Softball | 5/6/2024 10:00:00 AM

(St. George, Utah - May 6, 2024) - The Trailblazers open the WAC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon with a single elimination game against No. 8 seed Southern Utah at Logan Field in Seattle.

Game 50
Who | No. 5 seed Utah Tech (19-30, 12-13 WAC) vs. No. 8 seed Southern Utah (20-27, 9-17 WAC)
When | Wednesday, May 8 / 2 p.m.
Where | Logan Field / Seattle, Wash.
Broadcast | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

2024 WAC TOURNAMENT
The Trailblazers will play in their second WAC Tournament this week and final as a transitioning Division I member.

Utah Tech went 1-2 at the 2023 WAC Tournament with a 6-4 win over No. 7 seed UT Arlington. 

The Trailblazers dropped the first game of the tournament to No. 4 seed Seattle U, 3-0 in the quarterfinals and after defeating the Mavericks, they saw their tournament run end against No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin, 2-0.

This week's tournament feature the top two seeds, Grand Canyon and California Baptist, receiving open day byes while number three and four seeds, Utah Valley and Seattle U, advance to Wednesday night's start of double elimination play.

The other single elimination game that will take place before the Trailblazers and Thunderbirds will be against No. 6 seed UT Arlington and No. 7 seed Tarleton State.

TRAILBLAZERS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON AT UTAH VALLEY
The Trailblazers wrapped up the regular season over the weekend being swept at Utah Valley on Friday and Saturday.

After falling 8-0 in five innings on Friday, the Trailblazers were tripped up in both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday falling 9-2 in game one and 4-0 in game two.

Utah Tech was held to only two runs in the series while the Wolverines exploded for 21 runs.

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Southern Utah completed a 20-27 overall record in 2024 finishing in a tie for eighth in the WAC with a 9-17 mark. SUU is coming off winning one of three in its final series of the season at Tarleton State falling in the final two games of the series.

The Thunderbirds tied Stephen F. Austin for the final spot in the WAC Tournament field edging out SFA in a head-to-head battle winning two of three in a series in St. George in mid-March. SUU won the first two games of the series as that proved to be the deciding factor in qualifying for the WAC Tournment

SUU is hitting .277 as a team to rank seventh in the WAC. The Thunderbirds are averaging four runs per game and are 15-8 on the season when scoring four or more runs.

Southern Utah is second in the WAC in home runs (39), fifth in slugging percentage (.430) and seventh in doubles (59) & on-base percentage (.341).

Sophomore infielder Emily Gonzalez leads the team with a .371 average while junior Karmyna Becerra tops the team in home runs (12), hits (52), runs (35), at-bats (154), total bases (99) and slugging percentage (.643).

In the circle, SUU has a 4.86 team ERA (seventh in WAC) while opponents are hitting .321 from the plate and averaging 5.7 runs per game. The Thunderbirds have a 1.37 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 167 strikeouts (eighth in WAC) and 122 walks.

A trio of pitchers each have a team-leading six wins for the Thunderbirds with Emily Delgado, Delaney Baker and Keimon Winston totaling all but two of SUU's 20 wins this season.

Delgado has thrown a WAC-leading 132.0 innings and ranks third in the conference with 92. Baker has added 83.0 innings and Winston has tallied 65.0 innings and struck out 40.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTHERN UTAH
The Trailblazers lead the all-time series over SUU, 25-12 with the two teams splitting a doubleheader in St. George on April 9.

Utah Tech won game one, 5-0 before falling 10-0 in five innings in game two.

Utah Tech is 17-4 at home in the series against SUU while being 8-8 on the road. The Blazers are 10-3 overall against the Thunderbirds since moving to Division I in 2021.

SWIPING BAGS
The Trailblazers rank third in the WAC in stolen bases with 42 led by LB Kahahawai-Kekona with a team-leading 11 stolen bags which ranks fifth in the conference.

JOHNSTON LEADING WAY IN THE CIRCLE
Leading the way in the circle for the Trailblazers is junior Attlyn Johnston, who tops the conference in strikeouts (101) along with Hailey Hudson from Grand Canyon, and starts (22).

Johnston ranks second in the WAC in innings pitched (124.2) and is tied for sixth in wins (8).

UTAH TECH VS. WAC OPPONENTS
Utah Tech has faced California Baptist (50) most often, followed by Grand Canyon (42), Southern Utah (37), Seattle U (16) and Utah Valley (15) closing out the top five most played opponents in the conference.

The four Texas schools round out their WAC opponents as the Trailblazers have squared off against UT Arlington seven times, followed by Abilene Christian six times and Tarleton State and Stephen F. Austin five times.

SEVEN NEW TRAILBLAZERS 
Seven new Trailblazers made their debuts this season with freshman Gabi Giroux making 36 starts on the season. 

Additionally, newcomers Baylee Howley (28 starts), Maka Sonognini (26) & Drew McKown (17) have all made starts while Jayda Gleave (22 games played), Abby Mitchell (8) and Brooke Pisciotta (5) have also all seen action this season.