Utah Softball Set to Start 2023 with High Goals in Mind

Friday, February 10

La Jolla, Calif.

12 p.m.

University of Utah

Stonehill

Utah Softball Set to Start 2023 with High Goals in Mind

2/7/2023 11:57 AM | Softball

2023 Softball Record Book

Utes lift the lid on the new year with five games at the La Jolla Invitational

SALT LAKE CITY – When the 2022 regular season ended on May 14, the University of Utah softball team had posted its highest win total in five years and only by the narrowest of margins did the Utes miss out on returning to the NCAA Tournament. One year later, head coach Amy Hogue has built a roster that has returned nearly every starter from that squad while welcoming in a number of talented newcomers and Hogue has her Utes aiming for one of the best seasons in program history.

This 2023 campaign that will include 52 regular season games begins at the Triton Softball Field in La Jolla, Calif., the site of the La Jolla Invitational, which will stretch from Friday to Sunday. The season begins with a Friday matchup against the Stonehill Skyhawks at 11 a.m. PT (12 p.m. MT), followed by a meeting with the Northern Colorado Bears at 1:30 p.m. PT. The Utes will tangle with the Bears again on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT before a 4:30 p.m. PT date with the UC San Diego Tritons. On the tournament's final day, the Utes will face the Tritons again, this time at 9 a.m PT.

These five contests will give fans their first look at a squad that returns four All-Pac-12 selections, including 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Ellessa Bonstrom. Bonstrom batted .376 a season ago, finished in the top 10 in the league in steals, walks and on-base percentage and posted career-highs in hits, runs and RBIs. She received preseason recognition in the form of a spot on the All-Pac-12 preseason squad and was ranked as the No. 2 utility player in the nation by D1Softball.com.

Bonstrom also enters the year within striking distance of multiple program records, one of which is RBIs. If she knocks in 52 runs in 2023, she'll become Utah's all-time leader in that stat.

Joining Bonstrom on the Preseason All-Pac-12 roster was Julia Jimenez, who was also a first-team all-conference and first-team all-region pick in 2022. Jimenez seized the starting job at third base in her first Utah campaign, hitting .325, leading the squad with 52 RBIs, and finishing second on the Ute leaderboard in homers, hits, walks and slugging. She also posted a stellar .958 fielding percentage at the hot corner, while helping the Utes turn eight double plays and one triple play.

Another returner is 2022 All-Pac-12 Second-Team honoree Haley Denning, who will be back at the top of the Utah order. In each of the last two seasons, the senior from Phoenix has led the league in steals and she's currently fourth all-time in program history in that category. She'll begin the year 33 swipes away from becoming the third Ute to snatch 100 bags in a career. Denning owns one of the highest career batting averages in program history as well and posted a .373 clip as a sophomore.

Hogue's opening day lineup card may also include outfielder Sophie Jacquez, who hit .317 a season ago and struck out only six times in over 130 plate appearances, and infielder Aliya Belarde, who batted a career-best .291 and was third on the team in runs scored. Outfielder Jordyn Gasper, who last year set career-highs in a slew of statistics, and utility player Halle Morris, a third-team all-region choice who logged a .404 on-base percentage, are also among those back in the fold for the Utes.

The Utah pitching staff will once again include the likes of All-Pac-12 Third-Team member Mariah Lopez and 2022 team ERA leader Sydney Sandez. Lopez sliced more than two runs off her ERA from her freshman to sophomore years and boasted the staff's best win percentage with an 8-5 record. During the Utes final home series of the year, she defeated No. 9 Washington twice to help her squad secure a series win, tossing seven innings of four-hit ball in game one before providing two innings of scoreless relief in another Utah triumph in game two.

No one on the Utah staff had a lower ERA than Sandez's 2.83 and she also threw four complete game shutouts, tossed a team-high 131 innings and struck out 100 batters compared to only 18 walks. Her four shutouts were the most by a Ute in the last decade and she recorded her first one in her initial start of the year, blanking Missouri State for seven innings on just four hits. Sandez's rate of 0.96 walks per seven innings put her in the top 15 in the nation and she handed out multiple free passes only once in 33 appearances.

In addition to Lopez, Sandez and Morris, who made 15 appearances on the bump as a sophomore, Utah's stable of arms will also include freshman Brooklyn Carreon and former Michigan State Spartan Sarah Ladd. Carreon signed on with the squad after a prep career in which she accumulated 595 strikeouts and took home a list of honors that included League MVP and all-state selections. As a junior, she pitched to a 0.69 ERA and became the first player ever to be named California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in the same season.

Ladd brings the experience of hurler who's tossed over 250 innings at the Division I level and she's coming off her best year so far. Ladd set career-highs in ERA, wins, innings pitched and batting average allowed while also dropping her walk rate in 2022. A year ago, the Utes sliced nearly a run-and-a-half off their ERA from 2021 and Hogue and her coaches have put together a staff that should push that number even lower in 2023.

A number of new position players are also preparing for their first season in Utah red. That group consists of two transfers, both of whom arrived from conference rivals, and five talented freshmen. Sophomore Kaylah Nelsen came to Salt Lake City after hitting .295 for Oregon State in her rookie year and helping the Beavers reach the Women's College World Series. Junior Chloe Doyle was behind the plate for Stanford in 32 games and adds depth for the Utes at the catcher position.

The list of new Utes in 2023 also includes catcher Emily Capobianco, who helped Upland High School to a state title in 2021, and infielder Karlie Davison, a three-time team captain who was ranked as one of the top 50 players in the class of 2022. Freshman infielder Hailee White is a former all-league pick and team MVP, while new outfielder Abby Dayton was twice chosen to the all-league squad in high school and earned an all-state spot in 2021.

One new face who might help the Utes both in the circle and in the batter's box is former region player of the year Taylor Jacobs. The freshman from Arizona homered 11 times as a senior after a junior season in which her work on the mound netted her a 12-1 record and a 1.86 ERA and helped Canyon View High School reach the state tournament final.

Only a few days separate the Utes from the start of their 2023 campaign and the opportunity to erase the memory of how 2022 ended. The last two seasons have both seen an improvement in the team's win total and another step in that direction could yield the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017. The quest to accomplish that feat begins on Friday afternoon.

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