The University of Utah softball team will return home for its season opener before beginning Big 12 Conference play later in the week. The Utes are scheduled to face the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Dumke Family Softball Stadium on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. MST. The team will then travel to Tempe, Arizona, for a three-game series against the Arizona State Sun Devils starting Friday.
All four games this week can be watched on ESPN+.
Utah enters this stretch after a successful showing at the Beehive Classic, where they won all six games and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 50-4. Their last four victories were shutouts, marking their longest such streak since 2017.
Pitcher Hailey Maestretti contributed significantly during this run, pitching complete game shutouts against both Southern Utah and Utah Valley while allowing only six hits across those two starts. The pitching staff currently holds a 1.68 earned run average (ERA), ranking eighth nationally and second among Big 12 teams. Maestretti, Raci Miranda, and Shelbee Jones are each ranked in the top ten for ERA within the conference.
At the plate, freshmen Danika Wilson and Mia Gomez have been leading contributors. Wilson hit .588 at the Beehive Classic with four home runs and 12 RBIs, earning her recognition as Big 12 Freshman of the Week and Softball America’s Freshman Star of the Week. Gomez owns a .468 batting average—sixth-best in the conference—and hit .500 with two home runs during that tournament. Alongside Payton Cranks, these rookies have accounted for half of Utah’s home runs so far this season.
Looking ahead to their upcoming opponents, Southern Utah recently lost two games to Utah and one to Utah State but rebounded by sweeping Weber State in a doubleheader thanks to strong pitching performances from Avery Nielson, Riley Nielson, and Hannah Duncan.
Arizona State comes into conference play with a record of 19-3 behind an offense that ranks second in slugging percentage among Big 12 teams. Outfielder Tanya Windle has been a key contributor with a .449 batting average and five home runs; she is also tied for sixth in league runs scored.
Statistically for Utah this season: Mia Gomez leads in batting average (.468), slugging percentage (.758), on-base percentage (.554), and hits (29). Kennedy Proctor leads or shares team highs in runs scored (19), doubles (9), RBIs (19), and home runs (4). Pitchers Shelbee Jones and Raci Miranda both hold ERAs of 1.10 over 38.1 innings pitched; Maestretti leads with six wins.
Nationally, Utah’s pitching staff is ranked eighth in ERA while also recording seven shutouts—sixth-best across Division I softball programs—and achieving one of the higher strikeout-to-walk ratios at 2.44 (36th NCAA rank). The team has turned 14 double plays this year (tied for seventh nationally) and drawn enough walks to rank them inside Division I’s top twenty teams.
Hailee White has made notable defensive contributions with her assist total ranking fourth among Big 12 players.
Individually:
– Hailey Maestretti’s five complete games are tied for most in the Big 12.
– Her three shutouts place her ninth nationally.
– Both Shelbee Jones’ and Raci Miranda’s ERAs rank them among national leaders.
– Mia Gomez is fourth in conference hits so far this year.
Utah has shown particular strength late in games by outscoring opponents by a margin of 28-5 over just the sixth and seventh innings combined.
Recent individual milestones include Kennedy Proctor hitting three doubles against Illinois State—making her just the sixth player in program history to do so—and Hailee White notching two triples versus UC Riverside early this season.
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