All good things must come to an end.
After winning their first four games during Spring Break in California to stretch their unbeaten streak to 12, the Utes traveled to Hawaii and lost four straight. Utah is 13-10-1 with just one game remaining before Pac-12 play begins this weekend.
“I think we are more prepared going into the Pac-12 than we were last year at this point, even though our record doesn’t show that we are more prepared because of wins and losses,” said head coach Amy Hogue. “We’re more prepared. We’ve faced better teams and better pitching so I think we’ll do better in the Pac-12 this year than we did last year.”
Although Hogue said her team has faced solid pitching this season, it was her team’s performance in that department that helped the Utes notch victories in California as they surrendered just three runs to Idaho State and none to Cal State Fullerton.
All three of Utah’s pitchers saw significant time against the Bengals and Naomi Amu turned in a gem against the Titans, as she allowed no runs. It was a good thing, too, as the Utes scored just one run in the win. Pitching was also key in Utah’s next two victories, as the Utes beat South Alabama 2-1 and Mariah Ramirez recorded the shutout in an 8-0 win over Bethune Cookman.
As soon as the Utes landed in Hawaii, their luck ran out. Utah lost twice to Syracuse, once to Hawaii and once to Baylor. Although the team didn’t win a single game in Hawaii, the trip wasn’t seen as a complete failure. Pitching was again solid, as was the defense. Utah didn’t allow more than five runs in any game in Hawaii.
Offense was a different story, however. At the first of the year, Hogue said the Utes would need to score “early and often” in order to be successful. In the four losses, Utah only scored four runs total.
Part of the reason for the lack of scoring was a step up in competition. Baylor is ranked 19th in the country and Hawaii is ranked 20th. Hogue said the level of competition won’t get any easier and the Utes will need to respond after the losses. With just Wednesday’s game against Utah State separating it from conference play, Utah will need to make sure its hitting improves.
“With this sport you have to play one game at a time,” sophomore Marissa Mendenhall said. “You can’t worry about the past. You can learn from the past but you have to move on from it.”