Softball | 3/16/2026 3:00:00 PM

(St. George, Utah - March 16, 2026) - The Trailblazers travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday night for a contest at UNLV.

Game #28
Who | Utah Tech (10-17) at UNLV (13-15)
When | Tuesday, March 17 / 5 p.m. MT
Where | Eller Media Softball Stadium / Las Vegas, Nev.
Broadcast | Watch | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

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TRAILBLAZERS TRAVEL TO VEGAS FOR MIDWEEK CONTEST AT UNLV
The Trailblazers travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday afternoon for a midweek contest against UNLV. 

It will be Utah Tech's second game against UNLV this season after falling 13-5 in six innings on March 6 and sixth game this season at the Eller Media Softball Stadium

TRAILBLAZERS COMING OFF SHOWING AT TRAILBLAZER CLASSIC
The Trailblazers went 0-3 over the weekend at the Trailblazer Classic hosted at Karl Brooks Field falling 10-1 in five innings to BYU along with a pair of contests against Omaha.

The Trailblazers took a 5-1 lead after four innings in the first contest against the Mavericks, but four runs by Omaha tied up the score and forced extra innings where they won in eight innings.

Omaha won the second contest between the two teams on Saturday, 12-2 in five innings.

ABOUT UNLV REBELS
UNLV is 13-15 overall on the season with a 10-10 record at home after hosting four different early season tournaments.

The Rebels opened Mountain West play over the weekend winning one of three contests at San Jose State winning the second game of the series on Saturday, 3-2 and fell in the other two contests, 5-2 and 4-3.

As a team, UNLV is fourth in the MW in batting average (.300) and averaging 5.3 runs per game, good for third in the MW. In the circle, the Rebels have a 4.52 ERA and allowing 5.3 runs per game.

Senior outfielder Keyannah Chavez tops the team in average (.400), at-bats (85), hits (34) & doubles (14) while junior infielder Charelle Aki is third in the MW smacking seven home runs and fourth in the conference with 27 RBIs. 

Emma Wardlaw, Lauren Fettic and Yanina Sherwood have combined for 12 wins, six complete games and 76 strikeouts in the circle.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OPPONENTS (years they played)

• vs. UNLV - 2-6 (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026)
• The Trailblazers are 39-35 vs. Mountain West foes.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC
The Trailblazers rank third in the WAC in batting average (.289) and are fifth in runs (126).

Individually, Kinley Pappas leads the conference in batting average (.424), doubles (10), triples (3), slugging percentage (.788), total bases (67) and is fourth in home runs (5).

In addition, Pappas, Summer Sanderson (.387), Naya Taylor (.375), Sadie Phillips (.369), Gabi Giroux (.333) and LB Kahahawai-Kekona (.318) are all hitting above .300 on the season.

TRAILBLAZERS EARN PAIR OF WINS AT UNLV RED & BLACK CLASSIC
The Trailblazers went 2-3 at UNLV Red & Black Classic on March 6-8 earning a 4-2 win over Loyola Marymount on March 7 and a 9-5 win over North Dakota State in the tournament finale on March 8.

Utah Tech dropped a low-scoring 3-1 contest to LMU in the tournament opener on Friday and also suffered a pair of run-rule contests to both UNLV and NDSU.

TRAILBLAZERS NOTCH A 2-2 WEEK AT THE BEEHIVE CLASSIC
The Trailblazers went 2-2 at the Beehive Classic hosted by Utah Tech on Feb. 26-March 1 defeating Weber State, 5-4 on a walk-off single on Feb. 28 by Baylee Howley.

Utah Tech wrapped up the tournament on March 1 with a 4-0 shutout win over Utah State blanking the Aggies behind a complete game from Sauren Garton who held USU to three singles and notched three strikeouts.

TRAILBLAZERS POST 4-1 WEEK AT LYMAN CLASSIC
The Trailblazers opened their home slate on Feb. 20-22 hosting the Lyman Classic earning a pair of wins over CSU Bakersfield and one win against UC Davis & Weber State.

TRAILBLAZERS EARN PAIR OF WINS IN SAN DIEGO
The Trailblazers earned their first two wins of the season last weekend at the USD/UCSD Tournament winning their final two contests of tournament play defeating Colorado State, 6-4 and Weber State, 8-2.

Tournament action started earlier in the week dropping a doubleheader against UC San Diego, 9-0 in five innings & a tough 9-8 setback, and fell 9-2 to Omaha on Friday morning.

GLANCE BACK AT OPENING WEEKEND IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Trailblazers opened the 2026 season on Feb. 6-8 in Southern California falling in all five contests.

Utah Tech dropped a pair of close contests on Friday to Oregon State (5-2) and Long Beach State (0-2) in Long Beach before dropping a high-scoring 11-6 decision at UC Riverside on Saturday.

The weekend closed out on Sunday at Loyola Marymount falling to the Lions, 9-1 in five innings and Big West preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara, 10-4.

SIMKINS NOTCHES CAREER WIN #600 ON MARCH 8
Head coach Rany Simkins earned his 600th career win on March 8 with a 9-5 victory over NDSU and enters the weekend with a 600-298 (.668) overall record in his 18 seasons at Utah Tech.

After coaching the Trailblazers as a junior college in 2004, Simkins returned in 2010 and led UT to 10 straight Division II tournaments, including the 2015 DII College World Series.

In six seasons in Division I, Simkins has earned 117 wins and helped the Trailblazers win the 2023 WAC regular season title.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Utah Tech is 201-148 overall on the road in the NCAA era.

The Trailblazers are 179-127 on the road under Simkins.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers get WAC play underway this weekend at Utah Valley (16-8) on Friday and Saturday.