Softball 5/3/2018 2:32:00 PM By DSU Athletics Media Relations

No. 19 Softball hosts Academy of Art for Senior Day Showdown

Trailblazers battle ART-U on Saturday on WatchESPN and the ESPN app

No. 19 Dixie State Trailblazers (36-8, 20-8 PacWest) vs.
Academy of Art (39-12, 22-6 PacWest)
May 5, 2018 - Karl Brooks Field
*Records current as of 5/3/18

Game Times (Mountain):
Saturday (DH) - Noon, 2 p.m.

Live Stats: Dixie State Live Stats
Live Video: ESPN3/WATCHESPN (Game 1) | ESPN3/WATCHESPN (Game 2)
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #BlazeForward #PacWestSB

No. 19 Dixie State softball (36-8, 20-8 PacWest) is set to wrap up the 2018 regular season on Saturday in a Pacific West Conference doubleheader against Academy of Art at Noon at Karl Brooks Field.

SENIOR DAY: Saturday's doubleheader will serve as DSU's Senior Day, as five Trailblazers play in their final game at Karl Brooks Field. Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS), Kenzie Sawyer (Cedar City, Utah/Canyon View), Cassidy Morton (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Ranch HS), Madi Dove (Cypress, Calif./Cypress HS), and Alexis Barkwell (San Diego, Calif./North Medford HS) will each be honored prior to the start of the doubleheader.

STREAMING LIVE ON WATCH ESPN: Saturday's Senior Day games will receive a little extra attention this season. The doubleheader will be streamed live from Karl Brooks Field on ESPN3 and will be available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase. The ESPN3 stream will replace the regularly scheduled CEC-TV/Dixie State Athletics YouTube stream. Live stats will remain unaffected and will be available at DixieStateAthletics.com.

ALL-TIME VS. ACADEMY OF ART: Saturday's series-opening game marks the 30th meeting between Dixie State and Academy of Art. The teams first met on Feb. 6, 2009, in St. George. DSU won the first five games of the series, before the Urban Knights earned their first victory, 12-2, on April 25, 2010, in San Francisco. The Trailblazers currently own a 15-game win streak in the series dating back to 2012 after sweeping last year's doubleheader at Karl Brooks Field. DSU holds a 25-4 series lead, including a 16-1 mark at Karl Brooks Field.

KNOW YOUR FOE: Academy of Art is enjoying one of its best seasons in program history. The Urban Knights enter the week with a 39-12 overall record and a 22-6 mark in PacWest play. With four games remaining, ART-U can claim a share of the PacWest title by sweeping its final four games. Academy of Art will battle No. 15 California Baptist on Thursday before making its way to St. George for Saturday's twinbill against the Trailblazers. Five Urban Knights are hitting .300 or better entering the week, led by freshman Brooke Larsen (.374, 52 hits, 20 RBI, 17 2B). Larsen (21-3) is also the ART-U leading pitcher and sports a 1.06 ERA with 197 strikeouts in 165 innings pitched.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State dropped both ends, 9-1 and 4-2, of a PacWest doubleheader at Concordia-Irvine on April 21. The losses marked the first time this season the Trailblazers have dropped consecutive contests.

IN THE RANKINGS: After dropping both games to CUI, the Trailblazers fell to No. 19 in last week's NFCA Division II Top-25 poll. After an idle week, Dixie State remained at No. 19 in this week's poll. DSU landed at No. 4 in the initial NCAA Division II West Region rankings, but has since moved up to No. 3.

MAKING HISTORY: Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) became the DSU Softball career hits leader with a leadoff single in the first inning at Chaminade on March 12 for her 249th career hit, passing Courtney Hine (248, 2012-15). Bassett has recorded 27 more hits since then for a current career total of 276 hits. Additionally, Bassett 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 54 runs since then for a career total of 238 runs scored.

Cambrie Hazel (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) earned her 10th win of the season on March 29 vs. Azusa Pacific to become just the second freshman (Lauren Folta, 2009; 15-6) in the DSU softball NCAA era to notch 10 wins in a season. Hazel has earned six more wins since then to improve to 16-3 on the season. Additionally, Hazel has tossed five no-hitters, including a perfect game vs. NDNU on March 3, this season to set a new DSU career no-hitters record. Aryn Feickert (2014-16) held the previous mark with three career no-hitters.

As a team, the Trailblazers recorded their best start in program history, winning 20 consecutive games to start the 2018 season, before falling at Hawai'i Pacific on March 14.

400-WIN CLUB: Head coach Randy Simkins recorded his 400th career win when the Trailblazers swept Chaminade in a doubleheader on March 12. Simkins currently holds a 416-116 (.782) record in his 10th season at Dixie State.

PACWEST/NFCA WEEKLY AWARDS: The Trailblazers have racked up eight PacWest weekly awards this season. Cambrie Hazel (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) owns five of the eight, earning four PacWest Pitcher of the Week awards to go with PacWest Freshman of the Week honors early in the season. Hazel was also named NFCA Division II National Pitcher of the Week on April 11.

Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS) garnered the other PacWest weekly awards, grabbing PacWest Player of the Week honor three times. Bassett was also named NFCA Division II National Player of the Week on February 14.

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 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 awaits the NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show on Monday to learn its opponent and playing location for the NCAA Division II West Regionals. The show will be streamed live on NCAA.com on Monday at 8 a.m. Mountain Time.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Janessa Bassett: OF; 5' 3"; Senior; L/R

#6 Madi Dove: P/LF; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#14 Cassidy Morton: 3B/SS; 5' 8"; Senior; R/R

#00 Kenzie Sawyer: OF/C; 5' 8"; Senior; R/R

#25 Alexis Barkwell: P; 5' 6"; Junior; R/R

#5 Bailey Gaffin: 2B/SS; 5' 6"; Junior; L/R

#12 Jessica Gonzalez: C/1B; 5' 8"; Junior; R/R

#21 Alyssa Arslanian: 3B; 5' 5"; Junior; R/R

#44 Riley Tyteca: 1B/C; 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R

#24 Meagan Anders: SS/C/OF; 5' 3"; Freshman; L/R

#11 Malory Eldredge: OF; 5' 8"; Freshman; L/R

#8 Cambrie Hazel: P; 5' 11"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#1 Janessa Bassett
: 5' 3"; Senior; L/R
: OF

#6 Madi Dove
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: P/LF

#14 Cassidy Morton
: 5' 8"; Senior; R/R
: 3B/SS

#00 Kenzie Sawyer
: 5' 8"; Senior; R/R
: OF/C

#25 Alexis Barkwell
: 5' 6"; Junior; R/R
: P

#5 Bailey Gaffin
: 5' 6"; Junior; L/R
: 2B/SS

#12 Jessica Gonzalez
: 5' 8"; Junior; R/R
: C/1B

#21 Alyssa Arslanian
: 5' 5"; Junior; R/R
: 3B

#44 Riley Tyteca
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R
: 1B/C

#24 Meagan Anders
: 5' 3"; Freshman; L/R
: SS/C/OF

#11 Malory Eldredge
: 5' 8"; Freshman; L/R
: OF

#8 Cambrie Hazel
: 5' 11"; Freshman; R/R
: P