Trailblazers Travel to Vegas for UNLV Red & Black Classic

The Trailblazers have won eight of their last 11 contests coming into the weekend.

By: Utah Tech Athletics Media Relations

Stan Plewe/Utah Tech Athletics

Softball | 3/4/2026 3:00:00 PM

(St. George, Utah - March 4, 2026) - The Trailblazers continue non-conference action this weekend at the UNLV Red & Black Classic in Las Vegas.
Game #20
Who | Utah Tech (8-11) vs. Loyola Marymount (15-5)
When | Friday, March 6 / 10:30 a.m. MT
Where | Eller Media Softball Stadium / Las Vegas, Nev.
Broadcast | Live Stats | Watch
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X)

TRAILBLAZERS CONTINUE NON-CONFERENCE ACTION AT UNLV RED & BLACK CLASSIC
The Trailblazers head back on the road this weekend to the UNLV Red & Black Classic in Las Vegas taking on host UNLV along with a pair of games against Loyola Marymount and North Dakota State.

TRAILBLAZERS NOTCH A 2-2 WEEK AT THE BEEHIVE CLASSIC
The Trailblazers went 2-2 at last week's Beehive Classic hosted by Utah Tech defeating Weber State, 5-4 on a walk-off single on Saturday by Baylee Howley.

Utah Tech wrapped up the tournament on Sunday 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.

ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
Loyola Marymount enters the weekend with a 15-5 overall record with a 5-1 mark at home, 2-1 record on the road and a 8-3 record at neutral site.

Coming off a 3-0 win at California Baptist on Tuesday, LMU has Power Five wins over #23 Washington, 5-4, Utah, 7-5 and Rutgers, 7-0.

LMU leads the WCC in batting average (.325), ERA (2.68), stolen bases (31) & fielding percentage (.984).

In addition to its impressive staff ERA, the Lions are only allowing 2.85 runs per game and a .213 average from the plate. LMU has held 12 of its 20 opponents to three runs or less.

Five Lions are hitting over .300 led by senior outfielders Sydney Poole hitting .444 (third in WCC) & Avery Francis is batting .431.

In the circle, freshman Sara Pinedo leads the WCC with a 1.57 ERA and is a perfect 5-0. Senior Lindsay O'Dell tops the team tossing 56.1 innings, striking out 35, has six wins and three complete games.

ABOUT UNLV REBELS
UNLV is 9-11 overall on the season with a 7-8 record at home after hosting tournaments each of the season's first three weekends.

Coming off a 2-3 weekend at the Grand Canyon/Arizona State Classic last weekend, the Rebels earned wins over Eastern Illinois & UC Riverside and battled tough against Arizona State and Wisconsin.

Picked to tie for eighth in the Mountain West preseason poll, sophomore pitcher Yanina Sherwood, the Rebels went 24-25 overall last season and 7-15 in MW action.

As a team, UNLV is fourth in the MW in batting average (.294) and averaging 5.5 runs per game. In the circle, the Rebels have a 4.65 ERA and allowing 5.4 runs per game.

Senior Bri Williams is hitting .419 from the plate while fellow senior Keyannah Chavez tops the team in average (.397), at-bats (58), hits (23) & doubles (9).

Emma Wardlaw, Lauren Fettic and Sherwood have combined for eight wins, five complete games and 51 strikeouts in the circle.

ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON
North Dakota State is 11-8 overall on the season and coming off a 3-2 record at the Spring in the Springs Tournament hosted by Gardner-Webb defeating GW, 8-5 and earned a pair of wins over New Haven.

The Bison also have wins over Long Island and Minnesota at the Gopher Indoor Classic and opened the season with a 6-4 record after the opening two weekends.

NDSU went 19-31 in 2025 and were picked sixth in the Summit League preseason poll.

The Bison are hitting .304 as a team and averaging 5.7 runs per game while the pitching staff has a 3.32 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 124.1 innings.

Junior outfielder Star Cortez is hitting .407 from the plate and sophomore infielder Amai Hanta has swiped a Summit League-leading nine stolen bases and leads the team with 25 hits, 17 runs and 65 at-bats.

In the circle, junior Madison Wihlm and freshman Jocelyn McClary both have a 2.41 ERA combining for nine wins, 70 strikeouts and four complete games.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OPPONENTS

vs. LMU - 2-1 (2007, 2025, 2026)
vs. UNLV - 2-5 (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
vs. NDSU - First Meeting
The Trailblazers are 10-18 against the seven current WCC programs, 39-34 vs. Mountain West foes and 0-2 against Summit League teams.

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.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC
The Trailblazers rank third in the WAC in batting average (.306) and are fifth in runs (97).

Individually, Kinley Pappas leads the conference in slugging percentage (.915), total bases (54) and is second in home runs (5).

In addition, Pappas, Gabi Giroux (.405), Sadie Phillips (.404) and LB Kahahawai-Kekona (.400) are all hitting above .400

SIMKINS CLOSING IN ON CAREER WIN #600
Head coach Rany Simkins enters the weekend with a 598-295 (.670) overall record in his 18 seasons at Utah Tech as he is only two wins away from career win No. 600.

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 five seasons in Division I, Simkins has earned 115 wins and helped the Trailblazers win the 2023 WAC regular season title

TRAILBLAZERS IN THE NCAA ERA
Utah Tech is 652-337 (.660) overall in its 19 seasons in the NCAA era.

In his 16 seasons leading the Trailblazers in the NCAA era, Simkins is 549-289 (.656).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Utah Tech is 201-147 overall on the road in the NCAA era.

The Trailblazers are 179-126 on the road under Simkins.

NEUTRAL SITE MARK
Utah Tech is 123-75 overall at neutral sites in the NCAA era.

The Blazers are 85-62 at a neutral site under Simkins.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers are back home next weekend to host the Trailblazer Classic on March 13-14 taking on BYU once and Omaha twice.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Sadie Phillips: OF; 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/R

#5 Sauren Garton: RHP; 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R

#37 Baylee Howley: C/OF; 5' 5"; Sophomore; L/R

#29 Gabi Giroux: IF; 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R

#20 Kinley Pappas: C/IF; 5' 7"; Sophomore; L/R

Players Mentioned

#9 Sadie Phillips
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/R
: OF

#5 Sauren Garton
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#37 Baylee Howley
: 5' 5"; Sophomore; L/R
: C/OF

#29 Gabi Giroux
: 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R
: IF

#20 Kinley Pappas
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; L/R
: C/IF