Upcoming Event: Softball versus Weber State on October 15, 2025 at 6 p.m.
6 p.m.
Softball
vs Weber State
Wednesday, May 7
Oklahoma City, Okla.
4 p.m.
University of Utah
vs
No. 7 Seed UCF
Players Mentioned
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P
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INF
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UTIL
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P
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P
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UTIL
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OF
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OF
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UTIL
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C
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INF
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INF
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Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics
Utah’s First-Ever Big 12 Tourney Foray Starts Against UCF
5/6/2025 9:13 AM | Softball
10th-seeded Utes will face Knights for just the second time in school history
SALT LAKE CITY – After spending their final two seasons in the Pac-12 making runs to the conference tournament championship game and winning the league title in 2023, the University of Utah softball team is preparing to play in the Big 12 Tournament for the first time ever and the 10th-seeded Utes will start the tournament against the seventh-seeded UCF Knights on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT (4 p.m. MT) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
How to Follow
Every game at the Big 12 Tournament can be found on the ESPN family of networks, with Wednesday's opener being streamed on ESPN+ and Saturday's championship game to be broadcast live on ESPN at 10 a.m. MT.
Last Time Out
Despite enduring a difficult weekend in Stillwater against the No. 23 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, the Utes were able to take some bright spots away from the series, including Shelbi Ortiz's Sunday performance. The senior captain from California matched her career-high with two doubles on a three-hit day and she's slapped nine total hits in her last 20 trips to the plate, boosting her average in conference play to .341.
Ortiz is one of four Utes with averages over .340 in conference play in 2025, with Kaylah Nelsen's .375 mark putting her at the top of the list. Nelsen, an All-Pac-12 Tournament Team selection in 2024, enters the postseason possessing an average of .424 over her last 10 games, while Shonty Passi has hit .393. In her last 10 games, Emliy Capobianco has driven in a team-best 14 runs.
In the circle, both Shelbee Jones and Hailey Maestretti had their moments against the Cowgirls. Jones tossed two scoreless innings in relief on Saturday, while Maestretti collected the last seven outs for the Utes on Sunday while permitting just one hit.
Scouting the Opposition
Utah's only previous meeting with the Knights came on March 11, 2016 and UCF came away with a 4-3 win. Not long after that contest, Cindy Ball-Malone took over the program's head coach and she's currently in her seventh season leading the charge. Her team earned the seven seed by finishing the regular season with a road sweep of Kansas, including a come-from-behind win on Sunday.
The most important reason behind UCF's 32-21-1 overall record has been their pitching staff, led by senior Kaitlyn Felton and freshman Isabella Vega. Both players are in the top 10 in the conference in ERA, with Vega's mark of 1.23 trailing only Texas Tech's Nijaree Canady for the league lead.
At the plate Sierra Humphreys owns the squad's best batting average, with a .371 clip and she's one of four players with a slugging percentage over .500. The leader in that statistic for UCF is Izzy Mertes, who's totaled nine homers for a .582 mark.
2025 Team Stat Leaders (as of 5/5/2025)
Batting Avg. Kaylah Nelsen .341
Slugging % Kennedy Proctor .570
On Base % Shonty Passi .431
Runs Scored Kaylah Nelsen 27
Hits Kaylah Nelsen 62
RBI Emily Capobianco 30
Doubles Kaylah Nelsen 12
Home Runs Emily Capobianco 8
Stolen Bases Shelbi Ortiz 4
ERA Hailey Maestretti 3.82 (133.2 IP)
K's Shelbee Jones 95
Wins Shelbee Jones 6
National and Big 12 Rankings – Team
Emily vs. All-Americans
On Friday, Emily Capobianco blasted a two-run homer off former All-American pitcher Ruby Meylan. On April 4, she blasted a home run off 2024 National Player of the Year Nijaree Canady. Capobianco is one of only two players to homer off both pitchers in 2025.
Capo in the Clutch
Emily Capobianco is currently leading Utah in home runs with eight and most of those clouts have in important spots for her team. Six of those homers have given Utah the lead, including her fifth-inning, three-run blast against Iowa State on April 27 and her two-run homer at OSU on Friday.
Multi-Homer Games
On April 17 at BYU, Hailee White became the third Utah player in 2025 to hit multiple home runs in a game, joining a list that already includes Jolie Mayfield and Kennedy Proctor. This marks the first time since 2012 the Utes have had three different players post multi-home run performances in one season.
Hailee Hits Two Homers
Hailee White's two home runs on April 17 at BYU were her first two collegiate dingers. She's one of only two players in Division I in 2025 to hit her first two career homers in the same game.
Lucky Sevens
On March 21 against Kansas and March 28 against Houston, the Utes fought back from down seven runs to earn a victory. They turned an 8-1 Jayhawk lead into a 13-10 win and erased a 9-2 seventh-inning deficit to top the Cougars, 12-9, putting together the program's first inning double-digit scoring inning since 2017.
Utah is currently the only team in the nation to win two games in which they trailed by seven or more runs. Previously, the Utes hadn't overcome a deficit that substantial to earn a win since April 21, 2014 against Stanford.
Capo Walk-Offs
In both of Utah's seven-run comeback victories, the finishing touch was applied by Emily Capobianco. She blasted a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning against Kans as, then launched a walk-off grand slam to complete the uprising vs. Houston. She's the only player in Division I who's hit two game-ending round-trippers in the seventh inning or later so far in 2025. She's also the first Utah player with two walk-off home runs to her credit in one season since Glennis Donnelly and Devina Quintero both collected two in 2004.
Seventh Inning Comebacks
Only once in 2024 did the Utes win a game in which they trailed after seven innings, but Utah has already won three such games in 2025.
Kennedy Proctor's 2-HR Game
In game two of Utah's doubleheader against Houston on March 28, Kennedy Proctor circled the bases twice, the team's first multi-homer game of the season. She was the first Utah freshman to post a multi-homer game since Karlie Davison on May 5, 2023.
Proctor POTW
Kennedy Proctor became the first Utah softball student-athlete ever named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 1.
Proctor earned this honor by belting three home runs and collecting nine RBIs while helping power Utah to a series victory over Houston. For the week, the rookie catcher from California drove in multiple runs in all three contests, finished with a .600 average, an 1.800 slugging percentage and scored five times.
A Home Opener to Remember
In Utah's first home game of 2025, the Utes found themselves behind 8-1 after two-and-a-half innings, then staged the program's largest comeback since 2014. The Utes closed to within 8-7 before Kansas upped their lead back to 10-7. Utah then rallied to tie the score with two outs in the seventh before Emily Capobianco won the game on a walk-off homer in the ninth, Utah's first game-winning walk-off home since Bridget Castro on March 26, 2014.
A Maestretti Masterpiece
On March 1, Utah rookie Hailey Maestretti tossed the first shutout of her collegiate career, firing seven scoreless innings against No. 23 San Diego State. She's the first Utah freshman to throw a complete game shutout since Katie Donovan in 2015.
First-Time Four-Baggers
Six different Utah players have hit their first collegiate home runs in 2025. Kenney Proctor's first career four-bagger came on Feb. 8 vs. California. Emily Capobianco and Reese Lee smacked their first dingers on March 1 against Cal State Fullerton and Jolie Mayfield and Sianni Sakai's initial long balls were hit on March 2 vs. Weber State. Hailee White hit the first two long balls of her collegiate career on April 17 at BYU.
Carreon Crafts a Shutout
On Feb. 14, Brooklyn Carreon crafted the first shutout of her career against LMU, holding the Lions to six hits across six innings and striking out two. The California native threw a perfect first inning, then stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth to finish off her scoreless performance.
A Kennedy Crusher
In Kennedy Proctor's second career at-bat, which came against California on Feb. 8, she blasted a solo home run for her first collegiate hit. This was the third time in three seasons a Utah player homered for her first career hit. Taylor Jacobs accomplished that feat on April 4, 2024 against Arizona and Karlie Davison homered for her first career knock on Feb. 11, 2023 vs. Stonehill.
Team 50
The 2025 campaign is the 50th season of competition for Utah Softball, which began in 1976, and Hogue and her squad will be attempting add to a long list of memorable moments and incredible accomplishments that have defined the program throughout its history.
Over the course of 49 previous seasons, the Utes have reached the AIAW or NCAA Women's College World Series six times, earned 23 trips to regionals, collected 18 conference regular season or tournament championships and produced 20 All-Americans. Seven former Utah softball players have also been inducted into the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame.
Seven different people have held the title of head coach or co-head coach for Utah softball, but Norma Carr, Jo Evans, Mona Stevens and Amy Hogue have been the main stewards of the program throughout its history. Each collected more than 200 wins during their time as head coach, Carr, Evans and Hogue all guided the Utes to the Women's College World Series during their tenures, while Stevens guided Utah to championships in the Mountain West Conference in 2000, 2002 and 2004.
Utah's 20 All-American selections have been piled up by 15 players, starting with outfielder Melonie Kent in 1981. Four Utes, Charmelle Green, Sandy Rhea, Hannah Flippen and Ellessa Bonstrom earned All-American honors in multiple seasons, with Flippen being the only three-time All-American in school history. In 1985, 1994 and 2023, the Utes fielded teams with multiple All-Americans and in all three of those campaigns, they reached the Women's College World Series.
OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF UTAH ATHLETICS – UTAH 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today to unlock a refreshed game-day experience, from managing tickets to mobile concessions ordering, as well as video content, news and information, schedules, rosters and stats. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
| Date | Game | Tickets |
| May 7 | Utah vs. UCF | Tickets |
| May 8 | Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals | |
| May 9 | Big 12 Tournament Semifinals | |
| May 10 | Big 12 Tournament Championship Game |
How to Follow
Every game at the Big 12 Tournament can be found on the ESPN family of networks, with Wednesday's opener being streamed on ESPN+ and Saturday's championship game to be broadcast live on ESPN at 10 a.m. MT.
Last Time Out
Despite enduring a difficult weekend in Stillwater against the No. 23 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, the Utes were able to take some bright spots away from the series, including Shelbi Ortiz's Sunday performance. The senior captain from California matched her career-high with two doubles on a three-hit day and she's slapped nine total hits in her last 20 trips to the plate, boosting her average in conference play to .341.
Ortiz is one of four Utes with averages over .340 in conference play in 2025, with Kaylah Nelsen's .375 mark putting her at the top of the list. Nelsen, an All-Pac-12 Tournament Team selection in 2024, enters the postseason possessing an average of .424 over her last 10 games, while Shonty Passi has hit .393. In her last 10 games, Emliy Capobianco has driven in a team-best 14 runs.
In the circle, both Shelbee Jones and Hailey Maestretti had their moments against the Cowgirls. Jones tossed two scoreless innings in relief on Saturday, while Maestretti collected the last seven outs for the Utes on Sunday while permitting just one hit.
Scouting the Opposition
Utah's only previous meeting with the Knights came on March 11, 2016 and UCF came away with a 4-3 win. Not long after that contest, Cindy Ball-Malone took over the program's head coach and she's currently in her seventh season leading the charge. Her team earned the seven seed by finishing the regular season with a road sweep of Kansas, including a come-from-behind win on Sunday.
The most important reason behind UCF's 32-21-1 overall record has been their pitching staff, led by senior Kaitlyn Felton and freshman Isabella Vega. Both players are in the top 10 in the conference in ERA, with Vega's mark of 1.23 trailing only Texas Tech's Nijaree Canady for the league lead.
At the plate Sierra Humphreys owns the squad's best batting average, with a .371 clip and she's one of four players with a slugging percentage over .500. The leader in that statistic for UCF is Izzy Mertes, who's totaled nine homers for a .582 mark.
2025 Team Stat Leaders (as of 5/5/2025)
Batting Avg. Kaylah Nelsen .341
Slugging % Kennedy Proctor .570
On Base % Shonty Passi .431
Runs Scored Kaylah Nelsen 27
Hits Kaylah Nelsen 62
RBI Emily Capobianco 30
Doubles Kaylah Nelsen 12
Home Runs Emily Capobianco 8
Stolen Bases Shelbi Ortiz 4
ERA Hailey Maestretti 3.82 (133.2 IP)
K's Shelbee Jones 95
Wins Shelbee Jones 6
National and Big 12 Rankings – Team
- Utah has continued to maintain its spot among the national leaders in turning double plays, with their total of 35 placing them atop the Division I leaderboard.
- The Utes have racked up 11 triples during 2025, a total that places them second in the Big 12.
- Utah's patience at the plate has continued to serve them well. Their 162 walks rank third in the Big 12.
- Shonty Passi has established herself as one of the conference's most patient hitters, drawing 28 walks, tied for seventh the Big 12.
- Hailee White has continued to be one of college softball's most reliable infielders, having piled up 110 assists, fifth-best in the Big 12. She's done so while making only five errors. Her average of 2.16 assists per game ranks seventh in the Big 12.
- Kaylah Nelsen has spent the season racking up 62 hits, which tied her for sixth in the Big 12.
- Shelbee Jones has piled up 96 strikeouts in 2025, placing her seventh in the conference.
- No one in the Big 12 has been tougher to strike out than Nelsen, who is averaging just one punchout per 45.5 at-bats.
Emily vs. All-Americans
On Friday, Emily Capobianco blasted a two-run homer off former All-American pitcher Ruby Meylan. On April 4, she blasted a home run off 2024 National Player of the Year Nijaree Canady. Capobianco is one of only two players to homer off both pitchers in 2025.
Capo in the Clutch
Emily Capobianco is currently leading Utah in home runs with eight and most of those clouts have in important spots for her team. Six of those homers have given Utah the lead, including her fifth-inning, three-run blast against Iowa State on April 27 and her two-run homer at OSU on Friday.
Multi-Homer Games
On April 17 at BYU, Hailee White became the third Utah player in 2025 to hit multiple home runs in a game, joining a list that already includes Jolie Mayfield and Kennedy Proctor. This marks the first time since 2012 the Utes have had three different players post multi-home run performances in one season.
Hailee Hits Two Homers
Hailee White's two home runs on April 17 at BYU were her first two collegiate dingers. She's one of only two players in Division I in 2025 to hit her first two career homers in the same game.
Lucky Sevens
On March 21 against Kansas and March 28 against Houston, the Utes fought back from down seven runs to earn a victory. They turned an 8-1 Jayhawk lead into a 13-10 win and erased a 9-2 seventh-inning deficit to top the Cougars, 12-9, putting together the program's first inning double-digit scoring inning since 2017.
Utah is currently the only team in the nation to win two games in which they trailed by seven or more runs. Previously, the Utes hadn't overcome a deficit that substantial to earn a win since April 21, 2014 against Stanford.
Capo Walk-Offs
In both of Utah's seven-run comeback victories, the finishing touch was applied by Emily Capobianco. She blasted a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning against Kans as, then launched a walk-off grand slam to complete the uprising vs. Houston. She's the only player in Division I who's hit two game-ending round-trippers in the seventh inning or later so far in 2025. She's also the first Utah player with two walk-off home runs to her credit in one season since Glennis Donnelly and Devina Quintero both collected two in 2004.
Seventh Inning Comebacks
Only once in 2024 did the Utes win a game in which they trailed after seven innings, but Utah has already won three such games in 2025.
Kennedy Proctor's 2-HR Game
In game two of Utah's doubleheader against Houston on March 28, Kennedy Proctor circled the bases twice, the team's first multi-homer game of the season. She was the first Utah freshman to post a multi-homer game since Karlie Davison on May 5, 2023.
Proctor POTW
Kennedy Proctor became the first Utah softball student-athlete ever named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 1.
Proctor earned this honor by belting three home runs and collecting nine RBIs while helping power Utah to a series victory over Houston. For the week, the rookie catcher from California drove in multiple runs in all three contests, finished with a .600 average, an 1.800 slugging percentage and scored five times.
A Home Opener to Remember
In Utah's first home game of 2025, the Utes found themselves behind 8-1 after two-and-a-half innings, then staged the program's largest comeback since 2014. The Utes closed to within 8-7 before Kansas upped their lead back to 10-7. Utah then rallied to tie the score with two outs in the seventh before Emily Capobianco won the game on a walk-off homer in the ninth, Utah's first game-winning walk-off home since Bridget Castro on March 26, 2014.
A Maestretti Masterpiece
On March 1, Utah rookie Hailey Maestretti tossed the first shutout of her collegiate career, firing seven scoreless innings against No. 23 San Diego State. She's the first Utah freshman to throw a complete game shutout since Katie Donovan in 2015.
First-Time Four-Baggers
Six different Utah players have hit their first collegiate home runs in 2025. Kenney Proctor's first career four-bagger came on Feb. 8 vs. California. Emily Capobianco and Reese Lee smacked their first dingers on March 1 against Cal State Fullerton and Jolie Mayfield and Sianni Sakai's initial long balls were hit on March 2 vs. Weber State. Hailee White hit the first two long balls of her collegiate career on April 17 at BYU.
Carreon Crafts a Shutout
On Feb. 14, Brooklyn Carreon crafted the first shutout of her career against LMU, holding the Lions to six hits across six innings and striking out two. The California native threw a perfect first inning, then stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth to finish off her scoreless performance.
A Kennedy Crusher
In Kennedy Proctor's second career at-bat, which came against California on Feb. 8, she blasted a solo home run for her first collegiate hit. This was the third time in three seasons a Utah player homered for her first career hit. Taylor Jacobs accomplished that feat on April 4, 2024 against Arizona and Karlie Davison homered for her first career knock on Feb. 11, 2023 vs. Stonehill.
Team 50
The 2025 campaign is the 50th season of competition for Utah Softball, which began in 1976, and Hogue and her squad will be attempting add to a long list of memorable moments and incredible accomplishments that have defined the program throughout its history.
Over the course of 49 previous seasons, the Utes have reached the AIAW or NCAA Women's College World Series six times, earned 23 trips to regionals, collected 18 conference regular season or tournament championships and produced 20 All-Americans. Seven former Utah softball players have also been inducted into the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame.
Seven different people have held the title of head coach or co-head coach for Utah softball, but Norma Carr, Jo Evans, Mona Stevens and Amy Hogue have been the main stewards of the program throughout its history. Each collected more than 200 wins during their time as head coach, Carr, Evans and Hogue all guided the Utes to the Women's College World Series during their tenures, while Stevens guided Utah to championships in the Mountain West Conference in 2000, 2002 and 2004.
Utah's 20 All-American selections have been piled up by 15 players, starting with outfielder Melonie Kent in 1981. Four Utes, Charmelle Green, Sandy Rhea, Hannah Flippen and Ellessa Bonstrom earned All-American honors in multiple seasons, with Flippen being the only three-time All-American in school history. In 1985, 1994 and 2023, the Utes fielded teams with multiple All-Americans and in all three of those campaigns, they reached the Women's College World Series.
OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF UTAH ATHLETICS – UTAH 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today to unlock a refreshed game-day experience, from managing tickets to mobile concessions ordering, as well as video content, news and information, schedules, rosters and stats. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter |Instagram: @utahsoftball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
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