Utes Set For Stanford in Home Opener Saturday

Saturday, March 24

Salt Lake City, Utah

2:00 PM

University of Utah

Stanford

3/21/2018 12:33 PM | Softball

2018 Utah Softball Game Notes

Utes play first games of 2018 at Dumke Family Softball Stadium

Utah vs Stanford
Saturday, March 25	Utah vs Stanford \| 2 p.m. MT and approx 4:30 p.m. MT
Sunday, March 26	Utah vs Stanford \| 2 p.m. MT
Monday, March 26	Utah vs. Stanford \| 12 p.m. MT (if necessary)
LOCATION	Salt Lake City \| Dumke Family Softball Stadium
LIVE STREAM	UtahUtes.com
LIVE STATS	UtahUtes.com
GAME INFORMATION	Complete Game Notes

ON DECK
Utah opens play at Dumke Family Softball Stadium this weekend with a Pac-12 series vs. Stanford. The home opener is a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the finale scheduled for Sunday at the same time and Monday's game to be played if necessary

UTAH NOTES
- Utah is currently No. 34 in the latest RPI and has the No. 7 strength of schedule in the nation

- Alyssa Barrera was named to the USA Softball Player of the Year "Watch List", one of nine sophomores on the 50-person list

- Katie Donovan is the active Pac-12 leader in career wins, strikeouts, saves, starts, innings and appearances

- Donovan is seventh in the Pac-12 with 103 strikeouts in 16 starts

- After not having a pitcher toss 10 strikeouts in a game over the last six seasons, both Katie Donovan and Miranda Viramontes did it at the Maryland Invitational

- Viramontes is fifth in the nation with four saves to her credit

- Heather Bowen is batting .375 to pace the Utes and with a career-high five hits in the opener vs. Grand Canyon, she has surpassed 150 hits during her four years.

- Bowen leads the nation with 13 doubles and as a team, Utah is fourth in doubles per game (1.81)

- At the Mary Nutter Classic this season, head coach Amy Hogue won her 300th game at Utah and 500th game of her career.

DONOVAN CLIMBING CAREER CHARTS
Katie Donovan now has 64 wins for her career, matching Michele Townsend for fourth place in Utah history. She needs five more W's to catch Janet Womack in the record book.

Donovan also struck out 31 batters, surpassing Generra Nelson and Womack for third place in Utah history. The senior needs 68 more strikeouts to catch Kristen Arbogast for second place.

She also moved past Ali Andrus for third place in total appearances by a Ute hurler.

ARIZONA AND GCU RECAP
The Utes suffered a tough weekend in the desert when they were swept in a series at No. 9 Arizona to open Pac-12 play and then split a doubleheader at Grand Canyon on Tuesday

The pitching struggled all weekend for Utah, amassing a 5.83 ERA over the five games, while allowing 25 earned runs as leadoff hitters batted .433

Offensively, Heather Bowen provided a bright spot by batting .538 (7-for-13) over the five games, driving in five and slugging 1.000. BreOnna Castaneda also exceled as she drove in eight runs and hit .429 (6-for-14).

As a team though, Utah had a tough time getting things going in innings, hitting just .197 with no runners on base

UTAH VS. STANFORD REWIND
Utah swept the Cardinal at Stanford last season as Ally Dickman hit .600 and Heather Bowen drove in six runs. Anissa Urtez was another big contributor with a .545 batting average and five runs batted in.

In the circle, Katie Donovan and Miranda Viramontes allowed just two earned runs per game while averaging six strikeouts per contest.

Stanford is one of two Pac-12 teams that Utah has a winning record against since joining the conference (11-7 overall). The Utes have won the last four series against the Cardinal and five of the last six games here at Dumke Softball Stadium

2017 UTE REVIEW
Utah finished 37-16 last year, its best record since 1997. It also had its best mark in Pac-12 play (13-9) since joining the conference in 2012.

The Utes reached the postseason for a 21st time and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in a third-straight year, a program first. Utah also advanced to a second-straight NCAA Super Regional and hosted a NCAA Regional for the first time

Utah finished last season ranked 18th nationally in scoring at 5.9 runs per contest and team batting average (.318). Defensively, it led the league and ranked second nationally with 32 double plays turned

The five players selected to the first and second Pac-12 all-conference teams in 2017 were the most for Utah since it joined the Pac-12.