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No. 22/21 Sun Devil Softball Preview: Utah

Arizona State to open up Big 12 play against familiar foe in the Utah Utes

No. 22/21 Sun Devil Softball Preview: UtahNo. 22/21 Sun Devil Softball Preview: Utah

Katie Chester (12) does a pre-game handshake with teammate Sydney Saenz prior to ASU's game against Wisconsin on Feb. 28, 2026.

by Chris Brown

TEMPE – Following a 22-game stretch against non-conference foes, the nationally ranked Sun Devil Softball program can now turn its attention to Big 12 Conference action as Arizona State (19-3) will welcome the Utah Utes (17-5) to Farrington Stadium for a three-game conference series.

Arizona State and Utah spent 14 seasons together as Pac-12 Conference opponents from 2012 to 2024, before the pair moved to the Big 12 in 2025. This weekend’s series will mark the first time the Utes have played the Sun Devils in Tempe since the two programs shifted conferences.

SERIES SCHEDULE:

  • Friday, Mar. 6 – vs. Utah, 6:00 p.m. MST (ESPN+)
  • Saturday, Mar. 7 – vs. Utah, 4:00 p.m. MST (ESPN+)
  • Sunday, Mar. 8 – vs. Utah, 12:00 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

 TELEVISION:

  • The duo of Jesse Ough (play by play) and Nicole Mendes (analyst) will be heard calling each game of the three-game series on ESPN+.

THE OPPOSITION:

  • Utah will travel down to Tempe for this weekend’s three-game conference series riding an active seven-game winning streak to push its season record to 17-5.
  • Danika Wilson is coming off a Big 12 Freshman of the Week and Softball America Freshman Star of the Week performance after the outfielder went 10-for-17 with four home runs, 12 runs batted in and seven runs scored to help the Utes go 6-0 at the Beehive Classic. Wilson joins Mia Gomez (Feb. 17) as Utah softball student-athletes who have been selected as the conference’s top freshman performer over a week’s time.
  • Arizona State earned a three-game sweep of Utah in Salt Lake City during the 2025 season (April 11: 7-2; April 12: 3-2; April 13: 7-1) to mark the first-ever three-game Big 12 Conference series sweep for the Sun Devils. The series remains the only Big 12 sweep (road or home) for ASU since joining the league prior to the 2025 season.
  • Since their first-ever meeting during the 1975 season – an ASU 10-2 win – the Sun Devils have gone on to rack up 49 more wins over Utah en route to taking a 50-24 all-time record against the Utes into this weekend’s series.
  • Arizona State and Utah have played at least once over the last 15 completed seasons. The pair were scheduled to meet in late March (27-29) during the 2020 season, but the COVID-19 Pandemic brought the season to an end two weeks prior to the three-game conference series.
  • Since the first recorded game between the two took place in Tempe on March 8, 1991, the Sun Devils are 20-9 all time against the Utes at Farrington Stadium. However, ASU has not beaten Utah in Tempe since Saturday, April 16, when the Sun Devils capped a three-game sweep of the Utes with an 8-7 win.

LEADING OFF:

  • After the first month of the season, Arizona State ranks second in the nation with an accumulative attendance of 29,952, which trails only Alabama’s 34,197 for the top spot.
    • Entering the weekend, only three softball programs have played 20-or-more home games so far this season: Arizona State (22), GCU (22) and USF (20).
      • Of those three teams, only the Sun Devils will play at least one home game this upcoming weekend: GCU in San Diego, Calif., to participate in a round robin tournament co-hosted by USD/SDSU; USF at Memphis for a three-game American Conference series.
  • Arizona State will take the field at Farrington Stadium for Friday’s game with a 19-3 record, the best record by a Sun Devil team through the first 22 games of a season since the 2018 squad opened its season with a 20-2 mark.
  • Since the resumption of conference play following the 2020-halted season, Arizona State is 3-2 in its first home conference game of a season. A win over Utah on Friday would mark the first time since 2021 (W, 5-4, vs. No. 6 Washington on Friday, Mar. 26) and 2022 (W, 5-3, vs. Oregon State on Friday, Mar. 18) that the Sun Devils have won its first home conference contest in a new season after beating BYU, 1-0, on Thursday, Mar. 6, 2025.

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