As the University of Utah softball team prepares for a busy weekend at the Beehive Classic in St. George, head coach Amy Hogue is approaching two significant career milestones. The Utes are scheduled to play six games against five different teams from Thursday through Sunday at Karl Brooks Field.
Utah will face Southern Utah and Weber State on Thursday, followed by a game against Utah Tech on Friday. Saturday’s schedule includes another matchup with Southern Utah and a contest with Utah State, while the tournament concludes with a game against Utah Valley on Sunday. All six games will be broadcast on WAC International.
The Utes currently hold an 11-5 record this season. With one more win, Hogue will reach her 500th victory as head coach at Utah. She would become only the fourth coach in school history across all sports to surpass 500 wins, joining Greg Mardsen (gymnastics), Elaine Elliott (women’s basketball), and Beth Launiere (volleyball). Hogue also needs four additional wins to reach 700 total victories in her overall head coaching career.
Utah’s pitching staff has contributed notably to these achievements. Last week, they recorded a collective ERA of 1.44. Raci Miranda allowed just one earned run and four hits over 16 1/3 innings and picked up two wins during that span. Shelbee Jones delivered a standout performance with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a complete-game win over CSUN and currently leads the team with an ERA of 1.19.
Freshman Mia Gomez continues to make an impact offensively. After earning Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors, she hit .421 last week with another home run and five RBIs. Her .458 batting average ranks fifth in the Big 12 among players with at least 20 at-bats, and she leads the team in on-base percentage at .519. Kennedy Proctor remains effective at generating extra-base hits; she is tied for first in doubles within the league and recently recorded her second multi-home run game.
The Utes’ upcoming opponents feature several standout players as well. Southern Utah infielder Arianna Ramirez holds a .380 batting average and leads her team in on-base percentage (.446). Weber State’s Jordan McMahon is hitting .520 and has achieved nine multi-hit games so far this season. For Utah Tech, three players are batting above .400, including Kinley Pappas who has five home runs—three of which came in one game.
Utah State’s Alex Bunton began her season by getting hits in 12 out of her first 13 games, including a streak of ten consecutive games with at least one RBI over five straight contests. For Utah Valley, Britney Moreno boasts a .500 average along with nine stolen bases; Emma Haygood follows closely behind with a .450 average and five home runs.
Utah’s offensive production has been particularly strong late in games: they have outscored opponents by a combined margin of 28-5 during the sixth and seventh innings this season.
Other recent highlights include Kennedy Proctor tying a school record with three doubles against Illinois State on February 14—becoming just the sixth player in program history to achieve that feat—and Hailey Maestretti delivering perhaps her best collegiate performance against Santa Clara by allowing only two hits without issuing any walks while striking out six batters.
Fans can follow updates about the team via social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram (@utahsoftball), or Facebook (Facebook.com/Utessoftball).
