The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
2022 Softball Roster
Roster
Bella Dayton
- Position:
- OF
- Height:
- 5-6
- Class:
- Sophomore
- High School:
- Wylie
- Prev School:
- Arizona
- Hometown:
- Wylie, Texas
- Major:
- Physical Culture & Sports
Career Accolades
- 1x Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team (2023, 2024)
- 1x NCAA Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team (2022)
2024, Fifth-Year Senior
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team ... in 148 official plate appearances, slashed .378/.464/.547 ... successfully stole 14 bases in 15 attempts ... was also credited with four sacrifice flies and five sacrifice hits ... recorded at least one hit 11 of Texas' 14 postseason games: Big 12 Tournament, NCAA Regional, NCAA Super Regional and NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) ... totaled 14 multiple hit games: 12 two-hit, two three-hit ... posted eight multiple runs batted in (RBI) contests as well: four two-RBI, three three-RBI, one four-RBI ... batted .583 (28-48) with leading off an inning ... registered a .667 (12-18) mark with a runner on third and less than two outs ... 12 of her 33 RBI came with two outs in an inning ... opened the season with a 3-for-5, 3-RBI performance against San Diego (2/9) ... also had a 3-for-3 outing against Hofstra (3/3) ... two of her three home runs on the season came during the postseason: vs. Baylor (5/10) in the Big 12 Championship and against Texas A&M (5/25) in the NCAA Austin Super Regional ... drove in a season-high four runs with a 2-for-3 night at the dish against Baylor (5/10) ... hit .500 (5-10) with three runs scored in a three-game NCAA Austin Super Regional against Texas A&M (5/24 - 5/26) ... credited with an 11-game hitting streak, tied for the second longest by a Longhorn player on the season, throughout the campaign ... concluded the season with a nine-game on-base streak that spanned throughout all the of NCAA Austin Super Regional and all five games at the WCWS ...
2023, Senior
Took her game to a new level in her second season on the Forty Acres by slashing .344/.413/.438 in 96 official plate appearances throughout 52 games played ... Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team selection ... scored the third most runs (38) among Longhorns while also striking out the fewest times (10) among Texas batters who met the minimum requirement of two plate appearances a game and 75 percent of games played ... was credited with seven stolen bases on 10 attempts with two coming against Lehigh (3/18) ... was credited with an outfield assist when throwing out a Tennessee base runner at the plate during the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional (5/27) ... one of just four Longhorn batters, who met the minimum requirement of plate appearances and games played, and finished the season with more walks (11) than strikeouts (10) ... finished the 2023 campaign with eight multiple hit games ... had two multiple runs batted in (RBI) games ... of her 35 starts, 20 came in left field and 15 in centerfield ... batted .778 (7-9) with a runner on third base and less than two outs ... was credited with an inside-the-park grand slam against Marist (3/17) ... her two-run, sixth inning home run sparked a five-run rally by the Longhorn offense to knock off Texas Tech (5/11) to open the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships ... became just the third student-athlete in program history to draw three walks in a single NCAA Regional game when she accomplished the feat against Texas A&M (5/21) ... finished the season as the only Longhorn batter to draw three walks in a single game ... had a 2-for-3 performance against Tennessee (5/26) to open the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional ...
2022, Junior
Batted at a .276 clip over 68 games (59 starts) with 43 hits, 38 runs scored, nine doubles, a triple, five home runs, 24 walks, 14 steals and 23 runs batted in (RBI) ... was selected to the Women's College World Series (WCWS) All-Tournament Team after hitting .350 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs over seven event contests ... managed nine multi-hit and five multi-RBI efforts ... reached base safely over a 12-game streak from March 6-16 ... opened the WCWS Championship Series against No. 1 Oklahoma (6/8) by going 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored ... with two on and Texas trailing No. 6 Oklahoma State (6/6) in the decisive WCWS semifinal contest, 5-3, Dayton ripped a fifth-inning single to right that started chaos as a Cowgirl throwing error to the center field wall eventually cleared the bases for a 6-5 lead ... registered a fifth-inning sac fly for a RBI in the 5-2 WCWS win over Arizona (6/5) ... went 2-for-4 and blasted a two-run home run to right in the 7-2 WCWS-opening rout of No. 5 UCLA (6/2) ... hit .455 (5-for-11) with two doubles, a home run and three runs batted in at the NCAA Seattle Regional (5/20 - 5/22) ... blasted a two-run double in the fifth inning of the decisive 3-2 NCAA Seattle Regional victory over No. 11 Washington ... went 2-for-4 and drove a walk-off double to right center to complete an 11-10 (8 inn.) comeback win over Iowa State (4/2) ... hammered her first collegiate grand slam to center during the first frame of an 11-2 (5 inn.) rout of Kansas (3/27) ... drove in two key runs during the third to help UT fight off the Jayhawks (3/25), 7-6 ... singled, and later scored, to begin a five-run, sixth-inning outburst in the series finale against No. 20 LSU as Texas rallied from 10-4 down to an 11-10 triumph ... posted two-hit efforts against Minnesota (3/12) and McNeese State (2/16) ... launched a fifth-inning solo shot to right center to begin a rally from a 10-4 hole to tie Minnesota (3/13), 10-10 ... registered her first Texas hit, double and RBI in the 10-2 (6 inn.) rout of FGCU (2/12) ...
Prior to Texas (Arizona, 2020, Freshman; 2021, Sophomore)
As a freshman in 2021, started three games in left field and 19 games in right field … in the lineup, saw time in the leadoff slot (3 games), six-hole (2 games), eight-hole (2 games) and nine-hole (17 games) … had a pair of multi-hit games, including two hits vs. Ole Miss in the postseason (5/23) … tied her career-high with two runs batted in (RBI) vs. Grand Canyon (4/14) ... In her first career collegiate softball season in 2020, was a key part of Arizona’s outfield rotation, starting seven games in left field, seven games in right field and one game as the designated player … led the team with 10 stolen bases in 10 tries, the most by an Arizona freshman since Chelsea Suitos (13 – 2012), despite the COVID-19 abbreviated season … was one of four players in the Pac-12 to steal 10-plus bases without being caught … hit .302 on the season in in 43 at-bats … ranked fifth on the team with 13 runs scored … hit her first career home run vs. Western Michigan (2/8) … drove in three runs on the season, including two vs. Western Michigan (2/8) … drew five walks, helping her to a .375 on-base percentage … stole three bases vs. Long Beach State (2/14), the first Wildcat to steal three bases in a game since Ashleigh Hughes in 2018, one of her two multi-steal games of the season … had three multi-hit games … hit a walk off sacrifice fly to lift Arizona past UNI in extra innings (2/14) ...
High School
Ranked as the No. 15 national recruit by Softball America and No. 26 by Extra Inning Softball, Dayton was a three-sport athlete (softball, basketball and track) at Wylie (TX) High School ... a three-time Texas Sports Writers Association (TXSWA) Collin Street Bakery First Team 6A All-State selection (2017, 2018, 2019), she was also a two-time Texas 6A District Offensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018) as well as a 2016 5A District Freshman of the Year ... as a senior in 2019, Dayton hit a staggering .602 with 68 hits and 50 stolen bases while leading her Wylie H.S. squad to a league title and to the fifth round of the UIL State Playoffs for the first time in school history ... Dayton was also an all-area basketball player and competed on the track by participating in regionals in both the 4x400 and 200m events ... she played club softball for the So Cal Choppers and head coach Dean Fausett …
Personal
Daughter of Alan and Denise Dayton … has four brothers: Nick, Sal, Anthony and Dominic … plans to major in physiology with hopes to become a pediatric surgeon … in her free time, enjoys hanging out with family, drinking coffee and watching sports ...
