Utah softball resumes action for the first time since March 26 when it travels to Berkeley, Calif. to face Cal. The Utes are eager to get back in action after two games were postponed last week, but on the flip side, Utah will have four games in five days — three in California and one in Salt Lake.
While some might shy away from the challenging slate of games, freshman Ally Dickman welcomes the frenzied schedule.
“I actually like playing a lot, especially if you keep in a good roll, you can keep it going,” Dickman said. “It’s not like ‘get cold and then start again,’ we can get on a roll and keep it going, hopefully from Cal, to Weber State, to all of our home series coming up. I actually think that’s going to be good for us.”
The Golden Bears come into the Utah series with a 16-14-1 overall record, and a 3-4-1 record in Pac-12 play. Cal is currently sitting in second-to-last place in the Conference of Champions.
The No. 1 offensive threat for the Golden Bears is Kobie Pettis, a sophomore infielder who is batting .380 with nine doubles, 10 runs, two home runs and 25 RBIs. Kylie Reed, a junior infielder, doesn’t have the power that Pettis has, but boasts a better batting average than her teammate at .410. She’s excelled in the leadoff spot for Cal, and has scored 10 times this season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Nisa Ontiveros and Kristin Cullen are the Golden Bears’ two best pitching options. Ontiveros is 3-4 with a 1.5 ERA, and Cullen is 2-2 with a 1.99 ERA.
The key for Utah this series will be getting back into an actual game after so much time off. Utah head coach Amy Hogue feels the team is ready.
“I think with a couple of practices that we can be ready to take on Cal in our next Pac-12 series,” she said.
Dickman says another key to a series victory for the Utes is playing consistent.
“[The keys are] swinging at the right pitches, being aggressive, scoring a lot of runs and just being solid on defense, staying consistent throughout the whole weekend,” Dickman said.
To walk away from Berkeley with a win, Utah will have to remain consistent on offense, specifically. The Utes currently lead the Pac-12 in home runs with nine, and are second in the league in batting average and on-base percentage.
But this game might come down to just whoever scores first. This season, the Utes are 20-3 when they score first, and just 2-8 when the opposing team scores first.
First pitch is at 4 p.m. MT on Friday, 2 p.m. MT on Saturday and 1 p.m. MT on Sunday from Cal’s Levine-Fricke Field.
@JoeColesChrony