OREM, Utah—Brittney Vansway and Jaylen Watson each hit home runs to lead the Utah Valley University softball team in a 9-6 setback to WAC foe Seattle U Friday afternoon at Wolverine Field.
 
Seattle U improves to 13-28 overall and 2-5 in WAC play with the win. Utah Valley falls to 14-28 on the season and 2-5 in league play.
 
The Redhawks got off to a quick start as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning. Bubba Morrow was first to get SU on the scoreboard, hitting a single up the middle that scored a pair of runs. Lisa Maulden then doubled to left-center to get Morrow across the plate. Rose Saenz capped off the inning with a two-run homer over the center field fence.
 
Seattle U continued to score runs in the top of the second inning as Maulden grounded out to first, scoring Paige Bouska. Isabella Geronimo then crossed the plate on a UVU passed ball. SU added a run in the third inning as Maddy Kristjanson scored on a UVU error to give the Redhawks an 8-0 advantage.
 
Facing an eight-run rule loss in the bottom of the fifth inning, Utah Valley rallied with five runs to get within striking distance, 8-5. Vansway got the Wolverines on the scoreboard with a three-run shot over the left field fence to score both Brianna Gatlin and Morgan Smith. Watson then hit a towering home run to centerfield, scoring Taleigh Williams who had reached second on a double to right-center.
 
"That fifth inning was huge for us as we had a lot of young players step up," said Utah Valley head coach Nikki Palmer. "It was really good to see that fight in our girls and not get down."
 
UVU held the Redhawks scoreless in the top of the sixth inning and then tallied a run in the bottom half of the inning after Vansway singled to center to score Williams. SU got its run back in the top of the seventh as Haley Beckstrom hit a double to score Kayla Shuster-Gonzales as the Redhawks took a 9-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
 
Seattle U then held the Wolverines scoreless in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win.
 
Mandie Sugita earned the win in the circle for the Redhawks as she improves to 8-10 on the season. Sugita worked 5.0 innings with three strikeouts.
 
Utah Valley will continue play at home with a double-header against Seattle U on Saturday. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. MT. Both games will be streamed live on the web. Game one being broadcast on WolverineGreen.com while game two will be live on the WAC Digital Network.
 
"The adjustments we made at the end of the game were huge for us and hopefully that will carry over into tomorrow's games," said Palmer. "Pitching and defensively, it just wasn't our day and that's not typical of how we play so we're excited to get back out there tomorrow."