Top-10 2014-15 Utah Athletes: #10 Hannah Flippen

The Utah softball team recently finished off a terrific season in which they advanced to the regional final before being knocked out by a very good Tennessee team. In the middle of it all at second base was sophomore sensation Hannah Flippen. The native of Bonita California followed up an impressive freshman year with an outstanding sophomore campaign and was instrumental to the Utes success on the diamond this season.

Flippen finished second on the team with a .348 batting average, swatting seven home runs and driving in 28 runs. She slugged at a .534 clip with an on base percentage of .421. Flippen finished the season with 47 runs, 62 hits, eight doubles and a pair of triples. She led the team in base on balls, drawing 22 walks. Defensively Flippen locked down the right side of the infield turning 23 double plays and finishing the year with a .964 fielding percentage.

The sophomore racked up plenty of recognition for her efforts on the field this season, being named All-Pac-12 for the second straight season. For her defensive efforts, she was named to the innaugural Pac-12 All Defensive team and twice earned Pac-12 player of the week honors. In the first week of April , Flippen went 10-17 at the plate for a .588 average, hit one homerun and batted in five runs, including the game winners against 17th ranked Cal on April 3rd. In the third week of April, Flippen batted for a .625 average, slugged 1.375 and had an on base percentage of .727 helping the team beat 16th ranked Arizona twice.

In addition to her conference awards, Flippen was named to the NFCA All Pacific Region first team for the second year straight. She is the first Utah player to earn back to back all region honors since 2007, and the first to earn back to back first team honors since 2001.

With Flippen just finishing up her sophomore season, the future appears bright for Utah softball. In addition to Flippen returning as an upper classmen next season, she will be joined by breakout players Miranda Viramontes and Heather Bowen, both of whom won freshman of the week awards during the season.

Hannah Flippen ranks #10 on our top 10 Utah athletes of the past year. Keep checking back as we countdown to the #1 Utah athlete of 2014-15.