April 2, 2011
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SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Valley University's softball team dropped its final two games of the UVU Invitational Saturday at Ute Softball Field in Salt Lake City to finish the tournament 0-3. On Saturday the Wolverines (7-17) dropped a 5-4 game to Southern Utah and a 6-2 decision to the University of Utah.
In the first game of the day against the T-Birds (16-18), UVU trailed 4-0 until the fifth inning when the Wolverine offense got going. In the frame Lyndi Prestgard delivered a two-out pinch-hit RBI single as she drove home Meghan Yocom from third with a hard line drive off of SUU's pitcher to cut the score to 4-1.
In the last of the sixth UVU then put three more runs on the board to tie the game at four-all. In the rally, the Wolverines picked up six hits while sending eight hitters to the plate. Amanda Perez started it off with a double, Samantha Telarroja followed with a single and Mairaea Tanielu drove them both home with a two-RBI triple to center. Yocom then drove home the then tying run with an RBI single to plate Maggie Christianson.
In the top of the seventh SUU countered however as they managed to manufacture a two-out run off of starter Josi Summers to take a 5-4 lead. The Wolverines were then held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh as SUU's Heather Black came on and retired the Wolverines in order and pick up the save.
Despite the loss the Wolverines still managed to outhit the Thunderbirds 11-to-7. Offensively UVU was led by Yocom, Perez, Telarroja and Coates as each finished with a two-hit game against SUU.
Early on against the Utes (18-16), Kyli Flanary matched the reigning Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week Generra Nielson pitch-for-pitch as the game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the third. In that inning Utah managed to load the bases without a hit and push across an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead.
Flanary actually didn't allow her first hit of the game until the fourth when Utah's Brooke Olsen led off the frame with a bunt single. Following a Wolverine error and a Ute sacrifice bunt, Utah scored two more runs on a two-RBI single from Tara Glover to take a 3-0 advantage.
UVU responded immediately however as Telarroja and Tanielu led off the fifth inning with back-to-back hits. Charlee Cisneros then delivered a two-run double down the leftfield line to cut the deficit to 3-2. A couple of batters later Amanda Robinson scorched a ball towards the leftfield line that would have given the Wolverines the lead but Utah's Sandi Bowles made a fine catch that prevented two more runs from coming home.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Utes hitters struck back as Whitney Holm and Olsen delivered back-to-back home runs to put Utah on top 6-2.
That is the way the game would finish as Utah's Nielson pitched well down the stretch to pick up the win, while UVU's Flanary suffered the loss.
In all Yocom led UVU at the plate as she recorded multiple hits in both games. Yocom went a combined 4-for-8 with an RBI and a run scored and was the only Wolverine to get multiple hits off of Utah's Nielson.
UVU ended the UVU Invitational with an 0-3 record, while SUU went 4-0, Utah 2-0 and Northern Colorado 0-3.
The Wolverines next game will be Tuesday afternoon when they make the return trip to Salt Lake City to play the Utes. The very next day (Wed. April 6), UVU will head up to Logan for a doubleheader against the Utah State Aggies.
