SALT LAKE CITY – An exciting season awaits the University of Utah softball team in 2014 as the Utes take on a schedule that includes 30 games against 14 opponents who qualified for the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
“We are focused preparing ourselves for the upcoming season, rather than worrying about our opponents,” Utah head coach Amy Hogue said. “The standards that this team lives by each day have been high. We are just excited for the first game of this season and to get started. This team has been through a Pac-12 season twice so they are prepared for everything. In my experience, the best thing that we can do is to focus on ourselves. I am extremely happy with the way this team has prepared during the offseason.”
The Utes begin their 2014 season in Tempe, Ariz., at the Kajikawa Classic Feb. 7-9, against Boise State. Utah then takes on Western Michigan, Cal State Northridge, Portland State and Colorado State.
Utah makes its annual trek down to Las Vegas for the Easton Desert Classic from Feb. 14-16. The Utes open with a doubleheader against Toledo and UTEP on Feb. 14, then play Long Beach State and Seattle on Feb. 15 before facing Hawaii on Feb. 16.
After an off week, the Utes return to action at the San Diego Classic Feb. 28 through Mar. 1. The Utes start the tournament Feb. 28 with their second game of the season against Colorado State before taking on the host USD Toreros. On Mar. 1, Utah faces Tennessee, which finished second in last season’s final edition of the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, and the host Aztecs at San Diego State University Stadium. The tournament wraps up with the Utes’ matchup with Lehigh on Mar. 2.
Utah opens its home slate with a doubleheader against Utah Valley scheduled for Mar. 2, before concluding their early-season tournament schedule at the University of South Florida Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Utes take on Tennessee-Chattanooga and Seton Hall on Feb. 7, Indiana State and Kansas State on Mar. 7 and the host Bulls on Mar. 9.
Eighteen of Utah’s 24 Pac-12 Conference games will be against opponents who were ranked in the top 25 of the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll last season. The Utes begin league play Mar. 14-16 against 2013 Women’s College World Series qualifier Washington in Seattle.
After the Washington series, the Utes host BYU on Mar. 20 before resuming conference play with a home series against Oregon (Mar. 22-24). Utah travels to UCLA (Mar. 28-30) before returning to Salt Lake City to host Oregon State (Apr. 4-6).
The Utes’ Pac-12 schedule the rest of the way plays out as follows: at Arizona State (Apr. 11-13), home versus Stanford (Apr. 17-19), at Arizona (Apr. 25-27) and a three-game home set against California (May 2-4).
Aside from the BYU home game on Mar. 20, Utah will have nine other non-conference games dispersed throughout its conference campaign, including home contests against Idaho State (Mar. 26), Utah State (Apr. 9), a doubleheader against Southern Utah (Apr. 22) as well as a three-game set against Grand Canyon (May 9-10) in addition to a road doubleheader at Weber State (Apr. 2).
