Upcoming Event: Softball versus Salt Lake Community College on October 21, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Softball
vs Salt Lake Community College
The University of Utah Athletics
Wednesday, April 24
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM
University of Utah
vs
Baylor
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Utah Softball Aims to Continue Win Streak Against Bears, Beavers
4/22/2024 1:07 PM | Softball
Utah to host Baylor on Wednesday before visiting Corvallis for a three-game set
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah softball team has matched its longest win streak of the season by piling up seven straight victories and the challenge of keeping that streak intact will mean finding a way past a pair of foes during a stretch of four games in five days, starting at home against the Baylor Bears before the Utes close out the road portion of their Pac-12 regular season schedule by taking on the Oregon State Beavers.
The Utes will get the week underway welcoming the Bears to the Dumke Family Softball Stadium on Wednesday for their final regular season non-conference tilt, which is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. On Friday, they'll play the first of three against the Beavers at Kelly Field in Corvallis, Ore., with the first pitch time set for 7 p.m. PT (8 p.m. MT), followed by a 3 p.m. PT bout on Saturday and a Sunday series finale that will get underway at 12 p.m. PT.
April 24 – 28 Schedule
How to Follow
The Utes will be a regular on Pac-12 Mountain during the coming week, starting on Wednesday, when they'll also be on ESPN 700 AM and 92.1 FM will Bill Riley on the call. The series opener and series finale between Utah and Oregon State will also be on Pac-12 Mountain, with Saturday's contest being broadcast on Oregon State Live Stream-3. Links to each broadcast, as well as live stats, can be found on UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
The Utes will be wearing their pink uniforms on Wednesday for Strike Out Cancer Day. Pink wristbands will be handed out and the Utes will be collaborating with Swing for Life, who will be selling pink items to help promote and support breast cancer awareness.
It will also be MUSS Appreciate Day and a limited number of food vouchers will be available for members of The MUSS in attendance.
Last Time Out
Utah kept its win streak rolling on Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader from the Idaho State Bengals, thanks in large part to Shonty Passi's efforts at the plate. Passi collected four hits in six at-bats, including a pair of doubles, and also scored four times as the Utes won by scores of 5-1 and 11-8. Over the Utes' last seven games, no one has a higher average than Passi's .524 clip and she also leads the team in total bases over that period and has pounded out five doubles.
Haley Denning also provided the Utes with a pair of highlights during their twin bill sweep, sparking Utah's game two offensive outburst with a first-inning triple that counted for her 300th career hit, making her the first Utah player to ever reach that milestone. She also would cross the plate for the 198th time in her Utah career later in the contest, breaking the program's all-time record in that statistic. One more mark still in site for Denning is the program's all-time stolen base record, which she's 10 steals away from breaking.
In the circle, Mariah Lopez continues to show off the form that made her a 2023 All-American. Over her last six appearances, Lopez has thrown 31 1/3 innings, allowed just three earned runs, held the opposition to a .183 average and struck out 39. She's given up more than two earned runs just once in her last 13 outings and her 2.37 ERA stands as fifth-best in the Pac-12.
Scouting the Opposition
The Bears erased the memory of a four-game losing streak by completely shutting down the UCF Golden Knights' offense in a three-game sweep in Waco, holding their guests to a single run in the series to improve to 25-18 in 2024. The Bears, who made the trip to Utah for the Salt Lake City Regional in 2023, are looking for a strong finish to the regular season to secure a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
One season after achieving All-American status, infielder Shaylon Govan is once again leading the way for Baylor's offense, crafting a .437 batting average that ranks third in the Big 12. She also owns the league's best on-base percentage thanks to a total of 35 walks, a number that puts her in the top 10 nationally.
The Beavers sit one game behind the Utes in the Pac-12 standings as both teams attempt to climb the conference rankings ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament, which will begin on May 8. Coach Laura Berg's squad will be attempting to snap out of a funk that's seen them go more than a month since they last collected back-to-back wins. That most recent instance came on March 15 and 16, when they took two of three from Arizona State
Just a year after appearing in only 12 games and going 3-for-30 at the plate, Lici Campbell has assumed a prominent role in the OSU lineup and leads the team with eight home runs. Her most important dinger of the season came on April 14 against Stanford, when, with the Beavers down to their final out, she cracked a walk-off, two-run tater that allowed the Berg's bunch to knock off the then-No. 8 Cardinal.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/22/2024)
National Rankings
Haley Denning has spent the season chasing down one milestone after another, starting on March 3, when she logged the 264th hit of her career, passing Hannah Flippen to become the program's all-time hits leader. On April 21, she achieved two milestones, smacking a first-inning triple to become the first Ute to ever reach 300 hits and two innings later, she crossed home plate for the 198th time in her career, making her the program's all-time leader in runs scored.
Denning still has a chance to break the program's all-time record for career steals, which stands at 130. Denning enters the week with 121 stolen bases.
Dayton Batting Title
Abby Dayton continues to maintain her perch atop the Pac-12's batting average rankings, currently sporting a .467 average. Dayton is attempting to become the first Ute to win the conference batting title since Hannah Flippen, who earned that honor in 2016 and 2017.
20/20
One year after piling up 23 wins, the most by a Utah pitcher since Kristin Arbogast won 28 in 2001, Mariah Lopez is again closing in on the 20-win plateau. Lopez is aiming to become the first Utah pitcher since Generra Nielson in 2011 and 2012 to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
First Home Runs
Five players have connected for their first Utah home runs so far in 2024, starting with Leilani Melendez's blast on Feb. 23. Haley Denning smacked her first long ball on Feb. 24 against Wisconsin and Abby Dayton performed that feat a day later in a win over Nebraska. Taylor Jacobs homered for her first career hits on April 5 against Arizona and Kaylah Nelsen's four-bagger on April 21 against Idaho State counted for her first since joined the Utes.
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 triupmhs over California, the latter being Utah's sixth comeback win of 2024.
Three is a Charm
Abby Dayton has piled up six three-hit games so far in 2024, matching Utah's team-high in that statistic from a season ago. Only Haley Denning has more multi-hit games for the Utes than Dayton's 12. Denning has collected 14.
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.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2024 campaign are now available. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the Utah ticket office at 801-581-8849 or visit www.utahtickets.com/softball/.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
The Utes will get the week underway welcoming the Bears to the Dumke Family Softball Stadium on Wednesday for their final regular season non-conference tilt, which is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. On Friday, they'll play the first of three against the Beavers at Kelly Field in Corvallis, Ore., with the first pitch time set for 7 p.m. PT (8 p.m. MT), followed by a 3 p.m. PT bout on Saturday and a Sunday series finale that will get underway at 12 p.m. PT.
April 24 – 28 Schedule
| Date | Game | Live Stats/Watch |
| April 24 | Baylor at Utah | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 26 | Utah at Oregon State | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 27 | Utah at Oregon State | Live Stats / Watch |
| April 28 | Utah at Oregon State | Live Stats / Watch |
How to Follow
The Utes will be a regular on Pac-12 Mountain during the coming week, starting on Wednesday, when they'll also be on ESPN 700 AM and 92.1 FM will Bill Riley on the call. The series opener and series finale between Utah and Oregon State will also be on Pac-12 Mountain, with Saturday's contest being broadcast on Oregon State Live Stream-3. Links to each broadcast, as well as live stats, can be found on UtahUtes.com.
Game Day Promotions
The Utes will be wearing their pink uniforms on Wednesday for Strike Out Cancer Day. Pink wristbands will be handed out and the Utes will be collaborating with Swing for Life, who will be selling pink items to help promote and support breast cancer awareness.
It will also be MUSS Appreciate Day and a limited number of food vouchers will be available for members of The MUSS in attendance.
Last Time Out
Utah kept its win streak rolling on Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader from the Idaho State Bengals, thanks in large part to Shonty Passi's efforts at the plate. Passi collected four hits in six at-bats, including a pair of doubles, and also scored four times as the Utes won by scores of 5-1 and 11-8. Over the Utes' last seven games, no one has a higher average than Passi's .524 clip and she also leads the team in total bases over that period and has pounded out five doubles.
Haley Denning also provided the Utes with a pair of highlights during their twin bill sweep, sparking Utah's game two offensive outburst with a first-inning triple that counted for her 300th career hit, making her the first Utah player to ever reach that milestone. She also would cross the plate for the 198th time in her Utah career later in the contest, breaking the program's all-time record in that statistic. One more mark still in site for Denning is the program's all-time stolen base record, which she's 10 steals away from breaking.
In the circle, Mariah Lopez continues to show off the form that made her a 2023 All-American. Over her last six appearances, Lopez has thrown 31 1/3 innings, allowed just three earned runs, held the opposition to a .183 average and struck out 39. She's given up more than two earned runs just once in her last 13 outings and her 2.37 ERA stands as fifth-best in the Pac-12.
Scouting the Opposition
The Bears erased the memory of a four-game losing streak by completely shutting down the UCF Golden Knights' offense in a three-game sweep in Waco, holding their guests to a single run in the series to improve to 25-18 in 2024. The Bears, who made the trip to Utah for the Salt Lake City Regional in 2023, are looking for a strong finish to the regular season to secure a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
One season after achieving All-American status, infielder Shaylon Govan is once again leading the way for Baylor's offense, crafting a .437 batting average that ranks third in the Big 12. She also owns the league's best on-base percentage thanks to a total of 35 walks, a number that puts her in the top 10 nationally.
The Beavers sit one game behind the Utes in the Pac-12 standings as both teams attempt to climb the conference rankings ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament, which will begin on May 8. Coach Laura Berg's squad will be attempting to snap out of a funk that's seen them go more than a month since they last collected back-to-back wins. That most recent instance came on March 15 and 16, when they took two of three from Arizona State
Just a year after appearing in only 12 games and going 3-for-30 at the plate, Lici Campbell has assumed a prominent role in the OSU lineup and leads the team with eight home runs. Her most important dinger of the season came on April 14 against Stanford, when, with the Beavers down to their final out, she cracked a walk-off, two-run tater that allowed the Berg's bunch to knock off the then-No. 8 Cardinal.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 4/22/2024)
| Batting Avg. | Abby Dayton | .467 | |||
| Slugging % | Abby Dayton | .652 | |||
| On Base % | Abby Dayton | .538 | |||
| Runs Scored | Haley Denning | 42 | |||
| Hits | Haley Denning | 66 | |||
| RBI | Julia Jimenez | 38 | |||
| Doubles | Kaylah Nelsen | 14 | |||
| Home Runs | Aliya Belarde Julia Jimenez |
4 | |||
| Stolen Bases | Haley Denning | 21 | |||
| ERA | Mariah Lopez | 2.37 (159.2 IP) |
| K's | Mariah Lopez | 174 |
| Wins | Mariah Lopez | 17 |
National Rankings
- Abby Dayton's .467 batting average stands as the fifth-best clip in the nation and she's also tied for fourth in triples with six and tied for 23rd in hits with 63.
- Haley Denning is sharing 10th on the national leaderboard in hits with 66 and her .434 clip places her 21st. She's also tied for 35th in stolen bases with 21.
- Mariah Lopez's 174 strikeouts rank 11th in Division I and she's also one of eight pitchers sharing 17th in the country in victories with 17. Lopez is also in the top 10 nationally in starts and innings pitched.
- Kaylah Nelsen's 14 doubles put her in a deadlock for 33rd in Division I.
- Utah's .328 team batting average places them 28th in the country and the Utes also rank 12th in double plays turned per game and tied for 33rd in triples per game.
- Abby Dayton continues to have the Pac-12 regular season batting crown in her sights with a .467 average that leads the league, as well as a .538 on-base percentage that also ranks first. Her six triples lead the league as well and she ranks fourth in hits and total bases and sixth in walks.
- Haley Denning's 42 runs scored are tied for the Pac-12 lead and she's also totaled 66 hits, which ranks second, as do her 21 steals. Denning's .434 batting average places her in third.
- One of the players right behind Denning in runs scored in the league is Aliya Belarde, who's crossed the plate 41 times, which places her third. She's also tied for fourth in triples with four and sharing sixth in hits with 54.
- Kaylah Nelsen's 14 two-baggers in 2024 put her second in the Pac-12 and she's climbed up to ninth in hits with 53.
- Julia Jimenez's team-high 38 RBIs are tied for fourth in the Pac-12 and her 21 walks are tied for sixth.
- Mariah Lopez has moved into sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 in wins with 17 and she's still in second in strikeouts with 174 and ranks fifth in ERA at 2.37. Lopez has racked up the league's highest total in innings pitched and sits in second in complete games.
- Utah's 381 hits are second-most in the conference and they also rank third in strikeouts and triples.
Haley Denning has spent the season chasing down one milestone after another, starting on March 3, when she logged the 264th hit of her career, passing Hannah Flippen to become the program's all-time hits leader. On April 21, she achieved two milestones, smacking a first-inning triple to become the first Ute to ever reach 300 hits and two innings later, she crossed home plate for the 198th time in her career, making her the program's all-time leader in runs scored.
Denning still has a chance to break the program's all-time record for career steals, which stands at 130. Denning enters the week with 121 stolen bases.
Dayton Batting Title
Abby Dayton continues to maintain her perch atop the Pac-12's batting average rankings, currently sporting a .467 average. Dayton is attempting to become the first Ute to win the conference batting title since Hannah Flippen, who earned that honor in 2016 and 2017.
20/20
One year after piling up 23 wins, the most by a Utah pitcher since Kristin Arbogast won 28 in 2001, Mariah Lopez is again closing in on the 20-win plateau. Lopez is aiming to become the first Utah pitcher since Generra Nielson in 2011 and 2012 to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
First Home Runs
Five players have connected for their first Utah home runs so far in 2024, starting with Leilani Melendez's blast on Feb. 23. Haley Denning smacked her first long ball on Feb. 24 against Wisconsin and Abby Dayton performed that feat a day later in a win over Nebraska. Taylor Jacobs homered for her first career hits on April 5 against Arizona and Kaylah Nelsen's four-bagger on April 21 against Idaho State counted for her first since joined the Utes.
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 triupmhs over California, the latter being Utah's sixth comeback win of 2024.
Three is a Charm
Abby Dayton has piled up six three-hit games so far in 2024, matching Utah's team-high in that statistic from a season ago. Only Haley Denning has more multi-hit games for the Utes than Dayton's 12. Denning has collected 14.
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.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2024 campaign are now available. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the Utah ticket office at 801-581-8849 or visit www.utahtickets.com/softball/.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @Utah_Softball |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
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