SANTEE, Calif. – The Utah Valley University softball team dropped a 6-1 contest to the University of San Diego on Saturday morning at the San Diego Classic II in Santee.
 
USD (15-13) starter Paige Von Sprecken limited the Wolverines (10-15) to just four hits in the ballgame as she struck out 10 en route to the complete-game victory.
 
Sophomore Brianna Gatlin led UVU in the outing as she recorded two of  Utah Valley's four hits. One of those two was a home run too, as she slugged out a solo round tripper just over the left field fence in the sixth. Gatlin finished going 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
 
The Toreros of the West Coast Conference jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage after scoring a run in the first and two more in the second. Two of the three runs were unearned, however, as UVU combined to commit four errors in the first two innings.
 
After a couple of scoreless innings, USD then put the game away in the fifth by scoring three more runs. Kailey Hill delivered the big hit in the frame for the Toreros via a home run to center.
 
Von Sprecken picked up the win in the circle for USD to improve to 11-5 on the season while sophomore Bailey Moore (7-8) was saddled with the loss for UVU after giving up four earned runs in 5.0 innings of work.
 
Behind Gatlin's solid outing at the plate, sophomore Brittney Vansway added a double for the Wolverines while senior Erin Romero chipped in a single.
 
Kelsey Borello paced the Torero offense by going 2-for-4 with a run scored. 
 
The Wolverines will look to bounce back at the San Diego Classic II on Saturday afternoon against Western Carolina of the Southern Conference. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT. UVU will then close play at the tournament on Sunday morning against Santa Clara (11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT). Live stats for both games can be followed by visiting uvustats.com.