Utah Valley at Texas Tech Invitational
Friday-Sunday, March 6-March 8, 2015
Rocky Johnson Field | Lubbock, Texas
Tournament Central
Live Video vs. Texas Tech: Friday | Saturday
Live Stats: UT Arlington (Fri.) | Texas Tech (Fri.) | UT Arlington (Sat) | Texas Tech (Sat.) | UT Martin (Sun.)OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team will continue its preseason slate this weekend at the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock, Texas. The Wolverines will play five games at TTU's Rocky Johnson Field from Friday to Sunday.
 
UVU will face off against the host Red Raiders twice, UT Arlington twice and UT Martin once. Live stats will be available for all games by visiting TexasTech.com while live video can also be watched for the Texas Tech games at TexasTech.tv (pay subscription required).
 
The Wolverines will open the tournament against UT Arlington on Friday at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT and will also face TTU that afternoon at 3 p.m. MT/4 p.m. CT. UVU will then take on UTA once again on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. MT/1:30 p.m. CT before playing the host Red Raiders for the final time that evening at 5:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. CT. The Wolverines will then close play at the weekend tournament against UT Martin on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT.
 
UVU (7-10) will enter the Texas Tech Invite off of a 2-5 outing in Southern California last week. After dropping their first five games of the week, the Wolverines responded by winning their final two. Utah Valley picked up wins over Portland State and in-state foe Southern Utah, as it held on to beat the Vikings, 8-5, and came from behind to hand the Thunderbirds a 7-4 defeat.
 
With the Wolverines trailing by two runs in the fifth inning against SUU last Sunday, the UVU offense managed to piece together a five-run rally to overtake the T-Birds. After pushing two runs home to tie the score at 4-4, junior Tiani Hensley delivered the big hit in the frame with a go-ahead three-run home run to help propel the Wolverines to the 7-4 victory.
 
Sophomore right-hander Bailey Moore picked up both wins in the circle last week to improve to 5-6 on the year. She leads UVU in victories (5), ERA (3.57), starts (10), appearances (14), complete games (3), shut outs (1), innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (56). Her 56 strikeouts and 64.2 innings pitched are both also good enough to lead the WAC.
 
Freshmen Taleigh Williams and Jaylen Watson lead UVU offensively as they will each enter the weekend with identical .359 batting averages. Sophomore Brianna Gatlin and Brittney Vansway are tied atop the squad in home runs with three, while Hensley leads the way in RBIs with 10.
 
About the Competition
UT Arlington is 11-8 on the season and will enter Friday morning's contest versus the Wolverines having dropped their last three games after going 2-3 at the Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Arizona. UTA defeated Bryant and UTEP before falling to Arizona, Colorado State and UC Riverside. The Mavericks, who now call the Sun Belt Conference home, were a member of the WAC just two years ago. UTA went 21-33 in 2014 and took eighth in the Sun Belt.
 
Friday's contest will mark just the third all-time meeting between UVU and UTA. The Mavericks hold a 2-0 series advantage after defeating the Wolverines last season (6-0) and in 2005 (9-1).
 
Texas Tech will enter the weekend 9-10 on the year and having dropped its last four games after going 0-4 at the Cowgirl Classic in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Prior to the four losses last weekend, TTU won four straight at the UTA Invitational the week before. The Red Raiders finished fourth in the Big 12 last year and went 35-19 overall in 2014.
 
Texas Tech leads the all-time series 3-0 after taking three games over UVU in 2011.  
 
UT Martin hails from Martin, Tennessee, and calls the Ohio Valley Conference home. The Skyhawks are 7-6 on the season after splitting four games at the Southern Louisiana Lion Classic Scramble in Hammond, Louisiana, last weekend. UTM beat both Southeastern Louisiana and Southeast Missouri but fell to Arkansas and Saint Louis. UT Martin went 27-27-1 a year ago and placed sixth in the OVC.
 
Sunday's contest will mark the first all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Skyhawks.
 
Up Next for the Wolverines
Following the Texas Tech Invite, UVU will once again hit the road to take part at its final preseason tournament of the season next weekend (March 13-15). The Wolverines will head to San Diego, California, for the San Diego Classic II hosted by San Diego State. There, UVU will face Connecticut, San Diego, San José State, Santa Clara and Western Carolina.