After four straight losses, a game to get the team’s confidence back looked to be the best medicine for Utah. At 5-22, Utah State University looked to be that team.
But the game was postponed, and Utah’s substitute isn’t nearly as favorable.
Utah will now enter Pac-12 conference play against the second-highest ranked team in the conference: No. 6 Cal. The two teams will play a three-game stretch starting today and ending Sunday.
Cal (23-3) is by far the best opponent Utah (13-10-1) has played up to this point. The only two teams that come close are No. 20 Hawaii and No. 18 Baylor, and the Utes lost to both teams last weekend. The Golden Bears’ last game was canceled, and they lost the game before to Syracuse, but before those two games Cal was riding a 22-game winning streak. Today’s game will be Cal’s second home game this year.
Utah’s first conference game poses a daunting challenge, but the Utes aren’t worried.
“I think we’re ready to start conference [play],” said second basewoman Jackie Sweet. “I think it is exciting, and to play someone that high of level will be good competition for us, and we’re excited about it.”
One person the Utes are probably not excited to see is Jolene Henderson, Cal’s senior starting pitcher. She is one of the best pitchers in the conference, averaging seven strikeouts a game. She has helped the Golden Bears win 19 games and has only lost two and will most likely face Utah today and Sunday. Utah head coach Amy Hogue said her players were able to get a look at all of Cal’s pitchers, including Henderson, in Hawaii, and she said they are not worried.
“We’ve faced Jolene [Henderson] before and we know what we’re going to get with her, and we got to see [the Bears’] two new pitchers,” Hogue said. “[Our players] feel confident that they can hit those kids.”
Confidence aside, the Utes have lost their last four games. With the postponement of the Utah State game, Utah will take its four-game losing streak into conference play.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect us either way, good or bad,” Sweet said. “We might have had a little more confidence going into it but either way, [the Bears] are still going to be a tough opponent, and we have to be ready to play regardless.”
In those four losses Utah was in every game. In three of the four games, Utah only lost by one run and, up until Baylor’s last at bat, the teams were tied.
The biggest issue has been on the offense — as inconsistency has plagued Utah.
“I think we’ve been playing really well, we just haven’t been scoring runs,” Hogue said. “We’ve become tentative at the plate, and that is just a mind-set. If they can just make that switch, I think we’ll be fine. We’ve been playing our best ball, especially our pitchers, and our defense has been steady almost the entire year. It is just a matter of our hitters believing in themselves and taking their hacks.”
If the Utes’ bats come to life, they could score an upset win against the Bears. If they remain dormant, then it will be a long weekend for Utah.