SALT LAKE CITY – The 2024 schedule for the defending Pac-12 Tournament and Salt Lake City Super Regional Champion University of Utah softball team was officially announced by head coach Amy Hogue on Friday and it will include 54 total games, including 20 home contests, before the postseason begins on May 8 in Stanford, Calif., the site of the second edition of the Pac-12 Tournament.
“As I look at our schedule,” said Hogue, “it’s definitely bittersweet. Our last go in the Pac-12 is going to bring all the feels. The move to the Pac-12 was something that helped us to attract a different level athlete and it’s been a great thing to help us to build upon our program.
“I plan to enjoy this last year playing against some of the best softball programs in the country. I’m assuming each trip to a Pac-12 venue will hit different since it’s the last time we will be conference foes. The schedule we have will once again give us a great opportunity to be prepared for a run at a national title.”
Utah’s list of regular season opponents includes nine teams that ended 2023 nationally ranked and 14 squads who earned a spot in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Utes will also be playing ball in five different states and making their first trip to Mexico since 2020 for the Puerto Vallarta Challenge.
For the first time on record, the Utes will begin a season in Florida, with 2024’s first pitch being thrown in Clearwater at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, where Utah will take the field five times in three days, starting with two contests on Feb. 9. The new year will commence with a matchup against the Army Black Knights at 1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MT), followed by a 4 p.m. ET tilt with the Missouri Tigers. On Feb. 10, the Utes will lock horns with Notre Dame and N.C. Central before concluding their time in The Sunshine State by meeting Iowa on Feb. 11.
The second non-conference tournament on the docket for Utah will be in Puerto Vallarta, where they’ll play five more times from Feb. 15 – 18. Day one in Mexico will see the Utes square off with Auburn and South Carolina, followed one day later by a bout with Clemson, then a Saturday showdown against Mississippi State…
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