THIS WEEK:
Utah Tech will host their second tournament in as many weeks. In the tournament the Blazers will play Oregon State Friday at 12:30 PM, Portland State Saturday at 3:00 PM, UNLV Sunday at 3:00 PM, and Idaho State Sunday at 5:30 PM along with Monday at 11:00 AM. For information on tournament games not including the Trailblazers visit utahtechtrailblazers.com.


RUNNING BACK LAST WEEK:
Utah Tech had a perfect weekend in their first weekend at home hosting the Utah Tech tournament. The Blazers opened play against Saint Louis Friday winning both games of a double header 2-1 and 17-5. Then they beat Weber state 16-5 on Saturday and finished the tournament winning 6-5 thanks to a walk-off hit by Lauren Almedia. The star of the weekend was Senior Hannah Hughbanks who went 7-11 with 6 walks, 8 runs scored, 10 RBI and two home runs winning WAC hitter of the week.


ROOT ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM:
Utah Tech is 292-81 overall at home.
The Trailblazers are 249-67 at home under head coach Randy Simkins.
The Blazers are a perfect 4-0 at Karl Brooks Field this season.


ON THE ROAD AGAIN:
Utah Tech is 179-106 overall on the road.
The Trailblazers are 157-85 on the road under head coach Randy Simkins.
During the 2023 season, UT is 5-5 away from Karl Brooks field.


RECORDS AND STANDINGS:
The Trailblazers enter the weekend with a 9-5 overall record. Sitting third in the WAC standings.

Coming into 2023, UT was picked No. 8 in the WAC Preseason Coaches Polls and had Hannah Hughbanks along with Shea Clements selected to the WAC Preseason All-Conference team.


AT THE PLATE:
The Trailblazers are hitting .318 with a .425 slugging percentage. The team has racked up 116 hits with 18 doubles, three triple, and five home runs.


IN THE CIRCLE:
Trailblazers pitchers have a team ERA of 3.80. Opponents are hitting .276 with 100 hits and six home runs. Utah Tech pitchers have combined for one shutout.


LEADING THE WAY:
Early in the season the Trailblazers are led by Tanya Windle who is hitting .467 with 21 hits that include three doubles, a triple. Windle has also napped one WAC player of the week honor. In the power category Lauren Almeida is the star with a slugging percentage of .684 and a team leading five extra base hits including two home runs and a team leading 13 RBI.


In the circle the Trailblazers early ace is Sauren Graton. She has pitched in six games completing four of them with one shutout. She has a team best 2.94 ERA while holding batters to a .243 batting average across 35.2 innings.


CONSISTENT SPOT:
Last season Utah Tech had two Blazers filling consistent starting spots in all 51 games of the line-up. Laura Lockard locked down third base while sophomore Lauren Almeida started at shortstop in every game. Kasey Crawford made appearances in all 51 games and Shea Clements started in 50. All four of them return for the 2023 season.


This season there are seven Trailblazers that have playing in all 14 games and five who have started all 14 games (Lauren Almeida, Carly Eldredge, Hannah Hughbanks, LB Kahahawai-Kekona, and Tanya Windle.)


BIG WEEKS:
This week Hannah Hughbanks won WAC player of the week going 7-11 with 6 walks, 8 runs scored, 10 RBI and two home runs. She is the second Trailblazer to win the award this season.


Back in the first week of the season Tanya Windle won the award going 7-16 with three extra base hits and seven RBI.


BLAZERS RAKE IN POST SEASON AWARDS:
Utah Tech placed three Trailblazers in the WAC post season awards. Hannah Hughbanks and Shea Clements were both named to the First Team while Carly Eldredge was named to the second team.


HUGHBANKS' EARNS WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Not only was Hannah Hughbanks named to the All-WAC first-team but she was also named to the Defensive Team and was named Defensive Player of the Year. She ended the season with a .993 fielding percentage, helped the Trailblazers to a league high of 17 double plays, and was sixth in the conference in putouts (288) as well as total chances (302).


MOVING UP THE RECORDBOARD
There are several Trailblazers working their way through the teams all-time top-10 lists in various categories.


Senior Hannah Hughbanks holds top 10 spots in doubles (45, 4th) batting average (.394, 6th), slugging percentage (.638, 6th), on base percentage (.472, 7th), walks (67 T-8th), and one triple shy of 10th (4)


Senior Shea Clements is sitting top 10 in hit by pitches (11, T-9th) and stolen bases (34, 10th)


Senior lefty Ashtyn Bauerle is top 10 in fewest walks per seven innings (2.00, 3rd), starts (30, T-10th), and complete games (12, T-10th)


Senior tight handers Kate Dolinski has top 10 position in saves (3, T-3rd) and fewest walks per seven innings (2.55, 9th).


All Time vs Oregon State: This year's tournament will be the first time the Trailblazers have taken on Oregon State.
Know Your Foe: Oregon State comes into the tournament with a 7-8 record including an 1-2 record on the road. On the season they have a team batting average of .212 and are led by Morgan Howey who is hitting .263 with 10 hits including two extra base hits with one home run. In the circle the Beavers have a team ERA of 2.89 led by Tarni Stepto with a 2.28 ERA across 9 games with six starts. She is 3-3 with one complete game, one shutout, and one save.


All Time vs Portland State: This year's tournament will be the first time the Trailblazers have taken on Portland State.
Know Your Foe: Portland State comes into the tournament with a 4-10 record including going 0-2 on the road. On the season they have a team batting average of .250 and are led by Bailee Noland who is hitting .464 with 13 hits including five extra base hits with three home runs. In the circle the Vikings have a team ERA of 6.76 and are led by Olivia Grey with a 3.25 ERA across nine games with seven starts. She is 4-4 with four complete games and one shut out.


All Time vs UNLV: The Trailblazers are 1-4 all-time against UNLV and 1-0 at home. The two teams last played in the 2022 season. The Trailblazers fell in Las Vegas 1-3 on March 22nd and then beat the Rebles 8-0 at Karl Brooks Field on April 5th.
Know Your Foe: Oregon State comes into the tournament with a 10-5 record they have yet to play a road game. On the season they have a team batting average of .296 and are led by Denise Armendariz who is hitting .362 with 17 hits including six extra base hits with two home runs. In the circle the Rebels have a team ERA of 4.84 led by Alanna Thiede with a 1.87 ERA across 5 games with two starts. She is 1-1 with one complete game and one save.


All Time vs Idaho State: This year's tournament will be the first time the Trailblazers have taken on Idaho State.
Know Your Foe: Idaho State comes into the tournament with a 4-9 record including 0-5 on the road. On the season they have a team batting average of .302 and are led by Alyssa Yee who is hitting .375 with 15 hits including seven extra base hits with two triples and three home runs. In the circle the Bengals have a team ERA of 4.03 led by Jordan Schuring with a 3.09 ERA across 7 games with six starts. She is 2-4 with one complete game and one shutout.