Saint Mary's Box Score : Portland State Box Score: Season Stats
Reno, NV - Utah Valley State softball coach Todd Fairbourne never thought his team would have a chance to win a high scoring game. But on Saturday Fairbourne watched his team rally from four different deficits during the contest to beat the Saint Mary-??s Gaels 11-10 in eight innings in the second day of the Wolf Pack Invitational.
-??Obviously it was a wild game,-?? Fairbourne said. -??Any win is a good win. I would have never thought we would have won a shoot out. Whether the wind was blowing or not it was a scoring affair.-??
Utah Valley had 12 hits and smacked three homeruns in the win. Heidi Boyer led the attack by going three-for-four with three RBI. Chris Jimenez and Rachel Hartgrove each had two hits. Boyer, Jackie Roberts and Emily Zupan all had homeruns.
Trailing 1-0 after the second inning, the Wolverines scored three runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead.
With one out Cari Hamilton singled and advanced to third after the Saint Mary-??s right fielder committed a two-base error. Hartgrove then drove in Hamilton on sacrifice RBI. Boyer followed Hartgrove by reaching base on a single to left field. Zupan then hit a two-run blast to give UV the 3-1 lead.
Saint Mary-??s added three runs in the fourth to take a 4-3 but UV tied the game at four in the bottom half of the inning after Roberts hit a solo-homerun.
The Gaels regained the lead at 6-4 after the top of the fifth. But thanks to a two-run homerun by Boyer Utah Valley led 7-6 after five innings. Kaylie Neal also scored in the inning after Laurin Eppich hit an RBI single to center field.
The Wolverines added two more runs in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead going into the top of the seventh inning.
But Saint Mary-??s tied the game at nine in the seventh to send the game into extra innings. The Gaels took a 10-9 lead after the top of eighth inning.
In the extra stanza Lindsey Phelps started at second base due to the international tiebreaker rule. Jimenez moved Phelps to third with a single.
Hamilton then scored Phelps on a fielder-??s choice to tie the game at 10. Hamilton would later score the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to left field by Boyer.
Utah Valley played Portland State later in the day and lost 8-0 in six innings. The game was scoreless through three innings but Portland State scored two runs in the fourth and fifth innings and four in the sixth to seal the victory.
Utah Valley State plays St. Mary-??s again on Sunday at 11:30.
