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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Softball Faces Illinois Friday in NCAA Regional
5/16/2016 12:00 AM | Softball
May 16, 2016
| NCAA Softball Lexington Regional | |
| Game 1 - Friday, May 20, 2016 | #2 Utah vs. #3 Illinois | 3:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats |
| Game 2 - Friday, May 20, 2016 | #1 Kentucky vs. #4 Butler | 6 p.m. ET | Live Stats |
| Game 3 - Saturday, May 21, 2016 | Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 | 1 p.m. ET |
| Game 4 - Saturday, May 21, 2016 | Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 | 3:30 p.m. ET |
| Game 5 - Saturday, May 21, 2016 | Loser G3 vs. Winner G4 | 6 p.m. ET |
| Game 6 - Sunday, May 22, 2016 | Winner G3 vs. Winner G5 | 1 p.m. ET |
| Game 7 - Sunday, May 22, 2016 | (if necessary) | 3:30 p.m. ET |
| LOCATION | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium |
| TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | UKAthletics.com |
| BROADCAST | All games will be streamed online on ESPN3 |
| GAME INFO | Complete Game Notes | Tickets |
ON DECK
Utah will travel to the Lexington Regional and face Illinois on Friday, May 20. The host Kentucky Wildcats will play the Butler Bulldogs in the other contest.
UTAH NOTES
- The Utes went 32-19 overall and finished fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with a record of 13-10, their most wins since joining in 2012.
- Utah is making consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994-95.
- Utah has an all-time record of 18-29 in NCAA postseason play, including a 17-23 record in Regional Tournaments.
- This marks the 20th postseason appearance for the Utes, which includes appearances in both AIAW and NCAA Tournaments.
- Utah has won 29 of its last 41 contests and is receiving votes in the both the ESPN.com/USA Softball and NFCA/USA Today Polls. The Utes were also 30th in the latest RPI with eight Pac-12 teams in the top 40.
- Utah finished second in the league with 33 doubles while batting .307 and finishing fourth in on-base percentage (.389), runs (121) and slugging (.486)
- Utah placed third in the Pac-12 with a 2.83 earned run average. The Utes only allowed 24 homers, fewest of any team in the league, and 166 runs, second fewest in the conference.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Utah defeated No. 3 Oregon on Friday and the pitching and defense shown in the series by the Utes was exceptional.
They turned seven double plays and held a Duck team averaging almost eight runs a game to 10 total in three contests.
Hannah Flippen hit .500 while Kristen Stewart and Bridget Castro homered for Utah. Katie Donovan was 1-1 with a 1.91 ERA, allowing three earned runs in 11 innings.
Since Amy Hogue took over at Utah in 2008, the Utes had never beaten a team ranked this high away from home. It also marked the first time in 17 contests that the Utes defeated the Ducks.
FLIPPEN NAMED ESPN'S NATIONAL POW
Utah junior second baseman Hannah Flippen was named the NCAA National Player of the Week by ESPNW on March 30.
Flippen, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American as a freshman, is a two-time NFCA All-Pacific Region selection as well as a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree and a Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
She finished among the top eight in the Pac-12 in a number of categories including home runs, hits, runs scored, on-base percentage, stolen bases, total bases, slugging, walks and batting average.
Defensively, she was also a part of 25 double plays, tops in the conference.
In Pac-12 play, she led the league with a .542 batting average, a 1.034 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. She is second with 61 total bases, 21 walks, 24 runs scored, 32 hits nd seven stolen bases. Flippen also finished third in the conference with eight homers.
UTE PAIR NAMED NFCA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Two Utah Softball student-athletes, Katie Donovan and Hannah Flippen, were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 teaM.
Donovan, a sophomore, and Flippen, a junior were part of the 11-player squad selected that includes student-athletes from institutions in California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii
Utah has had two student-athletes honored as Academic All-Americans, Kathleen Thornley in 1983 and Ali Andrus-Saga in 1997. Hannah Clements was the last All-District selection for the Utes in 2012.
UTE PAIR HONORED AGAIN BY PAC-12
A pair of Utah Softball players were honored on Apr. 25 by the Pac-12 as Anissa Urtez was named Player of the Week and Ally Dickman was named Freshman of the Week.
Urtez paced the conference with 16 doubles and her 65 hits were fifth in the league. In Pac-12 play, she had 22 runs batted in, good for sixth overall.
A Pac-12 All-Defensive Team seection last year, she led the conference this season with 131 fielding assists.
Dickman finished second in the Pac-12, behind Urtez, with seven doubles. She also accumulated 14 runs batted in, third for the Utes.
This was Dickman's second Freshman of the Week award as she was honored back on March 22.
UTAH DUO EARNS PAC-12 WEEKLY AWARDS
Katie Donovan was named Pitcher of the Week and Kay Kay Fronda was selected Player of the Week by the conference offices on Apr. 18
Donovan's 18 wins were the third-most of any Pac-12 pitcher and her 2.46 ERA placed fourth. She also rated fourth in innings pitched and seventh in strikeouts and opponents batting average.
Donovan was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week twice last season and this was her first Pitcher of the Week award. She became the first Utah pitcher since Sammy Cordova (May 5, 2014) to win this honor from the conference.
Fronda led the Utes in a number of categories including hits (4), batting (.667), slugging (1.500), on-base percentage (.571) and total bases (9)
She became Utah's first Player of the Week this season. Junior second baseman Hannah Flippen was a two-time winner of the award last season.
BACK IN THE RANKINGS
Utah Softball was back in the rankings on May 3 for the first time since the initial week of the season. The Utes were ranked No. 25 this week after starting at No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Poll.
The Utes rounded out the 2015 campaign ranked No. 25 in the nation in ESPN.com/USA Softball's final poll.
That marked just the second time in school history that they finished a season in the Top 25. The Utes finished the 1997 campaign ranked No. 16 in the nation.
STEPPING UP THEIR SCHEDULE
The Utes played 24 contests against teams ranked in the top 35 of the latest USA Softball Poll. In fact, 30 of Utah's 51 games this season were against teams with a top-50 RPI.
Utah played nine former NCAA Champions during the regular season, most of any other team in the nation.
Players Mentioned
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