The Utes’ pitching and defense is predicated on the idea of allowing the opponent to connect with the ball to get quick outs. This differs from several teams in the Pac-12, including Oregon and Cal, which rely on pitchers to strike opponents out.
Utah not only leads the conference in double plays with 36, but it tops the entire nation. The next closest team in the Pac-12 is Arizona State, which only has 23.
“Even the best pitchers … get hit, so you can’t sit and think pitchers are going to win you ball games in the Pac-12,” said assistant coach Maggie Livreri. “Defense is probably the most important factor aside from scoring runs.”
The ability to turn double plays is a whole team effort. The pitchers need to throw pitches that will cause batters to put the ball on the ground, and defenders need to field the ball cleanly and have chemistry to finish the play.
No two players show more trust in one another than second baseman Jackie Sweet and shortstop Kelsi Hoopiiaina. The two seniors have been a part of 35 of the 36 Utah double plays this year. Livreri praised both players but singled out Sweet specifically.
“Part of it is the quickness of our second baseman and our shortstop obviously,” Livreri said. “Anything to the left side of the field, Jackie Sweet does a really, really good job turning the double play at second base. I have been around some good second basemen, but I think she is just as good as anybody.”
Earlier in the year, Hoopiiaina said Sweet has “the fastest hands she has ever seen.” On the flip side, Sweet has great trust in Hoopiiaina’s ability in the field.
“We have confidence in one another, and we know if I don’t pick something up, she will,” Sweet said. “It is just having each other’s backs on everything.”
Although team defense is the focal point for the Utes, it does come with some pitfalls. Utah leads the Pac-12 in errors with 57 and has the lowest fielding percentage in the conference. Some of the Utes’ errors have been key in losses.
“It is incredibly difficult,” Livreri said of playing team defense. “That’s why you see a lot of teams bend and break, [and] that has been one of the faults of our team throughout the year [with] the ups and downs.”
Hoopiiaina is confident in her team’s defense but said softball is a game of scoring runs, and no matter how good the defense is, teams will score.
“I just think we’re all on the same page, and so it is not too difficult,” she said. “But then hitters, of course, will find ways to hit in the gaps, but that is just softball. If it happens, it happens.”