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
Friday, May 17
TBA
10 a.m.
University of Utah
vs
South Carolina
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Utah Softball Starts Durham Regional Against South Carolina
5/15/2024 10:40 AM | Softball
Utes to duel with Gamecocks, Blue Devils and Bears for spot at supers
SALT LAKE CITY – For the second straight year, the University of Utah softball has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and this time, the tourney's opening round takes the team to Durham, North Carolina for the Durham Regional, where they'll open up against the South Carolina Gamecocks inside Duke Softball Stadium on Friday at 10 a.m. MT.
Utah's second game of the Durham Regional will by on Saturday, taking place at either 9 a.m. MT or 11:30 a.m. MT. Sunday will the final day of the regional, with the start time of that day's opening contest yet to be determined.
NCAA Durham Regional Schedule
How to Follow
Utah's matchup against South Carolina will be carried live on ESPNU and every game of the Durham Regional can be found on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Utes did everything they could to impress the NCAA Tournament committee during the Pac-12 Tournament, knocking off a pair of ranked squads and defending their 2023 crown valiantly in the conference title game. Kaylah Nelsen, Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez garnered all-tournament recognition for their efforts.
Lopez started the tournament with a complete game victory over Oregon, putting her at 22 wins so far in 2024 and 45 in the last two seasons. That's the most by a Ute in any two-season span since Kristin Arbogast recorded 68 victories in 2000-01. Since April 10, Lopez has appeared in 15 games and gone 10-2 with a 1.47 ERA, while completing eight of her 11 starts. She's also held the opposition to a .207 average and struck out 79 in 76.1 innings.
Nelsen has kept up a torrid hitting pace all season and though she saw her 26-game on-base streak snapped in the Pac-12 title game, her .412 average over Utah's last 10 games is the highest on the team. She's also driven in 12 runs in her squad's last 10 games, four of which came in Utah's two Pac-12 Tournament triumphs. Nelsen's 41 RBIs have moved her up to sixth in the Pac-12 in that statistic and she's knocked in multiple runs in 14 games in 2024, five more than any other Ute.
Scouting the Opposition
Duke and Morgan State both arrived in the national postseason by virtue of automatic bids earned by winning their conference tournaments, while South Carolina's 34 victories gained them an at-large spot. The Gamecocks have risen as high as No. 17 in the national rankings in 2024 and their SEC resume included series victories over Ole Miss and Kentucky. Their pitching staff has crafted a 2.07 ERA and is led by All-SEC Second-Team pick Alana Vawter.
The Duke Blue Devils softball program didn't exist until 2018, but coach Marissa Young has quickly led her squad to national prominence, mostly recently in the form of ACC regular season and tournament championships. Their roster includes the conference's player of the year, Claire Davidson, pitcher of the year, Jala Wright, defensive player of the year, Aminah Vega, and coach of the year in Wright. Davidson and Vega have combined for 28 homers and well over 100 RBIs, while Wright is one of three Duke hurlers who owns an ERA under 2.00.
The Bears claimed their second MEAC Tournament Championship with a pair of victories over Coppin State on the competition's final day. They also won their fourth consecutive regular season championship and their current total of 35 triumphs is a new school record. Their 2.02 ERA is easily the league's best, thanks in large part to Emily Raubuch's mark of 1.08.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 5/15/2024)
National Rankings
Pac-12 Rankings
NCAA Tournament History
Utah is 33-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 29-24 in the regional round, including a 9-8 mark in regional openers. Those marks include Utah's three-game regional sweep last season, when they disposed of Southern Illinois and Ole Miss at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, beginning a run that culminated in the program's fifth trip to the Women's College World Series. The Utes have also won their regional tournament in each of their last three postseason trips.
Seven Utes Named All-Pac-12
Utah's list of all-league honorees was led by Abby Dayton, Haley Denning and Mariah Lopez, all of whom were chosen for the All-Pac-12 First-Team. This makes back-to-back seasons in which Dayton and Lopez landed on the first-team, the first time the Utes have had multiple players make consecutive first-team appearances since they joined the conference in 2012. Dayton is also the first Utah player ever to be picked for the league's first-team as a freshman and sophomore.
For Denning, this is the fourth consecutive year she's been recognized by the Pac-12, making her just the fifth Ute in school history to achieve all-conference recognition four times. She was also rewarded with a place on the Pac-12's All-Defensive Team.
Representing the Utes on the all-conference second-team were Kaylah Nelsen and Aliya Belarde, while Shonty Passi and Reese Lee were among the selections for Pac-12's All-Freshman Team. This marks the first time since 2017 the program has had multiple rookies chosen for the all-freshman roster.
Dayton Takes Home the Title
Abby Dayton became the first Ute since Hannah Flippen in 2017 to win the Pac-12 Regular Season Batting Title when she finished the regular year with a mark of .444. Dayton's average is currently the highest by a Ute since current head coach Amy Hogue set a program record that still stands by batting .455 in 1994.
Denning Milestones
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 postseason with 122 stolen bases. She's also just a single point behind the program's career batting average record of .392, owning a .391 mark entering the NCAA Tournament.
20/20
One year after piling up 23 wins, the most by a Utah pitcher since Kristin Arbogast won 28 in 2001, Mariah Lopez has again reached the 20-win plateau. Lopez is the first Utah pitcher since Generra Nielson in 2011 and 2012 to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns. She currently leads the Pac-12 in victories with 22 and is attempting to become the first Ute to lead the league in wins since Utah joined the conference prior to the start of the 2012 season.
Can't K Kaylah
Kaylah Nelsen has been the eighth-toughest player in the nation to strikeout in 2024, averaging one punchout every 43.0 at-bats. The last time she was struck out was 77 at-bats ago, on March 24 against Stanford.
First-Inning Offense
Utah's 56 first-inning runs and plus-27 run differential in the opening frame both rank as the team's best in any inning so far in 2024. The Utes are 18-10 when they score in the first stanza.
Always On-Base
Kaylah Nelsen compiled 26-game on-base streak that started on March 20 and ended on May 10. This was the second such streak of over 25 games by a Ute in 2024, as Abby Dayton compiled a 33-game on-base streak earlier in the year that stretched from March 23 to April 14. The Utes are the only team in the nation to have two players who've compiled on-base streaks of at least 26 games.
Passi Joins the Player of the Week Club
Shonty Passi earned the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award on April 29, meaning a Ute has reeled in each of the Pac-12's weekly awards. Aliya Belarde was named the league's player of the week on April 8 and Mariah Lopez took home pitcher of the week honors seven days later. This is the second straight season the Utes have won all three of these awards.
First Home Runs
Six 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 hit on Feb. 22 against Arizona and Kaylah Nelsen's four-bagger on April 21 against Idaho State counted for her first since joined the Utes. The most recent player to accomplish this feat was Shonty Passi on April 24 against Baylor.
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.
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).
Utah's second game of the Durham Regional will by on Saturday, taking place at either 9 a.m. MT or 11:30 a.m. MT. Sunday will the final day of the regional, with the start time of that day's opening contest yet to be determined.
NCAA Durham Regional Schedule
| Date | Game | Live Stats/Watch |
| May 17 | Utah vs. South Carolina | Live Stats / Watch |
How to Follow
Utah's matchup against South Carolina will be carried live on ESPNU and every game of the Durham Regional can be found on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Utes did everything they could to impress the NCAA Tournament committee during the Pac-12 Tournament, knocking off a pair of ranked squads and defending their 2023 crown valiantly in the conference title game. Kaylah Nelsen, Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez garnered all-tournament recognition for their efforts.
Lopez started the tournament with a complete game victory over Oregon, putting her at 22 wins so far in 2024 and 45 in the last two seasons. That's the most by a Ute in any two-season span since Kristin Arbogast recorded 68 victories in 2000-01. Since April 10, Lopez has appeared in 15 games and gone 10-2 with a 1.47 ERA, while completing eight of her 11 starts. She's also held the opposition to a .207 average and struck out 79 in 76.1 innings.
Nelsen has kept up a torrid hitting pace all season and though she saw her 26-game on-base streak snapped in the Pac-12 title game, her .412 average over Utah's last 10 games is the highest on the team. She's also driven in 12 runs in her squad's last 10 games, four of which came in Utah's two Pac-12 Tournament triumphs. Nelsen's 41 RBIs have moved her up to sixth in the Pac-12 in that statistic and she's knocked in multiple runs in 14 games in 2024, five more than any other Ute.
Scouting the Opposition
Duke and Morgan State both arrived in the national postseason by virtue of automatic bids earned by winning their conference tournaments, while South Carolina's 34 victories gained them an at-large spot. The Gamecocks have risen as high as No. 17 in the national rankings in 2024 and their SEC resume included series victories over Ole Miss and Kentucky. Their pitching staff has crafted a 2.07 ERA and is led by All-SEC Second-Team pick Alana Vawter.
The Duke Blue Devils softball program didn't exist until 2018, but coach Marissa Young has quickly led her squad to national prominence, mostly recently in the form of ACC regular season and tournament championships. Their roster includes the conference's player of the year, Claire Davidson, pitcher of the year, Jala Wright, defensive player of the year, Aminah Vega, and coach of the year in Wright. Davidson and Vega have combined for 28 homers and well over 100 RBIs, while Wright is one of three Duke hurlers who owns an ERA under 2.00.
The Bears claimed their second MEAC Tournament Championship with a pair of victories over Coppin State on the competition's final day. They also won their fourth consecutive regular season championship and their current total of 35 triumphs is a new school record. Their 2.02 ERA is easily the league's best, thanks in large part to Emily Raubuch's mark of 1.08.
2024 Team Stat Leaders (as of 5/15/2024)
| Batting Avg. | Abby Dayton | .438 | |||
| Slugging % | Abby Dayton | .600 | |||
| On Base % | Abby Dayton | .513 | |||
| Runs Scored | Aliya Belarde | 48 | |||
| Hits | Haley Denning | 74 | |||
| RBI | Kaylah Nelsen | 41 | |||
| Doubles | Kaylah Nelsen | 16 | |||
| Home Runs | Julia Jimenez | 5 | |||
| Stolen Bases | Haley Denning | 22 | |||
| ERA | Mariah Lopez | 2.29 (204.2 IP) |
| K's | Mariah Lopez | 214 |
| Wins | Mariah Lopez | 22 |
- Abby Dayton owns spots in the top 50 nationally in four different statistics, including triples and batting average, where her .438 mark has her ninth. Her six triples are tied for 13th, her .513 on-base percentage ranks 29th and her 70 hits are tied for 35th.
- Mariah Lopez's 214 strikeouts rank 12th in the nation, while her 22 wins have her tied for 13th. She's also 26th in complete games and tied for ninth in innings pitched.
- Haley Denning has piled up 77 total hits in 2024, tied for 19th in the country.
- Kaylah Nelsen is averaging one strikeout every 43.0 at-bats, eighth-best in Division I.
- Utah's .307 batting average puts them 36th nationally and they're 13th in double plays turned per game at 0.52.
Pac-12 Rankings
- Mariah Lopez has risen to the top of the Pac-12 leaderboard in wins and she sits second in strikeouts and fourth in ERA. She also leads the league in complete games and innings pitched.
- Abby Dayton is still the Pac-12's leader in batting average and triples and she's third in on-base percentage and hits, sixth in walks and ninth in runs scored.
- Haley Denning owns the Pac-12's second-highest total in hits and stolen bases and her .411 average stands as fourth-best, as do her 47 runs scored. Her six sacrifice hits at tied for second-most as well.
- Aliya Belarde is tied for first in the Pac-12 in runs scored with 48 and her six triples put her in a tie for second in the league. She's tied for fourth in sacrifice flies with four and is in 10th in hits.
- Kayah Nelsen's 16 doubles rank second in the Pac-12, her 41 RBIs are the league's sixth-best, as are her 66 hits, while her .384 average ranks eighth
- Julia Jimenez has drawn 26 walks, putting her in a tie for fourth, while her 40 RBIS is tied for seventh.
NCAA Tournament History
Utah is 33-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 29-24 in the regional round, including a 9-8 mark in regional openers. Those marks include Utah's three-game regional sweep last season, when they disposed of Southern Illinois and Ole Miss at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, beginning a run that culminated in the program's fifth trip to the Women's College World Series. The Utes have also won their regional tournament in each of their last three postseason trips.
Seven Utes Named All-Pac-12
Utah's list of all-league honorees was led by Abby Dayton, Haley Denning and Mariah Lopez, all of whom were chosen for the All-Pac-12 First-Team. This makes back-to-back seasons in which Dayton and Lopez landed on the first-team, the first time the Utes have had multiple players make consecutive first-team appearances since they joined the conference in 2012. Dayton is also the first Utah player ever to be picked for the league's first-team as a freshman and sophomore.
For Denning, this is the fourth consecutive year she's been recognized by the Pac-12, making her just the fifth Ute in school history to achieve all-conference recognition four times. She was also rewarded with a place on the Pac-12's All-Defensive Team.
Representing the Utes on the all-conference second-team were Kaylah Nelsen and Aliya Belarde, while Shonty Passi and Reese Lee were among the selections for Pac-12's All-Freshman Team. This marks the first time since 2017 the program has had multiple rookies chosen for the all-freshman roster.
Dayton Takes Home the Title
Abby Dayton became the first Ute since Hannah Flippen in 2017 to win the Pac-12 Regular Season Batting Title when she finished the regular year with a mark of .444. Dayton's average is currently the highest by a Ute since current head coach Amy Hogue set a program record that still stands by batting .455 in 1994.
Denning Milestones
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 postseason with 122 stolen bases. She's also just a single point behind the program's career batting average record of .392, owning a .391 mark entering the NCAA Tournament.
20/20
One year after piling up 23 wins, the most by a Utah pitcher since Kristin Arbogast won 28 in 2001, Mariah Lopez has again reached the 20-win plateau. Lopez is the first Utah pitcher since Generra Nielson in 2011 and 2012 to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns. She currently leads the Pac-12 in victories with 22 and is attempting to become the first Ute to lead the league in wins since Utah joined the conference prior to the start of the 2012 season.
Can't K Kaylah
Kaylah Nelsen has been the eighth-toughest player in the nation to strikeout in 2024, averaging one punchout every 43.0 at-bats. The last time she was struck out was 77 at-bats ago, on March 24 against Stanford.
First-Inning Offense
Utah's 56 first-inning runs and plus-27 run differential in the opening frame both rank as the team's best in any inning so far in 2024. The Utes are 18-10 when they score in the first stanza.
Always On-Base
Kaylah Nelsen compiled 26-game on-base streak that started on March 20 and ended on May 10. This was the second such streak of over 25 games by a Ute in 2024, as Abby Dayton compiled a 33-game on-base streak earlier in the year that stretched from March 23 to April 14. The Utes are the only team in the nation to have two players who've compiled on-base streaks of at least 26 games.
Passi Joins the Player of the Week Club
Shonty Passi earned the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award on April 29, meaning a Ute has reeled in each of the Pac-12's weekly awards. Aliya Belarde was named the league's player of the week on April 8 and Mariah Lopez took home pitcher of the week honors seven days later. This is the second straight season the Utes have won all three of these awards.
First Home Runs
Six 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 hit on Feb. 22 against Arizona and Kaylah Nelsen's four-bagger on April 21 against Idaho State counted for her first since joined the Utes. The most recent player to accomplish this feat was Shonty Passi on April 24 against Baylor.
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.
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).
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