Completed Event: Softball versus No. 2 Seed Oklahoma State on May 7, 2026 , Loss , 0, to, 7
Final Score
Softball
0
vs No. 2 Seed Oklahoma State
7
The University of Utah Athletics
Utes Sweep MWC Softball Weekly Awards
2/15/2011 12:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2011
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2011 University of Utah Softball Media Guide
2011 Louisville Slugger Desert Classic 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Utah softball team swept the Mountain West Conference weekly awards as first baseman Tia Palauni was named MWC Player of the Week and Generra Nielson was named MWC Pitcher of the Week after leading the Utes to a 3-2 record in the opening weekend of the 2011 season at the Kajikawa Classic. The Utes defeated Mississippi (10-0 in five innings), Western Michigan (6-0) and No. 13/10 host Arizona State (3-1 in eight innings).
The award was Palauni's second career honor and the first of Nielson's career. Palauni's last weekly league honor came during the first week of the 2010 season.
Palauni hit .583 over the five games with seven hits in 12 at-bats, six runs scored and eight RBI. She begins the 2011 season with a five-game hitting streak and a 1.417 slugging percentage with a double and three home runs. The junior from Taylorsville, Utah started the season with a leadoff double in the second inning against Mississippi in the season opener and hit a home run in three of the last four games of the weekend. Saturday against Western Michigan, Palauni hit a two-run home run over the left-center field fence against the Broncos. The Utes were down 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning that night against the No. 13/10 Sun Devils when Palauni connected on a walk-off three-run home run for the key road win. Palauni followed up that performance on Sunday with a three-hit, three-RBI performance against No. 23/22 Oklahoma State. A former second baseman, Palauni was a perfect 1.000 fielding in her debut as the Utes' first baseman.
Nielson threw 19.2 innings in her first weekend of action as a Ute, allowing just eight earned runs on 16 hits en route to a 3-2 record. The junior from Blanding, Utah totaled a 3.66 ERA and had 23 strikeouts against just eight walks. In her season debut against Mississippi, Nielson earned her first shutout of the season in four innings of work. Her second start, against Western Michigan, gave her a second shutout and a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings. Nielson then picked up a relief win over No. 13/10 Arizona State. In 3.1 innings against the Sun Devils, Nielson struck out five batters while not giving up a walk and just three hits to go with an unearned run. Nielson made her fourth start of the weekend against No. 23/22 Oklahoma State on Sunday on the final day of the event.
Utah's second week of the 2011 season will feature six games over three days at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The Utes will begin the event by facing No. 14/14 Oregon Friday at 9 a.m. PT, then No. 9/12 Hawai'i at 11:15 a.m. PT. Saturday's action will kick off against Nevada at 11:15 a.m. PT, then the Utes will take on top-ranked UCLA at 1:30 p.m. PT. The event concludes with two games Sunday against Arkansas at 9 a.m. PT then versus Long Beach State at 11:15 a.m. PT.
Players Mentioned
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