Utah Talons begin title defense by sweeping Chicago Bandits
Jun 12, 2026, 10:36 AM | Updated: 11:05 am
Utah Talons Bri Ellis celebrates their second HR of the year in a win over the Chicago Bandits. (Photo courtesy of AUSL/Utah Talons)
(Photo courtesy of AUSL/Utah Talons)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Talons opened 2026 in style, showing why they enter the year as the defending AUSL champions.
Montana Fouts, Sarah Willis, and Megan Faraimo led the way in the circle, and Bri Ellis introduced SLC to Bri Bombs with a pair of long balls.
RELATED: Talons unveil 2025 AUSL championship banner before Opening Day
View this post on Instagram
Former Utah All-American Hannah Flippen reached base three times in ten at-bats, including a triple on Wednesday night.
View this post on Instagram
Mariah Lopez, a former Utah pitcher from 2021 to 2024, started for the Bandits in game three. She gave up five runs on five hits in the first inning, but settled down to author a 1-2-3 second frame before departing.
Game 1
Former Alabama All-American Montana Fouts got the start on Opening Day and didn’t disappoint.
The 2022 gold-medalist got tagged for two runs in the first inning before locking down the Bandits in a complete game effort.
Fouts struck out four and stranded eight base runners, including escaping a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the fourth without allowing a run.
First baseman Bri Ellis provided the big bat.
View this post on Instagram
The 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year in 2025 launched a two-run second-inning homer that tied the game at two. She added a fourth-inning RBI double later in the contest.
Utah held on for the 5-2 victory.
Game 2
The second game was all Sarah Willis, a 2024 All-Big 12 First-Teamer, in the circle.
Willis tossed five scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and walking three. She was removed for Megan Faraimo in the sixth after allowing two base-runners with nobody out.
View this post on Instagram
Faraimo shut down the threat before closing out the game for her first save of the year.
Bri Ellis drove in the game’s only run with a second-inning triple. It was the first three-bagger of her AUSL career.
The Talons prevailed 1-0.
Game 3
Both offenses showed up early in the series finale. Utah had just enough to earn the 9-8 win in a series sweep.
Faraimo matched up against Mariah Lopez for Chicago, and the pitchers combined to give up nine first-inning runs.
Chicago struck first with four consecutive base hits to open the day. Faraimo settled down from there, earning a no-decision after allowing eight runs on 12 hits in five innings.
A Bandit throwing error in the bottom half of the inning put two runners on for catcher Sharlize Palacios. The former UCLA backstop laced a ball down the first base line for a two-RBI triple.
Two batters later, Ellis’ second HR of the year gave the Talons a 5-4 advantage.
Chicago’s Sami Williams launched a two-run homer in the third to reclaim the lead.
View this post on Instagram
It wouldn’t last, however, as Talon outfielder Caroline Jacobson used a bases-clearing double in the bottom half of the frame to take an 8-6 lead into the middle innings.
The Bandits scored twice in the fifth to tie the game at eight.
View this post on Instagram
Flash forward to extra innings, where Utah’s Jadelyn Allchin drove in the winning run with a soft single to right, scoring Jayda Coleman for the walk-off winner.
Follow the AUSL & Talons with KSL Sports
The Talons welcome the Portland Cascade into Dumke Family Softball Stadium for a three-game weekend series beginning on Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. MT.
Find the Talons 2026 season schedule here.
Take us with you wherever you go.
Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
