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Dayton, Denning, Lopez, Belarde Named All-Region
5/16/2024 12:15 PM | Softball
Dayton Denning and Lopez Earn first-team recognition, Belarde placed on third-team
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For the first time in program history, the University of Utah softball team has had three players named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region First-Team, as Abby Dayton, Haley Denning and Mariah Lopez all earned that honor, while Aliya Belarde was named to the third-team.
Since the NFCA started adding specific team designations to its all-region selections in 1991, the Utes had two first-team selections three times, but this marks the first instance in which they've had a trio of student-athletes picked for the top squad, tying the most of any pacific region program in 2024. All four of these Utes were also on the all-region roster in 2023.
For Denning, this makes her just the third player in program history to attain all-region first-team status three times, joining Sandy Rhea and Hannah Flippen. Her most recent election to the top roster in the pacific comes after a regular season in which she owned the Pac-12's second-highest totals in hits and steals, while crafting a career-best .411 batting average, also in the top five on the league leaderboard. She's broken the program record for career hits and career runs during the 2024 campaign.
Dayton, who joined Denning on the All-Pac-12 First-Team, spent her sophomore year becoming just the second Ute to ever take home the conference's regular season batting crown. Her .438 clip also ranks ninth-best in the country, one of four statistics in which she's in the top 50 nationally. Her .513 on-base percentage, 25 walks and 37 runs scored are also in the conference's top 10, while the 33 game on-base streak she compiled from Feb. 23 to April 14 is the longest by any Pac-12 softball player in 2024.
Over the last month of the season, Lopez has displayed the form that made her an All-American in 2023, going 10-2 with a 1.47 ERA in 15 appearances. That success has propelled her to first in the Pac-12 in victories with 22 and her 214 victories put her second in the league and 12th in the nation. Her combined total of 45 wins since the start of 2023 are the most by any Ute in a two-season span in over 20 years and she's also collected a Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award, All-Pac-12 First-Team and Pac-12 All-Tournament honors along the way.
Belarde's third-team spot was earned thanks to a season in which no one in the conference crossed the plate more than her, with her 48 runs scored tied for first. She's also tied for second in the conference in triples and in the top 10 in hits, steals, sacrifice flies and on-base percentage. Belarde has a Pac-12 Player of the Week award to her credit as well, which she received on April 8. In the field, she's collected a team-high 79 assists and helped the Utes turn 28 double plays, second-most in the conference.
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