Utah Softball heads to California this weekend to try to increase its five-game winning streak against some of the nation’s best teams. The Utes will play six games in four days at the Marry Nutter Collegiate Classic, facing No. 12 Oklahoma, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, No. 1 Florida, Cal State Northridge and New Mexico State.
“They’re ready to go,” said head coach Amy Hogue. “It’s just a matter of having the same confidence and not worrying about who is going to be in the dugout. We’ve prepared all year for this type of weekend.”
Utah opens up play on Thursday with No. 12 Oklahoma. The 2013 national champions come into the weekend 7-2, riding a seven-game winning streak. The Sooners bring some serious heat to the circle in Paige Parker and Kelsey Stevens. Parker has a 1.42 ERA with 31 strikeouts in six appearances this year and was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after a dominant performance over the weekend for Oklahoma. Stevens, meanwhile, has a 1.09 ERA and is 3-1 in four appearances.
Leading the way on offense for the Sooners is Lea Wodach, who has a .423 batting average in 26 at-bats. She has scored five times and driven in eight of her teammates. Erin Miller is also a force for the Sooners, batting .346 with seven RBIs, two triples and two home runs.
Oklahoma has won eight straight games over the Utes. This is the first time the two sides have faced off since 2010, when the Sooners won 3-0. Oklahoma and Utah start at 4 p.m. MST.
The Utes continue play on Thursday against Cal State Fullerton. The Titans are 8-2, with a two-game winning streak. Courtney Rodriguez leads CSF with 13 runs, three doubles, 10 RBIs and a .406 batting average.
Freshman Sydney Golden leads the way on the mound with a 1.68 ERA in 25 innings pitched. CSF has a team-ERA of 2.61. First pitch is at 7 p.m. MST.
Utah starts Friday with Long Beach State. The 49ers come into the Marry Nutter Classic 6-3, on a four-game win streak. Long Beach State pitching is holding their opponents to just a .199 batting average. Cielo Meza and Christina Clermont are the two best pitchers on the team, with ERAs of 1.91 and 2.30, respectively.
Hannah Cookson and Lauren MacLeod lead the Niners on offense. Cookson bats .414 with 11 RBIs and three doubles, and MacLeod bats .450 with six RBIs.
Utah plays the top team in the nation, the Florida Gators, on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. MST. Florida, back-to-back College World Series champions, graduated their best player, Lauren Haeger, who had 60 wins and 60 home runs as a Gator. She also finished with a 1.23 ERA and 24 straight victories. Filling her shoes is Delanie Gourley, who currently has a 0.00 ERA and has only allowed six hits in 19 innings pitched. She is 4-0 with 30 strikeouts.
Florida, 11-0, has outscored its opponents 90-4, scoring an average of eight runs per game. Amanda Lorenz leads the high-powered Gator offense with a .571 batting average, 18 runs, four doubles and 12 RBIs.
Even so, Hogue is confident about her team’s chances against the No. 1 team.
“If we play with confidence that they have and the fact that they had the first weekend against some of the top pitchers, I think we have a real good shot of beating some teams and making some noise,” Hogue said.
After the Florida game, Utah plays Cal State Northridge at 4 p.m. MST. The Matadors are 6-4, winning three of their last five games. Taylor Glover leads the team, batting .515 with eight runs, a homer and 12 RBIs.
Utah closes out its time in the Golden State with New Mexico State. The Aggies are 9-2, riding a three-game win streak. New Mexico State is batting .426, second in the nation in batting average. They also score 8.27 runs per game, good for tenth in the nation.
Karysta Donisthorpe leads New Mexico State pitching with a 1.24 ERA in 22.2 innings of throwing. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
“I think that we’re all really excited to play some really good teams,” said second baseman Hannah Flippen. “I think the way we beat them is by being dangerous at the plate, and the defense picks the ball up and keeps doing what it’s doing. I think we’ll be successful if we do those things.”
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