly Johnson - 21
OF - L/R - 5-6 - Fr.
Sandy, Utah (Alta HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: day-to-day starter in right field the last half of the season ... also started as a designated player ... five-game hitting streak from April 3-10 ... 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI against Detroit Merchey on Feb. 14 at the Arizona State Tournament ... 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored against Georgia State in the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic on March 28 ... 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBI against Southern Utah on April 28 ...
Carrie Kosderka - 18
INF - R/R - 5-3 - Fr.
Roseburg, Ore. (Roseburg HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: started off the season with a four-game hitting streak ... first career home run against Florida Atlantic (March 29) in the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic ... went 1-for-3 with two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base in that game ... 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored against Ohio State in her first collegiate game (Feb. 13) in the Arizona State Tournament ... 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBI at New Mexico on March 8 ... 2-for-3 with two runs scored against UNLV on April 17.
Jenny Monson - 4
OF - R/R - 5-8 - So.
South Jordan, Utah (Bingham HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: had the second-best batting average on the team at .341 ... led the team and ranked xth in the WAC with a .371 batting average in league games ... led the team and ranked xth in the WAC with six home runs ... also ranked xth in the conference with a team-best 36 RBI ... hit home runs on back-to-back days against San Jose State (May 1) and Fresno State (May 2) at Ute Field ... launched a two-run shot against SJSU, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and had a solo homer, going 2-fof-2, against FSU ... homer ... hit solo homers in both ends of the doubleheader against Tulsa on April 3 ... went 3-for-7 with four runs scored on the day ... was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb 16 after having an outstanding tournament at the Arizona State Coca-Cola Classic ... in four games, went 6-for-15 (.400), drove in six runs and scored four times ... also jacked a three-run home run in the top of the eighth to give Utah a 6-3 win over then-No. 25 Tennessee on Feb. 13 ... went 2-for-4 with five RBI against UT ... 2-for-3 with a home run, a triple, two RBI and two runs scored against Georgia State in the Holida Inn Buzz Classic on March 28 ... had a season-best seven-game hitting streak from Feb. 8 through Feb. 25 ... hit .391 during that time ...
Sandy Rhea - 8
OF - L/L - 5-9 - Sr.
South Jordan, Utah (Bingham HS)
Career Notes: with 128 career stolen bases, has moved into the top 10 all-time on the NCAA's career stolen base chart ... currently in ninth place and needs one more to move into a tie for eighth place ... on the Utah career charts, ranks ... on the WAC career charts, ranks ...
1998: broke the Utah and WAC single-game record with five stolen bases against San Jose State on March 1 ... tied the school single-season record with seven triples this season ... ranks 19th in the nation in stolen bases with an average of 0.58 per game ... ranks in the WAC ... hit safely in 13 of 14 games, including a string of seven-consecutive games, from March 1-27 ... had 23 (or 24) consecutive stolen bases to start the season ... went 4-for-4 with two runs against New Mexico on March 8 ... 2-for-4 with three RBI and a runs scored at Georgia Tech (March 25) ... two triples in a 2-for-4 effort against Nicholls State (March 29) ... 4-for-4 with a triple, RBI and two runs at Colorado State on April 11 ... in a doubleheader against Southern Utah on April 28, went 5-for-7 with a double, triple and three runs.
Sunny Smith - 32
C - R/R - 5-7 - So.
Pleasant Grove, Utah (Pleasant Grove HS)
Career Notes: x
1998: xhit .370 during the WAC season ... currently on a seven-game hitting streak ... hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give Utah a 5-2 win over New Mexico on April 18 ... had a home run in a 2-1 Utah win over No. 3 Fresno State on May 2 ... two-run home run in the first game of a doubleheader against San Jose State on May 1 ... went 4-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, three runs and four RBI in the two games against the Spartans ... hit a two-run homer at UNLV on March 6 ... 2-for-3 with two RBI in the season-opener against Ohio State in the Arizona State Tournament on Feb. 13 ... had a three-run double against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 14 in the Arizona State Tournament ... in a doubleheader against Tulsa on April 3, went 6-for-8 with two doubles, two runs and two RBI ...
Jamie Wilkes - 23
P - R/R - 5-8 - Jr.
Garden Grove, Calif. (Cypress JC)
Career Notes: x
1998: threw seven innings, giving up two runs, to get her first WAC win over San Jose State ... shut out Detroit Mercy at the Arizona State Tournament on Feb. 14, striking out three and walking none ... shut out Georgia State on March 28 at the Holiday Inn Buzz Classic, striking out two in seven innings ... picked up a win in relief over New Mexico on April 18 ...
Nicole Wilkinson - 39
SS - R/R - 5-8 - So.
Sandy, Utah (Louisiana State)
Career Notes: x
1998: had a five-game hitting streak from April 25 through May 1 ... hit a grand slam home run against Hawai'i on April 25 ... three-run homer in the second games at Georgia Tech on March 25 ... went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI in the first game against the Yellow Jackets ... 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI in the season-opener against Ohio State in the Arizona State Tournament on Feb. 13 ... 2-for-3 in both games of a doubleheader against third-ranked Fresno State on May 2 ... 2-for-2 with two RBI against Wright State (March 27) ...
Records set in 1998
Sarah Farnworth
195 hits and 84 runs allowed most by a Utah pitcher
Team Hitting
60 2B - needs 3 to tie season record
18 HB - new record
Team Pitching
360 Hits - new record
171 Runs - new record
115 ER
Team Fielding
111 Errors - new record
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