Utah advances to Pac-12 softball championship game
Utah is headed to to the Pac-12 softball tournament championship for the second year in a row.
After winning the inaugural tournament title last season — the Utes went on an NCAA tournament run winning the Pac-12 to make their first College World Series appearance since 1994 — Utah is one game away from another guaranteed NCAA tournament appearance.
The Utes shook off a slow start in conference play and went 13-4 in April, then closed the regular season with two wins over then-No. 9 Washington.
A six-seed, the Utes beat third-seeded Oregon 7-4 on Thursday thanks to a three-run home run by Shonty Passi in the seventh inning to advance to the semifinals against second-seeded Stanford on Friday.
Behind strong pitching performances from starting pitcher Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez, the Utes held the Cardinal to just one run.
The Utes took an early 2-0 lead on a Kaylah Nelsen RBI single in the first inning, and she followed it up with another RBI single in the third inning.
From there, it was a defensive stalemate between the two teams, especially when Stanford’s NiJaree Canady entered in the fifth inning.
The Cardinal threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs, and scoring a run after Lopez hit Taryn Kern.
The next batter, Emily Jones, hit a ground ball, and while running from second to third base, Kaitlyn Lim ran into Passi at shortstop and was called out due to runner’s interference, sending the Utes to the championship.
Utah will play the winner of first-seeded UCLA and fifth-seeded Arizona on Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT. The championship game will be televised on ESPN2.
