TUCSON, Arizona, May 14, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Utes pinch-hitter Halle Morris delivered a two-run home run in a big sixth inning as the University of Utah claimed its first ever Pac-12 Conference softball championship with a 7-4 victory over UCLA on Saturday night.
Morris, a senior playing in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona, confidently blasted the ball over the centerfield fence at the University of Arizona’s Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium to secure the Utes’ first conference tournament title since joining the Pac-12 in 2012 and an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship.
On Sunday, Utah was selected to host an NCAA regional for the first time in the program’s history.
The Utes (37-13) open the NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed and will host Southern Illinois (36-18) at 1:30 p.m. Friday in a double-elimination regional in Salt Lake City that also includes Baylor (39-16) and Ole Miss (30-26).
“It’s a great day to be a Ute,” Utah head coach Amy Hogue said after Saturday night’s victory. “For all those who believed in this group, I want to say thank you. For those who are just getting on board, welcome. This team has been doing the work it takes to win championships. This is just the first one.”
Karlie Davison had a solo home run, Kaylah Nelsen had two RBIs, and Mariah Lopez (18-5) pitched a complete game for the Utes, giving up three earned runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking seven.
Lopez, a junior from Peoria, Arizona, was selected as the Pac-12 tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She was joined by fellow Utes Ellessa Bonstrom, Sophie Jacquez and Julia Jimenez on the all-tournament team.
“They believe in themselves and in each other,” said Hogue, now in her 15th season as head coach. “I couldn’t be prouder to be their coach. They deserve this trophy. They earned it. It was one of the greatest team championships I’ve ever been a part of. We needed everyone this week, which is why it was that much sweeter.”
Utah, the Pac-12 tournament’s No. 3 seed, defeated sixth-seeded Cal 6-2 in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Washington 8-4 in the semifinals before upsetting top-seeded UCLA in the championship game.
It was the 10th conference tournament title overall for the Utes, who last won the Mountain West Conference Tournament in 2006. Utah will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017 and 17th in school history.
Utah will host the NCAA regional Friday-Sunday at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, with Baylor and Ole Miss starting things off at 11 a.m. Friday.
Utah is one of six Pac-12 teams included in the 64-team NCAA tournament, joining No. 2 UCLA (52-5), No. 7 Washington (38-12), No. 9 Stanford (40-13), Oregon (35-15) and Cal (33-19-1).
If the Utes and Bruins both survive the regional round, they would meet again in the best-of-three super regionals.
