Softball | 3/13/2024 11:00:00 AM

Game 1
Who | Utah Tech (7-15, 0-0 WAC) vs. Abilene Christian (8-13, 0-0 WAC)
When | Friday, March 15 / 2 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
Broadcast | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

Game 2
Who | Utah Tech (7-15, 0-0 WAC) vs. Abilene Christian (8-13, 0-0 WAC)
When | Friday, March 15 / 4:30 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
Broadcast | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

Game 3
Who | Utah Tech (7-15, 0-0 WAC) vs. Abilene Christian (8-13, 0-0 WAC)
When | Saturday, March 16 / 12 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
Broadcast | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

LOOK BACK AT THE UCSB TOURNAMENT II
The Trailblazers closed out the UCSB Tournament II on Sunday with an 8-2 win over Lehigh. 

The Blazers got the offense sparked tallying 11 hits with Laura Lockard going 3-for-4 with a pair of singles, a double, matched her season high with four RBI and scored a run.

Utah Tech also took on host UCSB twice as well as Lehigh in a pair of games on Friday and Saturday falling 6-5 on Friday to the Gauchos with a two-run home run in the sixth.
 

UTAH TECH IN WAC PLAY
The Trailblazers enter their fourth season of WAC play this weekend after winning the regular season crown in 2023 with a 19-5 overall record.

Utah Tech posted an 11-1 record at home in WAC play and an 8-4 mark on the road.

The Blazers won six of its eight WAC series with five sweeps, including the last three series of the spring taking down California Baptist, Southern Utah and Utah Valley.

UT went 8-16 in WAC play in 2022 and finished fifth in the West Division posting a 4-8 mark on the road as well as at home. The Trailblazers claimed series wins over Utah Valley, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon.

In their first season of WAC play in 2021, the Blazers went 6-12 to finish sixth in the WAC. UT went 3-6 on the road and at home with series wins over Tarleton and Grand Canyon.
 

UT WINS IN WALK-OFF OVER BADGERS AT THE TRAILBLAZER TOURNAMENT
Utah Tech went 1-3 at the Trailblazer Tournament hosted at Karl Brooks Field defeating Wisconsin on a walk-off in the first game of a doubleheader on March 1.

Topping the Badgers, 6-5, the Trailblazers got the game-winning hit from Laura Lockard to drive home Sadie Gardner for the win.

Battling back from a 4-1 deficit, UT used a solo home run by Rachel Campbell along with RBI base hits from Lockard and Gabi Girox to get within 5-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

An RBI single by Oaklee Trapp tied the game at five and with pinch runner Sadie Gardner on third base, Lockard's hit drove in her to win the game.

RUNS ON RUNS ON RUNS
The Trailblazers rank third in the WAC with 84 runs scored for an average of 3.82 runs per game. The Blazers are 5-5 when scoring four or more runs while posting a 2-10 record when held under that mark.

WE'LL TAKE THAT
The Blazers are also among the WAC leaders in stolen bases for third with 24. 

Leading the way is speedster Sadie Gardner with seven stolen bags followed by six for LB Kahahwai-Kekona and four for Maka Sonognini.

BIG WEEK FOR LOCKARD
The fifth-year senior, who leads the team from the plate with a .344 average, had a big week offensively hitting .421 from the plate going 8-for-19, drove in a team-best seven RBI, notched a pair of doubles, scored a run and stole a base.''

Collecting a hit in five of six contests, she closed out the UC Santa Barbara Tournament on Sunday with a 3-for-4 performance in an 8-2 win over Lehigh.

PITCHING LEADERS
Tyler Denhart leads the pitching staff with three wins while Attlyn Johnston leads the team with 38 strikeouts.

Denhart is the leader in innings pitched (51.2) while Danyelle Leone has a team-low 3.34 ERA.

SEVEN NEW TRAILBLAZERS 
Seven new Trailblazers have made their debuts so far this season with freshman Drew McKown appearing in 17 games with nine starts.

Additionally, newcomers Gabi Giroux, Baylee Howley & Maka Sonognini have all made starts while Jayda Gleave, Abby Mitchell and Brooke Pisciotta have also all seen action this season.

ABOUT THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS
The Wildcats have posted an 8-13 overall mark to start the season with a 4-8 mark on the road. Off last weekend, ACU fell 7-1 at North Texas in its last game on Tuesday night.

ACU is coming off a 16-36 season in 2023 with a 10-14 mark in the WAC finishing in a four-way tie for eighth with California Baptist, New Mexico State and Utah Valley.

The Wildcats rank second in the WAC in slugging percentage (.451), stolen bases (27), doubles (39) while checking in fourth in scoring (3.81) & on-base percentage (.338) and fifth in batting average (.262).

On the pitching side, ACU ranks fifth in the WAC in ERA (4.54) while checking in eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (0.78). Opponents are averaging 5.3 runs per game and hitting .267.

Sophomore infielder Kaydee Bennett is among the top leaders in the WAC in batting average (.469 - 1st), slugging percentage (.844 - 1st) and on-base percentage (.507 - 1st), home runs (4 - 2nd), stolen bases (9 - 2nd), total bases (54 - 2nd) and hits (30 - 3rd).

On the pitching side, Talia Nielsen has a team-leading four wins along with a team-best 3.33 ERA. Lina Russo has a team-high 28 strikeouts and has thrown a team-leading 40.0 innings.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN 
The Trailblazers also opened WAC play against ACU in 2023 sweeping the Wildcats in Abilene combining to score 32 runs in the series.

UT won the opener 12-2 in five innings before winning the second game, 6-5 in nine innings and closed out the series with a high-scoring 14-9 win in the finale.

That has been the lone series for the two teams as this will be ACU's first trip to St. George in program history.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers head out on the road next weekend for their first WAC road series at Stephen F. Austin (5-20, 0-0 WAC) on March 22-23.