SANTEE, Calif. – The Utah Valley University softball team split a pair of games on the first day of the San Diego Classic II on Friday as it held on to defeat Connecticut, 4-3, after falling to San José State, 15-0, earlier in the day at the Sportsplex USA Santee.
 
Senior Megan Peay's sacrifice fly in the last of the fifth proved to be the difference in the victory over the Huskies of the American Athletic Conference as sophomore Bailey Moore managed to pitch out of a seventh-inning jam to preserve the win for the Wolverines (10-14).
 
"The girls did a nice job as a team in that second game," said head coach Nikki Palmer. "Bailey (Moore) did a great job on the mound of giving us what we needed defensively, and the hitters came through at the right time. Megan Peay's clutch pinch-hit at-bat ended up being the game winner, and the girls did a nice job of closing it up at the end to get the victory."
 
After getting shut out by San José State (17-9) earlier in the day, UVU's offense came alive in the second inning against UConn (7-10) as it scored three runs. Junior Dynasty Lauvai started the scoring with a solo home run to left and sophomore Brianna Gatlin and freshman Jaylen Watson later followed with back-to-back RBI singles.
 
With the score still 3-0, the Huskies managed to push home their first run of the game in the top of the fifth to make it 3-1. Utah Valley then answered in the last of the inning, however, when Peay delivered her clutch pinch-hit sacrifice fly RBI to extend the Wolverines' lead to 4-1.
 
With a couple of well placed hits in the sixth, UConn then made it a one-run game, at 4-3, after driving home two runs in the frame. Following consecutive leadoff singles in the seventh, the Huskies then made things interesting with two runners on and nobody out. Moore then managed to escape the jam by retiring the next three batters in order to strand the runners and help preserve the win for the Wolverines.
 
Moore went the distance in the circle for UVU to record her seventh victory of the season (7-7). The sophomore, who held a one-hitter into the fifth, gave up three runs on eight hits while striking out four. UConn's Chelsea Eckert (0-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits.
 
Seven different Wolverines recorded a hit in the contest and Lauvai led the way by going 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI after homering in the second.
 
In the first game of the tournament, errors along with the solid pitching from San José State (17-9) starter Madison Fish doomed the Wolverines. UVU committed seven miscues in the contest while Fish along with reliever Berlin Rippentrop combined to allow just one hit.
 
The Spartans did their damage in the third and sixth innings, scoring four runs on five errors in the third and 11 runs on two errors in the sixth.
 
SJSU's Fish took a no-hitter into the fifth in the ballgame, but Gatlin managed to break it up with a sharp one-out single to right in the frame.
 
Fish (9-3) allowed just one hit while striking out nine and walking five Wolverines in 5.0 innings of work. Moore took the loss after giving up seven earned runs in 5.1 innings.
 
Three players finished with three hits apiece for the Spartans and Jessie Hufstetler led the way by going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
 
The Wolverines will continue play at San Diego State's San Diego Classic II with two more games on Saturday. UVU will open play on day number two against San Diego at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT before facing Western Carolina at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT. The Wolverines will then close the tournament on Sunday at 11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT against Santa Clara.