Upcoming Event: Softball versus Utah Valley on October 2, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Softball
vs Utah Valley
Sunday, April 21
Salt Lake City, UT
12 p.m.
University of Utah
vs
Idaho State
Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics
Sunday Twin Bill on Tap as Utah Softball Prepares to Host Idaho State
4/19/2024 1:04 PM | Softball
Utah to host Idaho State for first time since 2021
SALT LAKE CITY – With wins in their last five games, the University of Utah softball team is starting to play its best softball with the postseason only a few weeks away and they'll have the chance to keep their current hot streak intact on Sunday, when they welcome the Idaho State Bengals to the Dumke Family Softball Stadium for a non-conference doubleheader scheduled to start at 12 p.m. in Salt Lake City.
April 21 Schedule
How to Follow
The Pac-12 family of networks will carry game one on Sunday, while Utah Live Stream-2 will be the home for game two and links to each broadcast, as well as live stats, will be available on UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
Sunday will be Bark in the Park Day at Dumke and the first 40 fans into the ballpark will receive a free Utah dog bowl and fans can also get their hands on doggy goody bags and Utah bandannas. A limited number of gray Utah hats will be given away as well.
Last Time Out
The Utes will be trying to extend a five-game win streak that includes two victories over Weber State sandwiched around a Pac-12 sweep over Arizona State. Utah's most recent effort against the Wildcats was led by pitcher Mariah Lopez, who tossed her second straight shutout and extended her streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 15. Lopez allowed just four hits, two walks, and tallied up 10 strikeouts, which is her second highest total on the season. Over her last 24 innings, Utah's port-sider from Peoria has permitted only a single earned run.
Chloe Doyle produced one of her best days at the plate as a Ute, collecting a pair of singles to finish 2-for-2, while also driving in a run with a sacrifice fly into left. Doyle has reached base in each of her last six games while also raising her batting average by more than a 100 points during that period.
Freshman Shonty Passi has also found her stroke at the plate and demonstrated that against the Sun Devils. In the series' opener, she smacked three hits, including two doubles, drove in a run and scored twice and she added another hit a day later. This came after Utah's first encounter with Weber State, when Passi collected two more hits, one of which went for extra bases.
Scouting the Opposition
Idaho State currently holds a 21-21 overall record and has gone 3-3 in conference play, which leaves them in fifth in the Big Sky standings. The Bengals lead the conference in hits (337), runs (195), home runs (26), and batting average (.286) and ISU has also accumulated a .969 fielding percentage, the highest in the Big Sky.
Among the stars for the Bengals is junior infielder Gracie Smith, who is ranked second in the conference in batting. Smith leads the Big Sky in hits (57) and runs (37), has a .432 batting average and .476 on base percentage, which also puts her in second on the league leaderboard. Another key player for the Bengals is second-year outfielder Alyssa Yee, who has posted runner-up numbers on the team to Smith, accumulating 43 hits, 24 runs, and a .323 batting average.
Utah has accrued a 21-6 edge over Idaho State through their series history and they'll be seeking to claim their fourth straight victory over the Bengals. In April of 2021, the Utes swept a doubleheader from ISU, which marks the two programs' most recent meeting.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/19/2024)
National Rankings
Haley Has More Milestones in Sight
Haley Denning has two more historic milestones within reach after already breaking the program's career hits record in March. One more hit will give her 300 in her career, making her the first Ute to ever reach that number, and she needs only two more runs scored to become Utah's career leader in that statistic.
Mariah Joins the 500 Strikeout Club
During her start on April 12 against Arizona State, Mariah Lopez collected the 500th strikeout of her career, making her only the fourth Ute to ever reach that total. She joined a group that includes former Utes Ali Sagas, Kristin Arbogast and Katie Donovan.
Mariah Lopez Wins Third Career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week Award
Mariah Lopez was honored for the third time in her career as the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday, making her the first Utah pitcher to ever collect that award three times. For the week, Lopez pitched to a 0.41 ERA across 17 innings, held the opposition to a .175 average and piled up 20 strikeouts.
Belarde Takes Home Player of the Week Honors
Aliya Belarde became the first Ute honored with one of the Pac-12's weekly awards on April 8, taking home Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. Overall, the California native hit .733 in four games with five extra base hits, four RBIs and seven runs scored. She finished the week with a 1.267 slugging percentage.
Taylor Takes One Out
Taylor Jacobs stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter on April 5 against Arizona and blasted solo home run to left field for her first base hit as a Ute. This is the second straight season a Utah player has homered for their first collegiate hit, as Karlie Davison accomplished that feat in 2023.
Coming Back is a Constant
The Utes have made a habit of staging comebacks of late and four of their last six wins have been of the come-from-behind variety. They eliminated a 7-2 deficit to defeat Oregon on March 16, followed by a 3-1 victory over BYU in which Utah trailed after five innings. The Utes then came back in both of their triumphs over California, the latter being Utah's sixth comeback win of 2024.
21 Straight Outs for No. 21
On March 3, Sarah Ladd threw just the fourth seven-inning perfect game in Utah history by retiring all 21 Utah Tech hitters she faced in a 5-0 victory. Ladd is the first Utah pitcher to accomplish that feat since Ali Andrus-Sagas in 1995 and the first Ute to throw a perfect game of any type since Miranda Viramontes in 2017. Overall, it goes down as the ninth perfecto in school history.
Mariah Lopez Sets a New Career-High
On Monday, Mariah Lopez racked up 15 strikeouts in a complete game win over Utah Tech, setting a new career-high high. She struck out the side twice in that appearance and fell only a single punchout short of matching the program record.
Preseason Placements
The Pac-12 released its annual preseason softball coaches poll and preseason all-conference team on Feb. 1 and Aliya Belarde, Haley Denning, Julia Jimenez and Mariah Lopez all earned all-conference nods, while the Utes were rated third in the league poll.
The Utes' placement in the preseason rankings represents their highest since joining the league, surpassing the fifth-place standing they achieved in 2017 and 2018, and the four preseason all-league honorees doubles the number the program attained in 2023.
Lopez Makes the Watch List
University of Utah softball's senior pitcher Mariah Lopez earned a spot on the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, which was released on Jan. 24. Lopez is the first Ute to earn this distinction since Alyssa Barrera a was a player of the year watch list selection in 2018.
Senior Class
The 2024 season will be the last one in a Utah uniform for the program's eight-person senior class of Aliya Belarde, Stella Bennett, Haley Denning, Chloe Doyle, Sophie Jacquez, Julia Jimenez, Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez.
Five of those eight student-athletes have achieved all-conference status and both Denning and Jimenez can claim All-Pac-12 honors in multiple seasons.
Coaching Staff Additions
Two new faces have joined head coach Amy Hogue's staff for the 2024 campaign. Courtney Martinez comes to Utah from Iowa State and Kaija Gibson has donned Utah colors after spending two years with UCF.
Martinez spent six seasons with the Cyclones, helping the squad reset the program record for homers in a season three times and pile up 37 wins in 2019, the second-highest total in school history. She also helped tutor 2021 First-Team All-American Sami Williams.
Gibson, who not long ago was playing against the Utes with Washington, was part of two Golden Knights teams that won the AAC Tournament Championship to earn spots in the NCAA Tournament. In 2022, UCF rolled up 49 wins and Gibson and her colleagues were named the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year and the NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
April 21 Schedule
| Date | Game | Live Stats/Watch |
| April 21 | Idaho State at Utah | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 21 | Idaho State at Utah | Live Stats / Watch |
How to Follow
The Pac-12 family of networks will carry game one on Sunday, while Utah Live Stream-2 will be the home for game two and links to each broadcast, as well as live stats, will be available on UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
Sunday will be Bark in the Park Day at Dumke and the first 40 fans into the ballpark will receive a free Utah dog bowl and fans can also get their hands on doggy goody bags and Utah bandannas. A limited number of gray Utah hats will be given away as well.
Last Time Out
The Utes will be trying to extend a five-game win streak that includes two victories over Weber State sandwiched around a Pac-12 sweep over Arizona State. Utah's most recent effort against the Wildcats was led by pitcher Mariah Lopez, who tossed her second straight shutout and extended her streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 15. Lopez allowed just four hits, two walks, and tallied up 10 strikeouts, which is her second highest total on the season. Over her last 24 innings, Utah's port-sider from Peoria has permitted only a single earned run.
Chloe Doyle produced one of her best days at the plate as a Ute, collecting a pair of singles to finish 2-for-2, while also driving in a run with a sacrifice fly into left. Doyle has reached base in each of her last six games while also raising her batting average by more than a 100 points during that period.
Freshman Shonty Passi has also found her stroke at the plate and demonstrated that against the Sun Devils. In the series' opener, she smacked three hits, including two doubles, drove in a run and scored twice and she added another hit a day later. This came after Utah's first encounter with Weber State, when Passi collected two more hits, one of which went for extra bases.
Scouting the Opposition
Idaho State currently holds a 21-21 overall record and has gone 3-3 in conference play, which leaves them in fifth in the Big Sky standings. The Bengals lead the conference in hits (337), runs (195), home runs (26), and batting average (.286) and ISU has also accumulated a .969 fielding percentage, the highest in the Big Sky.
Among the stars for the Bengals is junior infielder Gracie Smith, who is ranked second in the conference in batting. Smith leads the Big Sky in hits (57) and runs (37), has a .432 batting average and .476 on base percentage, which also puts her in second on the league leaderboard. Another key player for the Bengals is second-year outfielder Alyssa Yee, who has posted runner-up numbers on the team to Smith, accumulating 43 hits, 24 runs, and a .323 batting average.
Utah has accrued a 21-6 edge over Idaho State through their series history and they'll be seeking to claim their fourth straight victory over the Bengals. In April of 2021, the Utes swept a doubleheader from ISU, which marks the two programs' most recent meeting.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/19/2024)
| Batting Avg. | Abby Dayton | .462 | |||
| Slugging % | Abby Dayton | .646 | |||
| On Base % | Abby Dayton | .527 | |||
| Runs Scored | Aliya Belarde Haley Denning |
40 | |||
| Hits | Haley Denning | 63 | |||
| RBI | Julia Jimenez | 38 | |||
| Doubles | Kaylah Nelsen | 14 | |||
| Home Runs | Aliya Belarde Julia Jimenez |
4 | |||
| Stolen Bases | Haley Denning | 20 | |||
| ERA | Mariah Lopez | 2.39 (152.1 IP) |
| K's | Mariah Lopez | 165 |
| Wins | Mariah Lopez | 16 |
National Rankings
- Abby Dayton currently owns the No. 7 spot in the nation in batting average at .462 and she's also tied for fourth in triples with six, ranks tied for 19th in hits with 60 and 20th in on-base percentage at .527.
- Haley Denning's 63 hits put her in a tie for 10th in Division I and her .438 batting average has her in 25th. She's also swiped 20 bases, tied for 30th.
- Kaylah Nelsen's 14 doubles put her in a tie for 24th nationally and she's also been the 12th toughest player in Division I to strikeout.
- Mariah Lopez has racked up 165 strikeouts, which puts her 9th in the country and her 16 wins are tied for 17th. She's also moved into the top 10 in innings pitched and starts.
- Utah's .317 batting average puts them 37th in the nation and the Utes also own the country's 11th best rate of double plays turned per game.
- Mariah Lopez has climbed into the top 10 in the Pac-12 in five different statistics. Her 165 strikeouts are the conference's second-most and she's tied for second in wins with 16. Lopez owns the league's highest total in innings pitched and complete games and her 2.39 ERA ranks seventh
- Abby Dayton has made herself at home atop the Pac-12's batting average rankings with a .462 clip to go with a conference-best .527 on-base percentage. She's also the league leader in triples with six, ranks third in hits with 60 and owns top 10 spots in runs and walks.
- Haley Denning's 40 runs scored have her tied with teammate Aliya Belarde for tops in the Pac-12 and she's also tied for the league lead in hits with 63. Her 20 steals and .438 batting average are all second-best in the Pac-12. She's reached base to the tune of a .456 OBP as well, which places her 10th.
- No one in the Pac-12 has crossed home plate more than Belarde, who's collected 40 runs scored and she's also tied for second in the league with four triples and ranks tied for sixth in hits.
- Kaylah Nelsen's 14 doubles have her alone in second on the conference leaderboard and she can also claim ninth in hits.
- Julia Jimenez has taken advantage of her RBI opportunities to the tune of 38 runs batted, which ties her for third in the Pac-12.
- Utah's 373 hits put them second in the league and the Utes also rank third in triples with 12 and in strikeouts with 235.
Haley Has More Milestones in Sight
Haley Denning has two more historic milestones within reach after already breaking the program's career hits record in March. One more hit will give her 300 in her career, making her the first Ute to ever reach that number, and she needs only two more runs scored to become Utah's career leader in that statistic.
Mariah Joins the 500 Strikeout Club
During her start on April 12 against Arizona State, Mariah Lopez collected the 500th strikeout of her career, making her only the fourth Ute to ever reach that total. She joined a group that includes former Utes Ali Sagas, Kristin Arbogast and Katie Donovan.
Mariah Lopez Wins Third Career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week Award
Mariah Lopez was honored for the third time in her career as the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday, making her the first Utah pitcher to ever collect that award three times. For the week, Lopez pitched to a 0.41 ERA across 17 innings, held the opposition to a .175 average and piled up 20 strikeouts.
Belarde Takes Home Player of the Week Honors
Aliya Belarde became the first Ute honored with one of the Pac-12's weekly awards on April 8, taking home Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. Overall, the California native hit .733 in four games with five extra base hits, four RBIs and seven runs scored. She finished the week with a 1.267 slugging percentage.
Taylor Takes One Out
Taylor Jacobs stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter on April 5 against Arizona and blasted solo home run to left field for her first base hit as a Ute. This is the second straight season a Utah player has homered for their first collegiate hit, as Karlie Davison accomplished that feat in 2023.
Coming Back is a Constant
The Utes have made a habit of staging comebacks of late and four of their last six wins have been of the come-from-behind variety. They eliminated a 7-2 deficit to defeat Oregon on March 16, followed by a 3-1 victory over BYU in which Utah trailed after five innings. The Utes then came back in both of their triumphs over California, the latter being Utah's sixth comeback win of 2024.
21 Straight Outs for No. 21
On March 3, Sarah Ladd threw just the fourth seven-inning perfect game in Utah history by retiring all 21 Utah Tech hitters she faced in a 5-0 victory. Ladd is the first Utah pitcher to accomplish that feat since Ali Andrus-Sagas in 1995 and the first Ute to throw a perfect game of any type since Miranda Viramontes in 2017. Overall, it goes down as the ninth perfecto in school history.
Mariah Lopez Sets a New Career-High
On Monday, Mariah Lopez racked up 15 strikeouts in a complete game win over Utah Tech, setting a new career-high high. She struck out the side twice in that appearance and fell only a single punchout short of matching the program record.
Preseason Placements
The Pac-12 released its annual preseason softball coaches poll and preseason all-conference team on Feb. 1 and Aliya Belarde, Haley Denning, Julia Jimenez and Mariah Lopez all earned all-conference nods, while the Utes were rated third in the league poll.
The Utes' placement in the preseason rankings represents their highest since joining the league, surpassing the fifth-place standing they achieved in 2017 and 2018, and the four preseason all-league honorees doubles the number the program attained in 2023.
Lopez Makes the Watch List
University of Utah softball's senior pitcher Mariah Lopez earned a spot on the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, which was released on Jan. 24. Lopez is the first Ute to earn this distinction since Alyssa Barrera a was a player of the year watch list selection in 2018.
Senior Class
The 2024 season will be the last one in a Utah uniform for the program's eight-person senior class of Aliya Belarde, Stella Bennett, Haley Denning, Chloe Doyle, Sophie Jacquez, Julia Jimenez, Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez.
Five of those eight student-athletes have achieved all-conference status and both Denning and Jimenez can claim All-Pac-12 honors in multiple seasons.
Coaching Staff Additions
Two new faces have joined head coach Amy Hogue's staff for the 2024 campaign. Courtney Martinez comes to Utah from Iowa State and Kaija Gibson has donned Utah colors after spending two years with UCF.
Martinez spent six seasons with the Cyclones, helping the squad reset the program record for homers in a season three times and pile up 37 wins in 2019, the second-highest total in school history. She also helped tutor 2021 First-Team All-American Sami Williams.
Gibson, who not long ago was playing against the Utes with Washington, was part of two Golden Knights teams that won the AAC Tournament Championship to earn spots in the NCAA Tournament. In 2022, UCF rolled up 49 wins and Gibson and her colleagues were named the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year and the NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
Players Mentioned
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