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The University of Utah Athletics
2016 Utah Softball Season Recap
6/17/2016 2:14 PM | Softball
The Utes cap historic season for program
Utah finished 35-22 overall and finished fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with a record of 13-10, its most wins since joining in 2012.
The team also finished as the 16th-ranked team in the nation in the final NFCA Poll. This marks the third time Utah has been ranked at season's end and the first time since 2000. Utah also matched its highest final ranking (No. 16 – 1997).
The Utes reached the postseason for a 20th time, making consecutive appearances for the first time in program history. Utah also made history by winning its first two NCAA games en route to the Super Regionals.
After winning three of four games at the Lexington Regional, including a pair against the host, No. 9 Kentucky, the Utes lost a pair of games at No. 8 FSU. Pitching was the difference during the first weekend of NCAA action as Katie Donovan and Miranda Viramontes combined to allow just one earned run.
 PAC-12 RANKINGS
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)
The Utes placed third in the Pac-12 with a 2.83 earned run average. They only allowed 24 homers, fewest of any team in the league, and 166 runs, good for second fewest.
FLIPPEN'S SEASON FOR THE AGES
The accolades rolled in for junior second baseman Hannah Flippen this season.
Not only was she named Pac-12 Player of the Year, but she was also named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American and a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Flippen has also earned spots on the All Pac-12 First Team, Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and earned an invite to the USA Elite Team.
Flippen led the league with a .542 batting average, a 1.034 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. She was also second in a number of categories including total bases (61), walks (21), runs scored (24), hits (32) and stolen bases (7). Flippen also finished third in the conference with eight homers.
For her career, she owns the highest batting average of any Ute ever at .382 (Cyndee Bennett, .371, 1994-97) and is fourth all-time with 151 runs scored.
Flippen was Utah Softball's fifth Player of the Year and first since joining the Pac-12. Lyndsey Trevis was the last Ute honored when she was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year in 2001.
Flippen, a NFCA All-American in 2014 as a freshman, was selected to the third team and was Utah's 12th player ever to be honored. She joins Charmelle Green (1990, 91) and Sandy Rhea (1997, 98) as the other two-time honorees.
Flippen became Utah Softball's first player to be selected for First Team Academic All-American honors. Two former softball student-athletes were tabbed as second team Academic All-Americans, Kathleen Thornley in 1983 and Ali Andrus-Saga in 1997
URTEZ AND DONOVAN SELECTED ALL PAC-12
Urtez, a two-time All Pac-12 honoree, was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week during the season. She paced the conference with 16 doubles and her 65 hits were fifth –most of any player.Â
In Pac-12 play, she had 22 runs batted in, good for sixth overall. A Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection last year, she led the conference this season with 131 fielding assists. For her efforts, she was named to the Mexican National Team after the season.
Donovan was named First Team All Pac-12 for a second-straight season as she surpassed her career high for wins with 20, third-most of any Pac-12 pitcher.
Her 2.46 ERA and 159.1 innings pitched ranked fourth in the conference while she ranked seventh in strikeouts and opponents batting average.
This marked the first season in the Pac-12 that Utah placed three players on the first team. Four Utes were named to the All-Mountain West Conference First Team during their final season in 2011.
UTAH DUO EARNS PAC-12 ALL-DEFENSIVE NODS
Shelby Pacheco and Hannah Flippen were both named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for a second year in a row.
Flippen was a part of 25 double plays, more than any other player in the conference. As a unit, Utah finished third in the nation in double plays turned.
Pacheco continued to be one of the most feared backstops in the Pac-12, throwing out 15 base runners, more than any other team.
PAC-12 TABS DICKMAN FOR FRESHMAN SQUAD
A two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, Ally Dickman finished second in the conference with seven doubles, trailing only her teammate Urtez. She also accumulated 14 runs batted in, third among Ute batters.
This marked the fifth-consecutive year that Utah placed a student-athlete on the Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team.
UTAH TRIO LANDS ALL-NFCA SPOTS
The Utah softball team landed three players on the NFCA All-Pacific Region teams, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Thursday morning.
Junior Hannah Flippen was named a first team selection while sophomore Katie Donovan and senior Kristen Stewart earned third team honors.
Utah's 10 all-region selections over the last three years set a record for the program.
Flippen became the first Ute player to earn back-to-back-to-back all-region honors since Sandy Rhea (1996-98). Rhea was also the last Utah player to earn first team honors three consecutive years.
Donovan and Stewart were both named all-region for the second-straight season, giving the Utes 10 two-time All-NFCA honorees in their program history.
STEADY STEWIE
Stewart had a career year at the plate, batting .301, slugging .463 and driving in 29 runs during the regular season. She had eight games with multiple runs batted in, good for second on the Utes.
The third baseman also finished third in the league in triples. Defensively, she was fourth in the conference with 106 fielding assists.Â
UTE PAIR NAMED COSIDA 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.
FOUR NAMED TO PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
Junior Hannah Flippen (3.68; Human Development & Family Studies) is Utah's first student-athlete to be named to the First Team in successive seasons. She was joined on the Pac-12's All-Academic First Team by sophomore Katie Donovan (3.71; Honors Biology).
Senior Kristen Stewart earned honorable mention status and joined Kate Dickman and Marissa Mendenhall as Utah student-athletes to garner All-Academic recognition in three-consecutive seasons
Junior Bridget Castro was Utah's fourth player selected from this year's team as she also earned a honorable mention nod. She is one of five Utes to be named to a Pac-12 All-Academic squad for a second time.
Utah has had 23 All-Academic selections (15 individual student-athletes) since joining the Pac-12 in 2012.
FRONDA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF WEEK
Newcomer Kay Kay Fronda was selected Player of the Week by the conference offices on Apr. 18. She was Utah's first Player of the Week this season.
She led the Utes in a number of categories during a weekend sweep of ASU, including hits (4), batting (.667), slugging (1.500), on-base percentage (.571) and total bases (9)
In the NCAA Regionals, Fronda batted .538 and led the team with three runs scored.
HILBURN HELPING OUT
Freshman Hailey Hilburn led the Pac-12 with 21 relief appearances this season and her two saves were sixth in the conference after notching one in the 7-3 win at No. 18 Arizona.
The freshman also came through at the plate, belting a three-run pinch-hit home run, the first of her collegiate career, in a win over No. 24 Oregon State.
In the NCAA Regionals, she batted .400 and was second on the team with four hits, despite not playing in one of the contests.
STEPPING UP THEIR SCHEDULE
The Utes played 30 contests against teams ranked in the top 32 of the latest final NFCAÂ Softball Poll. In fact, 34 of Utah's 57 games this season were against teams with a top-40 RPI.
Utah played nine former NCAA Champions during the regular season, most of any other team in the nation.
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