No. 13 Utah Welcomes No. 8 Washington for Event Filled Weekend

Thursday, May 11

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Washington

No. 13 Utah Welcomes No. 8 Washington for Event Filled Weekend

5/9/2017 11:51 AM | Softball

Utah vs. Washington Notes

Utes and Huskies conclude Pac-12 play with three-game set

Thursday, May 11	No. 13 Utah vs. No. 8 Washington \| 7 p.m. MT
Friday, May 12	No. 13 Utah vs. No. 8 Washington \| 6 p.m. MT \| Alumni Game \| Power of Pink Night
Saturday, May 13	No. 13 Utah vs. No. 8 Washington \| 1 p.m. MT \| Senior Day
WATCH \| LISTEN	Pac-12 Network \| KUTE
LIVE STATS	StatBroadcast
LOCATION	Dumke Family Softball Stadium
GAME INFORMATION	Game Notes

ON DECK
No. 13 Utah closes the regular season with three games against No. 8 Washington on the Pac-12 Networks. The Utes and Huskies start Thursday at 7 p.m. with the annual Alumni Game scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. The finale will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday

UTAH NOTES
- After Saturday's game, Utah will acknowledge the accomplishments of seven student-athletes; Bridget Castro, Sammy Cordova, Hannah Flippen, Kay Kay Fronda, Delilah Pacheco, Bella Secaira and Anissa Urtez

- Their 135 are the most for a graduating class since 1998 and they are also on course to become the first team since 1997 to qualify for the postseason three times

- Utah dropped three spots in the latest NFCA/USA Today national rankings to No. 13. Last week, it was ranked No. 10 in the country, its high-water mark for the season.

- Utah ranks 18th nationally in scoring at 5.8 runs per contest and is 27th nationall with a team batting average of .311

- Hannah Flippen has surpassed the 200-hit/100-RBI plateaus for her career and set a new Utah mark for runs scored. She was selected with the No. 17 pick in the NPF Draft by the Scrap Yard Dawgs (Houston).

- Flippen is second in the Pac-12 with a .412 batting average and third with a .503 on-base percentage. She also ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.710), sixth in runs batted in (42), eighth in runs scored (37) and doubles (11) and 10th eighth in total bases (93)

- Anissa Urtez recently surpassed 200 hits for her career and is currently fifth in the Pac-12 with a .392 batting average.

- She also ranks eight in the league in runs batted in (40). With 41 doubles, she now ranks among the top-five all-time at Utah

- Over the last five weeks, Bridget Castro is pacing Utah with a .393 batting average. She is third in the Pac-12 this year with three triples.

- With 38 runs batted in, Heather Bowen ranks 14th in the Pac-12. She is second on the team with six home runs this year.

- Utah currently ranks 21st in the nation with a combined team ERA of 1.86.

- Hailey Hilburn, used mainly in relief so far during conference play, ranks 16th nationally with a 1.20 ERA. She is also sixth among Pac-12 pitchers in hits allowed per seven innings.

- Katie Donovan has 15 wins to give her 52 for her career. She ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in strikeouts, recently surpassing 400 K's for her career, and has also notched two saves

- Defensively, Utah leads the league and ranks ninth nationally in double plays turned with 25. The Utes were second in the nation last season with 41.

- The Utes are one of seven Pac-12 teams ranked among the top 25 nationally in the RPI, moving up to No. 16 this week

LAST PAC-12 SERIES
The Utes dropped their first series on the road this season, losing two of three at Oregon State.

Utah only mustered three hits during the first two games and batted only .184 for the series. BreOnna Castaneda was a bright spot, batting .429 while Kay Kay Fronda hit .333 and delivered her first homer of the season

Miranda Viramontes did not allow an earned run in 6 2/3 innings while Katie Donovan bounced back from the opener and pitched her way to a 6-0 shutout in the finale.

FLIPPEN NAMED NCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Hannah Flippen was selected as a finalist for the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award

Last season, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association named Flippen an All-American and she was also named the 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year as well as being tabbed an Academic All-America First Team selection by CoSIDA. Prior to the start of this season, Flippen also earned a spot on the US National Team.

Arizona is the most represented university among the finalists, having five athletes making the list while Oregon has two players represented. UCLA is the only other Pac-12 school to have a member among the finalists.

The list will be narrowed to the Top 10 Finalists on May 10. The Top 3 Finalists will be announced May 24, while the winner of the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be revealed on May 30 prior to the start of the NCAA WCWS in Oklahoma City.

UTES EARN 2017 ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT AWARDS
Two Utah Softball student-athletes, Katie Donovan and Hannah Flippen, were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team on May 4.

Donovan, a junior, and Flippen, a senior were part of the 12-player squad that includes student-athletes from institutions in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Utah

Flippen, an Academic All-American last season is one of three Utes to earn the recognition, joining Kathleen Thornley (1983) and Ali Andrus-Saga (1997). Donovan was an All-District pick last season and Utah now has four honorees over the past two years after no selections from 2013-15.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

VIRAMONTES NAMED PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK (3/21)
Miranda Viramontes won two of three games as Utah swept No. 10 UCLA on its home field, (2-0, 0.64 ERA). She limited the Bruins to one run on nine hits in 11 innings, striking out six and walking none.

She is 13-3 with a 1.29 ERA, fifth-best in the Pac-12, and recently notched the 200th strikeout of her career. She also ranks eighth nationally in walks per seven innings (12 in 97 2/3 IP).

Viramontes threw a perfect game vs. CSU Bakersfield and has a propensity for winning big contests, turning in complete game victories this season over No. 13 Tennessee and No. 10 UCLA.

In last year's NCAA Tournament, she set the tone with 6 2/3 scoreless innings against Illinois, striking out six batters then had a career-high nine strikeouts in a complete game vs. No. 9 Kentucky. She also picked up her second save of the season when she closed the door on the ninth-ranked Wildcats.

A honorable mention All Pac-12 pick in 2015, she was named to the All-Freshman Team after being named Freshman of the Week once.

BARRERA NFCA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Barrera was named one of 25 finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award. She currently ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and leads the Utes with 41 runs scored.

The Chino Hills, California native led the team with four runs scored, a .438 batting average and also slugged .563 at the Mary Nutter Classic. For those stats, she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on 2/28.

She reached base safely in her first 13 games and opened her collegiate career with an 11-game hit streak.

MARTINEZ NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (4/18)
??????Kelly Martinez was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Apr. 18 for her contributions during Utah's series victory over No. 1 Arizona.

She batted .500 vs. the Wildcats, slugged .625 and had the highest on-base percentage on the team (.556). She drove in the lone run on Thursday vs. Danielle O'Toole and then started the seventh-inning game-winning rally on Saturday with a single of the left-hander

Martinez has excelled behind the plate, throwing out 11 base runners, tops in the Pac-12.