LEADING OFF
Utah continues its seven-game homestand with its third Pac-12 home series of 2021, and will have one more to conclude the regular season, May 13-15 vs. Oregon State.
The Utes have one other non-conference game remaining on the schedule: May 4 against Weber State (rescheduled from April 16 because of weather).
Second-ranked UCLA is the highest-ranked team to visit Salt Lake City since March 31, 2019 when Utah hosted No. 2 Oklahoma for a doubleheader.
UCLA also was ranked No. 2 the last time the two teams met in a series, April 26-28, 2019, at UCLA.
The Utes are 17-2 against non-Pac-12 opponents in 2021
Fifteen of Utah s 42 games this season have come against Pac-12 opponents ranked in the Top 15 in the nation.
Apr 8, 2021
The road trip continues for the Utah Softball team, fresh off three wins on Tuesday and Wednesday in St. George, Utah, as the Utes move on to Berkeley, Calif., for a four-game series beginning Friday at 4 p.m. MT against the Cal Bears. Saturday s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. and Sunday s series finale is set for 1 p.m. The first two games of the series will be televised on Pac-12 Networks and the final two will be available on the Pac-12 Now app.
Utah (15-15; 1-8 Pac-12) earned two wins over Dixie State on Tuesday and Wednesday, and capped the visit to St. George with a 7-5 win over Southern Utah Wednesday evening. Cal (13-11; 1-15 Pac-12) defeated St. Mary s 6-1 on Tuesday in the lead-up to this weekend s series.
RECORDS WATCH
Centerfielder Alyssa Barrera ranks fifth in career batting average at Utah, at .358 (209-583). She batted .381 as a freshman in 2017 (64-168), .322 in 2018 (49-152), .376 in 2019 (59-157) .421 in 2020 (24-57) and is off to a .265 start in 2021 (13-49).
Barrera now has 209 career hits. She needs to reach 245 to break into Utah s all-time top 5 and 264 to break Hannah Flippen s school record.
FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Utah s large freshman class has made an impact already in 2021. Six of the eight have seen game action thus far: Aliya Belarde, Alicia Estrada, Sophie Jacquez, Mariah Lopez, Shelbi Ortiz and Savanah Whatley.
Mariah Lopez earned her first career win at UNLV on Feb. 21, allowing just four hits and a walk in a complete-game performance. She struck out 11 batters including the last three she faced, to end the game the most by a Utah pitcher since 2012 when Generra Nielson struck out 12 against Utah Valley (5/8/12).