Upcoming Event: Softball versus UCSB on February 6, 2026 at 2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Softball
vs UCSB
The University of Utah Athletics
Friday, April 28
Salt Lake City, UT
6 p.m.
University of Utah
vs
No. 2 UCLA
No. 16 Utah Softball To Host No. 2 UCLA on Senior Weekend
4/27/2023 1:12 PM | Softball
Six Utah seniors to be honored during final regular season homestand
SALT LAKE CITY – For the final time in 2023 regular season, the No. 16 University of Utah softball team is getting ready to host a three-game series within the confines of the Dumke Family Softball Stadium and this final home set matches the Utes against the No. 2 UCLA Bruins, who arrive in Salt Lake City atop the Pac-12 standings and riding a 17-game win streak.
Utah and UCLA will face off for the first time on Friday in a matchup that will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. clash on Saturday and a Sunday series finale that will start at 12 p.m.
The weekend's final contest will also serve as senior day for program's 2023 senior class of Ellessa Bonstrom, Haley Denning, Elicia Espinosa, Jordyn Gasper, Halle Morris and Sydney Sandez. This group of six, all of whom have played integral roles in helping the Utes rise to national prominence again, will be honored both pregame and postgame on Sunday.
April 28-30 Schedule
How to Follow
All three games will be carried by the Pac-12 family of networks, appearing on both Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Los Angeles. Fans will also be able to find links to live stats by visiting UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
It will be a busy weekend at Ute Field, starting with a Red Out night on Friday in which fans are encouraged to wear red. The festivities will begin with 2023 NCAA All-Around and Beam Champion Maile O'Keefe from Utah Gymnastics throwing out the first pitch. Yoshi's and La Catrina food trucks will be at the park for a pregame tailgate with free food for students and alumni. There will be 300 free hats for The Muss, two Bluetooth speakers will be given away during the game and the entire squad will be available for autographs postgame.
Saturday will be Bark in the Park day and fans who bring their dogs with them are invited to enjoy the game from the outfield berm. The Unami Pizza and Yoshi's food trucks will be present and their food will be free for students, who can obtain vouchers at the stadium. Two Amazon tablets and a Utah swag bag will be given away and fans can stick around for another day of postgame autographs.
Saturday will also be Mental Health Awareness day at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, as the Utes will be teaming up with Unmuted, a student-run campaign striving to end the stigma against mental health, raise awareness of the resources available on campus and bridge the gap between student-athletes and coaches regarding mental health.
Sunday will be Senior Day at Dumke, with Utah's six seniors throwing out the first pitch and being recognized after the final out. Fans are once again encouraged to wear red and the Unami Food Truck will be present at the park as well. The University of Utah Marching Band and Spirit Squad will be at the game to help cheer on the Utes.
Last Time Out
The Utes suffered a pair of defeats to close out their most recent Pac-12 series against No. 9 Washington, but quickly bounced back by defeating Utah Valley on Tuesday by a score of 9-0 to finish off their non-conference schedule.
Against the Wolverines, Utah fired on all cylinders, as Mariah Lopez and Sydney Sandez combined a four-hit shutout, while the team's lineup collected 14 hits, just one shy of their season-high. No one swung a hotter bat against UVU than Julia Jimenez, who went 4-for-4, including her sixth home run of the season, and drove in three runs. In her last 11 at-bats, Jimenez has eight hits, three of which have gone for extra bases, and she's tallied six RBIs, boosting her batting average nearly 40 points to .382.
By blanking UVU, the Utes posted their 10th shutout of the season, their highest total since 2017 and Lopez's win total of 14 is the most by a Utah pitcher since Katie Donovan and Miranda Viramontes both reached that total six years ago. Over her last seven outings, Lopez has pitched to the tune of a 1.08 and averaged more than a strikeout per inning. She's also permitted one or no earned runs in five of those appearances and moved into the top 10 in the conference in ERA and the top five in victories.
Scouting the Opposition
UCLA's last loss came on March 24 and since then, they've collected sweeps of Stanford, Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State, putting them just one victory away from clinching the Pac-12 regular season title. The Bruins have risen as high as No. 1 in the national rankings in 2023 and have settled into the No. 2 spot, where they've remained for the last three weeks.
The list of statistics in which UCLA sits in the top 10 nationally include batting average, where they own the nation's third-best clip at .344, shutouts, where they are tied for fifth with 18, and ERA, with a 1.58 mark that lands them in eighth. Over the course of their current win streak, UCLA has allowed only one opponent to score more than four runs and they've also blanked the opposition six times.
No one in the Pac-12 has racked up more shutouts than the Bruins' Megan Faraimo, who spent 2022 earning the conference's pitcher of the year award. Faraimo has appeared in 33 of her team's 48 games and owns a 24-2 record with a 1.20 ERA, putting her at the top of the league in wins and second in ERA. She also sits atop the conference in strikeouts, reaching double-digits in that statistic in six of her outings, most recently on April 23, when she picked up 12 punchouts in a win over Arizona State.
The UCLA lineup has four players who've reach double figures in home runs, led by junior Maya Brady, who's blasted 15 long balls and owns the Pac-12's highest slugging percentage. Brady has also driven in at least one run in eight consecutive games and she has a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Week awards to her credit, winning the award most-recently on April 17.
Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/27/23)
Pac-12 Rankings - Individual
Pac-12 Rankings - Team
National Rankings – Individual
National Rankings – Team
Stringing Wins Together
Three times during 2023, the Utes have put together a win streak of at least five games, most recently stringing together seven-in-a-row from April 8-21. This marks the first time Utah has accomplished that feat since they also put together three wins streaks of at least five games in 2017.
Conquering the Cardinal
The Utes home sweep over the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal represents the highest ranked team Utah has ever swept in a series. In game one, the Utes pounded out 12 hits, the most Stanford had allowed in a game to that point. The five runs Utah scored in game three represented the second-highest run total for any team against the Cardinal in 2023.
Give Mariah a Medal
On April 17, Mariah Lopez earned her second Division I Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week award after a 3-0 week in which she posted a 0.89 ERA. Lopez is the first Ute to ever earn this honor twice in one season after she was named national player of the week for the first time on Feb. 14.
Two-Out Utes
So far in 2023, the Utes have .344 with two outs and piled up 104 two-out RBIs, improving on their numbers from a year ago. In 2022, Utah's average with two outs stood at .266 and they finished the season with 95 two-out RBIs. Also, Utah pitchers have held the opposition to a .195 clip with two outs.
Seeing Double-Digits
Utah's 10-run outburst against Weber State on April 11 was the sixth time they've tallied 10 or more runs in 2023, already surpassing their total from 2022, when they accomplished that feat four times.
Dynamic Duo
Both Syndey Sandez and Mariah Lopez have reached double-digit wins for the Utes in 2023, the first time since 2017 two Utes have topped the 10-win threshold. Lopez's 12 triumphs are already a career-high, while Sandez's next victory will set a new career-best for her.
Milestone Watch
Ellessa Bonstrom and Haley Denning both entered the year with significant milestones within their reach and they've continued to close in those accomplishments. Bonstrom, who has driven in 47 runs so far in 2023, is five away from becoming the program's all-time leader in that statistic and she's also four walks and one sacrifice fly from reaching the top of the Utah leaderboard in those categories.
Denning has swiped 27 bases through 41 games and those thefts have pushed her into third-place all-time in school history with 94 steals. She needs six more to become only the third Ute to ever reach 100 career stolen bases.
Starting Fast
The Utes have a higher run-differential in the first inning that in any other frame, outscoring opponents 50-13 in that stanza. The 50 runs are also more than Utah has scored in any inning except the fourth, where 54 Utes have crossed the plate.
Dayton Does it Again
On April 10, Abby Dayton was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time. Dayton, who went 7-for-8 at the plate during the week, is the third Ute to receive multiple freshman of the week awards in a single season and the first since Ally Dickman in 2016. Katie Donovan accomplished this feat as well, doing so in 2015.
Opportunistic Offense
In 16 of their games in 2023, the Utes have forced their opponents into multiple miscues in the field and Utah is currently a perfect 16-0 in contests where the opposition makes multiple errors.
Three is a Charm
Utah's hitters have piled up 17 three-hit games through 41 contests in 2023, already putting them far ahead of last season's total of eight in that statistic. No Ute had more than two three-hit performances to their credit a year ago, but so far in 2023, Aliya Belarde has accomplished that feat five times and Haley Denning and Ellessa Bonstrom have each done it thrice.
Bonstrom, Dayton Recognized with Pac-12 Weekly Awards
Ellessa Bonstrom and Abby Dayton were recognized by the Pac-12 on March 20. Bonstrom received her second Pac-12 Player of the Week award in two weeks, while Dayton became the first Ute in six years to be named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Bonstrom is only the second Utah softball player to ever collect two player of the week awards in one season, matching a feat accomplished by Hannah Flippen in 2015.
Turn It Up to an 11
From Feb. 26 to March 17, the Utes strung together an 11-game win streak, their longest since they also on 11-in-a-row in 2017. Six of the victories during that run belonged to Sydney Sandez, who crafted a 0.49 ERA. At the plate, the Utes hit .369 as a team, led by Aliya Belarde's .500 average and Ellessa Bonstrom's six homers and 20 RBIs.
More History for Hogue
One season after becoming the all-time wins leader in the history of Utah softball, head coach Amy Hogue has already surpassed two more milestones in 2023. With her team's win on Friday over Northern Colorado, Hogue became the first coach to reach 400 wins in program and two days later, she picked up the 600th victory of her head coaching career.
Lopez Named First Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week
For the first time since 2017, a Utah pitcher was honored with a weekly award. Mariah Lopez earned the title of Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week after starting the season with 14 1/3 scoreless innings and three straight victories. The last Utah pitcher to receive a weekly award was Miranda Viramontes, who was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week in 2017.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
Utah and UCLA will face off for the first time on Friday in a matchup that will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. clash on Saturday and a Sunday series finale that will start at 12 p.m.
The weekend's final contest will also serve as senior day for program's 2023 senior class of Ellessa Bonstrom, Haley Denning, Elicia Espinosa, Jordyn Gasper, Halle Morris and Sydney Sandez. This group of six, all of whom have played integral roles in helping the Utes rise to national prominence again, will be honored both pregame and postgame on Sunday.
April 28-30 Schedule
| Date | Game | Live Stats/Watch |
| April 28 | Utah vs. UCLA | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 29 | Utah vs. UCLA | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 30 | Utah vs. UCLA | Live Stats / Watch |
How to Follow
All three games will be carried by the Pac-12 family of networks, appearing on both Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Los Angeles. Fans will also be able to find links to live stats by visiting UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
It will be a busy weekend at Ute Field, starting with a Red Out night on Friday in which fans are encouraged to wear red. The festivities will begin with 2023 NCAA All-Around and Beam Champion Maile O'Keefe from Utah Gymnastics throwing out the first pitch. Yoshi's and La Catrina food trucks will be at the park for a pregame tailgate with free food for students and alumni. There will be 300 free hats for The Muss, two Bluetooth speakers will be given away during the game and the entire squad will be available for autographs postgame.
Saturday will be Bark in the Park day and fans who bring their dogs with them are invited to enjoy the game from the outfield berm. The Unami Pizza and Yoshi's food trucks will be present and their food will be free for students, who can obtain vouchers at the stadium. Two Amazon tablets and a Utah swag bag will be given away and fans can stick around for another day of postgame autographs.
Saturday will also be Mental Health Awareness day at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, as the Utes will be teaming up with Unmuted, a student-run campaign striving to end the stigma against mental health, raise awareness of the resources available on campus and bridge the gap between student-athletes and coaches regarding mental health.
Sunday will be Senior Day at Dumke, with Utah's six seniors throwing out the first pitch and being recognized after the final out. Fans are once again encouraged to wear red and the Unami Food Truck will be present at the park as well. The University of Utah Marching Band and Spirit Squad will be at the game to help cheer on the Utes.
Last Time Out
The Utes suffered a pair of defeats to close out their most recent Pac-12 series against No. 9 Washington, but quickly bounced back by defeating Utah Valley on Tuesday by a score of 9-0 to finish off their non-conference schedule.
Against the Wolverines, Utah fired on all cylinders, as Mariah Lopez and Sydney Sandez combined a four-hit shutout, while the team's lineup collected 14 hits, just one shy of their season-high. No one swung a hotter bat against UVU than Julia Jimenez, who went 4-for-4, including her sixth home run of the season, and drove in three runs. In her last 11 at-bats, Jimenez has eight hits, three of which have gone for extra bases, and she's tallied six RBIs, boosting her batting average nearly 40 points to .382.
By blanking UVU, the Utes posted their 10th shutout of the season, their highest total since 2017 and Lopez's win total of 14 is the most by a Utah pitcher since Katie Donovan and Miranda Viramontes both reached that total six years ago. Over her last seven outings, Lopez has pitched to the tune of a 1.08 and averaged more than a strikeout per inning. She's also permitted one or no earned runs in five of those appearances and moved into the top 10 in the conference in ERA and the top five in victories.
Scouting the Opposition
UCLA's last loss came on March 24 and since then, they've collected sweeps of Stanford, Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State, putting them just one victory away from clinching the Pac-12 regular season title. The Bruins have risen as high as No. 1 in the national rankings in 2023 and have settled into the No. 2 spot, where they've remained for the last three weeks.
The list of statistics in which UCLA sits in the top 10 nationally include batting average, where they own the nation's third-best clip at .344, shutouts, where they are tied for fifth with 18, and ERA, with a 1.58 mark that lands them in eighth. Over the course of their current win streak, UCLA has allowed only one opponent to score more than four runs and they've also blanked the opposition six times.
No one in the Pac-12 has racked up more shutouts than the Bruins' Megan Faraimo, who spent 2022 earning the conference's pitcher of the year award. Faraimo has appeared in 33 of her team's 48 games and owns a 24-2 record with a 1.20 ERA, putting her at the top of the league in wins and second in ERA. She also sits atop the conference in strikeouts, reaching double-digits in that statistic in six of her outings, most recently on April 23, when she picked up 12 punchouts in a win over Arizona State.
The UCLA lineup has four players who've reach double figures in home runs, led by junior Maya Brady, who's blasted 15 long balls and owns the Pac-12's highest slugging percentage. Brady has also driven in at least one run in eight consecutive games and she has a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Week awards to her credit, winning the award most-recently on April 17.
Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/27/23)
| Batting Avg. | Aliya Belarde | .435 | |
| Slugging % | Ellessa Bonstrom | .687 | |
| On Base % | Aliya Belarde | .494 | |
| Runs Scored | Aliya Belarde | 45 | |
| Hits | Aliya Belarde | 60 | |
| RBI | Ellessa Bonstrom | 47 | |
| Doubles | Julia Jimenez | 12 | |
| Home Runs | Ellessa Bonstrom | 9 | |
| Stolen Bases | Haley Denning | 27 | |
| ERA | Sydney Sandez | 2.38 (120.2 IP) |
| K's | Mariah Lopez | 136 |
| Wins | Mariah Lopez | 14 |
Pac-12 Rankings - Individual
- Mariah Lopez has carved out spots in the top 10 in the conference in sixth different categories, including strikeouts, where her 136 rank third. Her 14 wins, 7.89 strikeout rate and 120 2/3 innings pitched are good enough for fifth, while she ranks seventh in complete games and 10th in ERA.
- Right behind Lopez in the top 10 in wins is Sandez, who's claimed 12 victories, tied for seventh and is also 9th in the Pac-12 in innings pitched.
- Aliya Belarde has put together a stat line that includes 45 runs scored and 60 hits and both totals are the second-highest in the Pac-12. Her .435 average is the league's second-best and she also ranks third in steals and on-base percentage.
- Ellessa Bonstrom has continued to swing one of the conference's most dangerous bats, ranking fourth in the Pac-12 with 47 RBIs, fifth in on-base percentage at .490, fifth in steals with 12, sixth with 37 runs scored, sixth in walks at 23 and eight in slugging with a mark of .687.
- No one in the Pac-12 has swiped more bases than Haley Denning, who's piled up 27 stolen bases. Denning's 39 runs scored also have her tied for third in the conference and she's tied for sixth in hits with 53.
- Julia Jimenez has collected 12 doubles so far in 2022-23, tied for the most in the Pac-12 and she also occupies the No. 8 spot in the conference leaderboard in RBIs and batting average.
- Jordyn Gasper has legged out three triples during her senior season, tied for third-most in the Pac-12.
Pac-12 Rankings - Team
- Utah's 88 steals are 20 more than any other squad in the Pac-12 and has the Utes closing in on the program's single season record for steals, which currently stands at 92.
- The Utes own the conference's second-highest totals in both doubles and triples, with 65 of the former and 12 of the latter.
- Utah remains the toughest team in the conference to strikeout, having gone down on strikes only 143 times, 36 fewer than their closest pursuers in that stat.
- Throughout the 2023 season, the Utes have continued to possess one of the best offenses in the league and they currently rank third in runs, hits and batting average.
National Rankings – Individual
- Aliya Belarde has earned spots in the top 30 in the nation in four different statistics. The California native is 18th in runs scored per game with a rate of 1.10, her .435 average and 60 hits have her 20rd and 21st, respectively, and she's been the 30th-most difficult player to strikeout in Division I.
- Ellessa Bonstrom has moved up to 22nd in Division I in RBIs with 47 and she's tied with Belarde as the 30th-most difficult player in the nation to strikeout.
- Haley Denning's 27 steals are tied for 22nd-most in the country.
National Rankings – Team
- As a team, the Utes have crafted a .330 batting average, eighth-best in the country. Utah also owns the 11th-best runs-per-game average in Division I at 6.59, the 17th-highest rate of doubles per game at 1.59 and the 18th-best average of steals per game with a mark of 2.15.
- Utah's .396 on-base percentage puts them 24th in the country and their .483 slugging percentage stands puts them 34th in Division I.
Stringing Wins Together
Three times during 2023, the Utes have put together a win streak of at least five games, most recently stringing together seven-in-a-row from April 8-21. This marks the first time Utah has accomplished that feat since they also put together three wins streaks of at least five games in 2017.
Conquering the Cardinal
The Utes home sweep over the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal represents the highest ranked team Utah has ever swept in a series. In game one, the Utes pounded out 12 hits, the most Stanford had allowed in a game to that point. The five runs Utah scored in game three represented the second-highest run total for any team against the Cardinal in 2023.
Give Mariah a Medal
On April 17, Mariah Lopez earned her second Division I Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week award after a 3-0 week in which she posted a 0.89 ERA. Lopez is the first Ute to ever earn this honor twice in one season after she was named national player of the week for the first time on Feb. 14.
Two-Out Utes
So far in 2023, the Utes have .344 with two outs and piled up 104 two-out RBIs, improving on their numbers from a year ago. In 2022, Utah's average with two outs stood at .266 and they finished the season with 95 two-out RBIs. Also, Utah pitchers have held the opposition to a .195 clip with two outs.
Seeing Double-Digits
Utah's 10-run outburst against Weber State on April 11 was the sixth time they've tallied 10 or more runs in 2023, already surpassing their total from 2022, when they accomplished that feat four times.
Dynamic Duo
Both Syndey Sandez and Mariah Lopez have reached double-digit wins for the Utes in 2023, the first time since 2017 two Utes have topped the 10-win threshold. Lopez's 12 triumphs are already a career-high, while Sandez's next victory will set a new career-best for her.
Milestone Watch
Ellessa Bonstrom and Haley Denning both entered the year with significant milestones within their reach and they've continued to close in those accomplishments. Bonstrom, who has driven in 47 runs so far in 2023, is five away from becoming the program's all-time leader in that statistic and she's also four walks and one sacrifice fly from reaching the top of the Utah leaderboard in those categories.
Denning has swiped 27 bases through 41 games and those thefts have pushed her into third-place all-time in school history with 94 steals. She needs six more to become only the third Ute to ever reach 100 career stolen bases.
Starting Fast
The Utes have a higher run-differential in the first inning that in any other frame, outscoring opponents 50-13 in that stanza. The 50 runs are also more than Utah has scored in any inning except the fourth, where 54 Utes have crossed the plate.
Dayton Does it Again
On April 10, Abby Dayton was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time. Dayton, who went 7-for-8 at the plate during the week, is the third Ute to receive multiple freshman of the week awards in a single season and the first since Ally Dickman in 2016. Katie Donovan accomplished this feat as well, doing so in 2015.
Opportunistic Offense
In 16 of their games in 2023, the Utes have forced their opponents into multiple miscues in the field and Utah is currently a perfect 16-0 in contests where the opposition makes multiple errors.
Three is a Charm
Utah's hitters have piled up 17 three-hit games through 41 contests in 2023, already putting them far ahead of last season's total of eight in that statistic. No Ute had more than two three-hit performances to their credit a year ago, but so far in 2023, Aliya Belarde has accomplished that feat five times and Haley Denning and Ellessa Bonstrom have each done it thrice.
Bonstrom, Dayton Recognized with Pac-12 Weekly Awards
Ellessa Bonstrom and Abby Dayton were recognized by the Pac-12 on March 20. Bonstrom received her second Pac-12 Player of the Week award in two weeks, while Dayton became the first Ute in six years to be named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Bonstrom is only the second Utah softball player to ever collect two player of the week awards in one season, matching a feat accomplished by Hannah Flippen in 2015.
Turn It Up to an 11
From Feb. 26 to March 17, the Utes strung together an 11-game win streak, their longest since they also on 11-in-a-row in 2017. Six of the victories during that run belonged to Sydney Sandez, who crafted a 0.49 ERA. At the plate, the Utes hit .369 as a team, led by Aliya Belarde's .500 average and Ellessa Bonstrom's six homers and 20 RBIs.
More History for Hogue
One season after becoming the all-time wins leader in the history of Utah softball, head coach Amy Hogue has already surpassed two more milestones in 2023. With her team's win on Friday over Northern Colorado, Hogue became the first coach to reach 400 wins in program and two days later, she picked up the 600th victory of her head coaching career.
Lopez Named First Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week
For the first time since 2017, a Utah pitcher was honored with a weekly award. Mariah Lopez earned the title of Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week after starting the season with 14 1/3 scoreless innings and three straight victories. The last Utah pitcher to receive a weekly award was Miranda Viramontes, who was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week in 2017.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
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