Softball | 5/8/2023 5:01:00 PM

Utah Tech landed six players on the 2023 All-Western Athletic Conference Softball Team, as announced on Monday by the conference office based on voting completed by the league's head coaches. 

The 2023 WAC regular season champion Trailblazers had four players earned first team all-WAC honors, while two more were selected to the second team, and two players were voted to the conference's all-defensive team.
 
Senior outfielder Shea Clements was named WAC Player of the Year and first team all-conference, while fifth-year pitcher Kate Dolinski was tabbed WAC Pitcher of the Year and garnered first team all-conference honors.
 
Outfielder Tanya Windle was voted WAC Freshman of the Year along to go with first team all-conference accolades, and senior first baseman Hannah Hughbanks was selected to the all-WAC first team and all-defensive team. 
 
Meanwhile, sophomore shortstop Lauren Almeida earned second team all-WAC and all-defensive team honors, and freshman pitcher Sauren Garton was voted second team all-conference.
 
In addition, head coach Randy Simkins was named WAC Coach of the Year after he led Utah Tech to its first regular season WAC championship, and the university's first team conference crown in the near three full seasons of the university's NCAA Division I transition.

Clements (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) was the WAC's second-leading hitter overall with a .441 batting (15^th-nationally) and finished in the conference's top-10 in eight statistical categories. 

Clements, who earned first team all-WAC last season and second team honors in 2021, saved her best for WAC opponents as she batted a league-high .512. The senior also hit 12 of her 16 doubles, three of her six home runs, and collected 20 of her 36 RBI on the year in conference play.
 
She hit safely in 21 of 24 WAC games with 13 multi-hit games with three four-hit outings, the last coming two weeks ago at Southern Utah (4-for-4; 4/29), against which Clements hit .818 (9-for-11) with four doubles on her way to WAC Hitter of the Week honors. 
 
Dolinski (RHP; Fort Langley, B.C./Yale Secondary/Pace) posted a conference-best 10-1 record in league play with a 3.96 ERA in 16 appearances overall. She notched six complete games with one shutout victory and recorded 44 of her 64 strikeouts in conference games.
 
Dolinski, who was named WAC Pitcher of the Week (4/11) after firing a four-hit shutout as part of a 2-0 weekend vs. Seattle U (4/7-8), went 12-4 overall in 25 appearances this season with nine complete games. 
 
Windle (Peoria, Ariz./Cactus HS) finished the 2023 regular season as the WAC's leading hitter at .442 (13^th-nationally), including a .438 clip in conference play, and topped the conference charts in hits (73, t-8^thnationally), triples (7, t-3^rd nationally), and on-base percentage (.518). 
 
She is currently ranked in the conference's top-10 in runs scored (52, t-2^nd), stolen bases (16-18, 3^rd), total bases (108, 4^th), walks (22, t-8^th) and slugging percentage (.655, 10^th) out of the lead-off spot in the Utah Tech batting order.
 
Windle, who was also named to the 2023 TUCCI/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top-25 list, started in all 50 games this season and hit safely in 45 of those starts with 24 multi-hit games, including four three-hit outings, and has reached base safely in 48 of 50 games overall. 
 
In fact, Windle has reached base safely in 34-straight games, with 32 of those as a result of a base hit, including all 24 WAC games this season. Windle recorded at least one base hit in 23 of 24 conference games, and the one game she did not record a hit in, she tallied a season and career-high three walks (vs. Seattle U; 4/7). Windle, who was the WAC's first Hitter of the Week honoree this season (2/13), has also scored at least one run in 34 games and has collected RBI in 20 starts overall. 
 
Hughbanks (Chino Hills, Calif./Ayala HS), who earned her third-straight first team all-WAC honor, played in all 50 games with 49 starts and finished the regular season tied for first in NCAA Division I in doubles with 19. 
 
The senior batted .352 with three homers and a team-leading 49 RBI. She also hit .446 and legged out 15 of her 19 doubles, and drove in 29 of her 49 runs, in conference play.
 
Hughbanks finished the regular season ranked fourth in the conference in both RBI and walks (27) and fifth in runs scored (46), and only struck out twice in 95 plate appearances in WAC games. Along with both Clements and Windle, Hughbanks also collected WAC Hitter of the Week honors (2/27) this past season. 
 
The senior, who was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year last season, posted a .989 fielding percentage, committing only three errors in 277 total chances (.986 in WAC play). 
 
Almeida (Kula, Hawai'i/Kamehameha Schools, Maui) started in all 50 games this season and finished third in the WAC in batting at .431 (t-23^rd nationally) with five home runs and 41 RBI. The sophomore was also the hardest to strikeout in the Trailblazer line-up as she only struck out eight times in 180 plate appearances (3K in 92 PA in WAC play).
 
Almeida also finished third in the conference in on-base percentage (.511), fourth in hits (66), t-fifth in doubles (15), t-sixth in walks (24) and seventh in RBI. She was just dangerous at the plate in WAC play as she hit .425 with seven doubles, three homers and 22 RBI against conference foes.
 
Defensively, Almeida owned a .949 overall fielding percentage, which included a .974 clip with just two errors in 76 chances in conference play. 
 
Garton (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton HS) went 12-5 in the circle in her first collegiate season with a 2.73 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 107.2 innings of work. She recorded complete game shutouts in two of her first seven games, starting with college debut against Saint Mary's (2/10), against which she struck out five and surrendered three hits in seven innings.
 
The freshman followed suit with a two-hit home shutout victory. against PAC-12 foe Oregon State (3/3). Garton, who was named WAC Pitcher of the Week (4/24) following two solid outings vs. CBU, pitched to a 5-2 mark in 11 WAC appearances and posted a 3.27 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 45.0 innings. 
 
Simkins guided the Trailblazers, who were picked to finish eighth in the WAC preseason coaches poll, to a 34-16 overall record this season, a 15-win turnaround from a season ago (19-32), which included a 19-5 WAC mark (8-16 in 2022).
 
Along the way, Simkins collected his 500^th-career NCAA era victory at Utah Tech (7-6 vs. California Baptist – 4/22/23), and the program's 600^th NCAA era win overall (6-5 at GCU – 4/15/23). 
 
Simkins' Coach of the Year award is his third overall, with the previous two coming in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015 during the program's NCAA Division II era as members of the Pacific West Conference. Simkins' also led the program to three PacWest conference titles in four years in 2011, 2013 and 2014.  
 
Utah Tech will be the top-seed in the 2023 University Credit Union WAC Softball Tournament, which will be played this Wednesday-through-Saturday, at the GCU Softball Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz. 

As the top-seed, the Trailblazers received a double bye and will play in game No. 6 on Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. (PT).