After the postponement of one game and the cancellation of another last week, Utah Softball is rearing to get back on the diamond, as the Utes will face Cal in Berkeley for a three-game series starting on April 8.
Utah head coach Amy Hogue gave her team some days off last week, but the Utes have been practicing all this week to gear up for the Cal series.
“There’s nothing but tough competition in front of us, and I think that with a couple of practices this week that we can be ready to take on Cal in our next Pac-12 series,” Hogue said.
The Bears are in second-to-last place in the Pac-12, with an overall record of 15-14-1, and a conference record of 3-4-1. Freshman outfielder Ally Dickman says the key to beating the Bears is to stay consistent.
“[The keys are] swinging at the right pitches, being aggressive, scoring a lot of runs, and just being solid on defense,” Dickman said. “Just being consistent throughout the whole weekend.
Pac-12 Standings update
Currently, Utah is sitting at second in the Pac-12 Conference with a 22-11 overall record, and a 4-2 record in conference play. Oregon leads the conference with a 7-2 Pac-12 record (27-6 overall). Just behind the Utes in third place is UCLA — the Bruins have a 4-2-1 Pac-12 record, and a 22-11-1 overall record.
As far as statistics are concerned, the Utes are currently second in the Pac-12 in batting average and first in slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Hannah Flippen leads the way for Utah with a .714 batting average, nearly two-tenths higher than the next-best average.
Flippen is also No. 1 in slugging and on-base percentage.
Utes reschedule game with Weber State
After snow prevented the Utes and Wildcats from doing battle on March 29, the game with Weber State has been rescheduled. The Utes and Wildcats will face off on April 12 at 4 p.m. at Dumke Family Softball Field. The game will be a quick turnaround for Utah, which finishes its last game in Berkeley on April 10, but Dickman likes the fast-paced 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 we get cold and then start again — we can just get on a roll and keep it going for hopefully Cal, to Weber State, to all of our home series coming up. I actually think that’s going to be good for us.”