No. 3 Dixie State Trailblazers (18-0, 4-0 PacWest) at:
Chaminade (4-11, 1-7 PacWest)
Hawai'i Pacific (6-6, 3-5 PacWest)
Hawai'i Hilo (13-6, 4-2 PacWest)
*Rankings/Records current as of 3/11/18
Game Times (Mountain Time):
Monday (DH) at Chaminade - 8:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday (DH) at Hawai'i Pacific - 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.
Friday (DH) at Hawai'i Hilo - 4 p.m., 6 p.m.
Saturday (DH) at Hawai'i Hilo - 4 p.m., 6 p.m.
Live Stats: Chaminade , Hawai'i Pacific , Hawai'i Hilo
Live Audio: Chaminade
Live Video: Hawai'i Pacific
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #BlazeForward #PacWestSB
The No. 3 Dixie State softball team heads to Hawaii this weekend for a stretch of eight games in six days. The Trailblazers (18-0, 4-0 PacWest) open the trip with a doubleheader against Chaminade on Monday, before battling Hawai'i Pacific in a doubleheader on Wednesday. DSU will wrap up the trip with a four-game series vs. Hawai'i Hilo on Friday and Saturday.
Live stats and live audio will be available during the doubleheader at Chaminade, while live video and live stats will be provided at Hawai'i Pacific. Only live stats will be available for the four-game series at Hawai'i Hilo (See above for links).
ALL-TIME VS. CHAMINADE: Monday's series-opening game marks the 34th meeting between Dixie State and Chaminade. The teams first met on April 15, 2007, in Honolulu. DSU won the inaugural matchup, 9-1, sparking a 20-game win streak for the Storm in the series. The Silverswords earned their first victory in the series on March 3, 2013, a 7-1 win in Honolulu. Since then, DSU has won the last 12 matchups and holds a 32-1 series lead, including a 17-1 mark in Honolulu.
ALL-TIME VS. HAWAI'I PACIFIC: Wednesday's series-opening game marks the 38th meeting between Dixie State and Hawai'i Pacific. The teams first met on April 20, 2007, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. HPU won the inaugural matchup, 5-4, and went on to win 13 of the first 19 matchups between the teams. Since then, the Trailblazers have won 17 of the last 18 games in the series, a stretch that spans back to 2012. DSU holds a 23-14 lead in the series, including a 9-8 mark at HPU.
ALL-TIME VS. HAWAI'I HILO: Friday's series-opening game marks the 36th meeting between Dixie State and Hawai'i Hilo. The teams first met on April 18, 2007, in Hilo, Hawaii. The Vulcans won the inaugural matchup, 2-1, sparking a three-game streak for UHH in the series. DSU earned its first victory a year later in a 7-1 win in Hilo on March 10, 2008. The Trailblazers have won 11 of the last 12 matchups and hold a 25-10 series lead, but are .500 (8-8) vs. the Vulcans on the big island.
KNOW YOUR FOE: Chaminade enters the weekend with a 4-11 overall record and a 1-7 mark in Pacific West Conference play. The Silverswords earned a 10-9 win over Azusa Pacific in 11 innings for their lone conference victory of the season. Junior infielder Rainelle Matsuoka leads the CUH attack, hitting .340 with 17 hits, 11 RBI, and two home runs. Freshman Madelyn Stockslager (3-5) leads the Silverswords in the circle with a 3.88 ERA and 45 strikeouts.
Hawai'i Pacific enters the weekend with a 6-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in PacWest play. The Sharks own conference wins over Azusa Pacific and Concordia-Irvine. HPU will play a doubleheader against Martin Methodist on Monday before Wednesday's matchup vs. DSU. The Sharks boast three players (Ashley Iseri, Sierra Dias, .303) hitting over .300 in the lineup, while junior Jordan Curry (1-2) leads HPU in the circle with a 1.31 ERA and 14 strikeouts.
Hawai'i Hilo enters the weekend with a 13-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in PacWest play. The Vulcans own doubleheader sweeps over Biola and Azusa Pacific and will host Concordia-Irvine and California Baptist before next weekend's series against the Trailblazers. The Vulcans boast five players hitting over .300 in the lineup, led by sophomore catcher Brinell Kaleikini (.444, 24 hits, 20 RBI, 4 HR). Senior Cyanne Fernandez (11-2) leads the Vulcans in the circle with a 1.83 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State swept a three-game series over Notre Dame de Namur last weekend to improve its undefeated start to 18-0.
MOVING UP IN THE RANKINGS: After landing at No. 9 in the NFCA Division II Preseason Poll, the Trailblazers jumped five spots to No. 4 on February 21 and moved to No. 3 in the latest poll on Wednesday.
MAKING HISTORY: Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) broke the DSU Softball career runs scored record on February 10 when she scored on a Riley Tyteca (Farmington, Utah/Viewmont HS) single in the top of the fifth inning vs. MSU Billings. The run marked her 184th career run scored, passing Courtney Hine (183, 2012-15). Bassett has scored 17 runs since then for a career total of 201 runs scored.
As a team, the Trailblazers (18-0) are off to the best start in the program's Division II era, eclipsing the 8-0 starts set previously in 2009 and 2017.
CHASING HISTORY: Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) started the 2018 season at No. 3 on the DSU Softball career hits list with 223 career hits. Bassett recorded her 10th hit of the season in the bottom of the fourth vs. Chadron State on February 10 for her 233rd career hit. The hit propelled her past Nicole Chavez (232, 2012-15) and into No. 2 on the career hits list. Bassett has logged 15 more hits since then to move to 248 career hits and into a tie with Courtney Hine (248, 2012-15) atop the DSU career hits list. Bassett will set the new career hits record with her first hit in Hawaii.
Head Coach Randy Simkins entered the season with a 380-108 record in 10 seasons at Dixie State. After the Trailblazers 18-0 start, Simkins sits with 398 career wins, needing just two more wins to get to 400 career wins.
PACWEST WEEKLY AWARDS: Cambrie Hazel (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) earned her third consecutive PacWest weekly honor on Monday, landing Pitcher of the Week honors. Hazel tossed the second perfect game in Dixie State's NCAA Division II era in an 8-0 win over Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday. She retired all 18 batters she faced, striking out nine of them, including the final two batters to complete the perfect game. The Trailblazers offense ended the game early by earning an eight-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hazel remains undefeated in her career at 8-0 with one save in 10 outings. She leads the PacWest in opposing batting average (.129) and holds a 1.04 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 40.1 innings pitched.
BASSETT NAMED TO PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH: For the third consecutive year, Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) has been named to the NFCA/Schutt Sports Division II Player of the Year Watch List. The Top 25 finalists will be announced on April 23, while the Top 10 will be announced on May 15. The 2018 Player of the Year will be revealed on June 4.
DSU PICKED SECOND IN PACWEST PRESEASON POLL: For the second consecutive season, the Trailblazers were picked to finish in second place in this year's PacWest Preseason Poll behind California Baptist. Junior outfielder Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) was named as the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year after earning NFCA/D2CCA All-America and first team All-PacWest honors last season. Bassett, along with Bailey Gaffin (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge HS) and Jessica Gonzalez (Kingsburg, Calif./Kingsburg HS), was also named to the PacWest Preseason Team.
THE SIMKINS FILE: Randy Simkins enters his 10th year as the Dixie State head softball coach in 2018, after a stint as head coach at DSU while competing in the junior college ranks. He led Dixie State to a program-best 49-6 record in 2004 while the school competed as an NJCAA program. In 2015, the Trailblazers recorded the most wins as a Division II program with 52 victories. Simkins has accumulated 380 victories to just 108 losses for a winning percentage of .779 in nine seasons as head coach. Simkins has led DSU to four PacWest championships, two West Region championships, two trips to the College World Series, and a national runner-up finish in 2015.
2018 ROSTER: Dixie State returns 13 starters from the 2017 squad, led by senior outfielder Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS). A three-time first team All-PacWest honoree and three-time All-American, Bassett led Dixie State in batting average for the third consecutive season in 2017, hitting .406 with 43 runs scored, 19 RBI, and conference-best marks in on-base percentage (.519), stolen bases (42), and triples (5). She also set the new DSU career stolen bases record, stealing 42 bases on 45 attempts for a career total of 118 stolen bases. Additionally, Bassett, was named PacWest Defender of the Year, and was near-perfect defensively, logging a .983 fielding percentage with 59 putouts in 60 chances.
The Trailblazers return three other All-PacWest honorees, including Jessica Gonzalez (Kingsburg, Calif./Kingsburg HS), Bailey Gaffin (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge HS), and Kenzie Sawyer (Cedar City, Utah/Canyon View).
Gonzalez earned D2CCA All-West Region and second team PacWest honors in 2017. She finished the season in the Top-10 of six different statistical categories in the PacWest, including slugging percentage (.610), fielding percentage (.990), RBI (40), home runs (11), walks drawn (22), and caught stealing by (11).
Gaffin enjoyed a breakout season in 2017 and landed D2CAA/NFCA All-West Region honors and second team All-PacWest honors. She finished the season in the Top-10 in five different statistical categories in the PacWest, including batting average (.390), slugging percentage (.585), on-base percentage (.463), hits (62), and RBI (43). Defensively, Gaffin logged a .957 fielding percentage, recording 102 putouts and 74 assists in 184 chances.
Sawyer was named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year in 2017, as she transitioned seamlessly from the junior college ranks to the PacWest, hitting .327 with 26 RBI, eight doubles, and four home runs. She recorded nine multi-RBI games, reached base in 14 consecutive games, and earned PacWest Player of the Week honors on February 20.
Alyssa Arslanian (Tooele, Utah/Tooele HS) joins the team as the only junior college transfer addition in 2018. Arslanian hit .431 with 106 RBI, 31 doubles, and 27 home runs in two seasons at Snow College.
Four freshman look to compete for playing time in 2018 as Meagan Anders (Las Vegas, Nev./Desert Oasis HS), Malory Eldredge (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley HS), Cambrie Hazel (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS), and Emma Sweet (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla HS) join the team for the new season.
UP NEXT: Dixie State returns to Karl Brooks Field to host Azusa Pacific in a four-game series on March 28-29.
