Utah Valley vs Seattle U
Friday, April 10 (2pm) - Saturday, April 11 (10am & 12:30pm)
Orem, Utah | Wolverine Field
Live Video (Fri & Sat Gm 1) | WAC Digital Network (Sat Gm 2)
StatBroadcast | UVU Series Notes
OREM, Utah – After dropping a non-conference midweek contest to BYU on Tuesday, the Utah Valley University softball will return to conference play to close its seven-game homestand against Seattle U this weekend. Friday's opener will begin at 2 p.m. while Saturday's doubleheader has been moved up and will now get underway at 10 a.m.
Saturday's twin bill was moved up from its original starting time of noon to accommodate SU's flight home on Saturday evening. Now with a 10 o'clock first pitch for game one, the nightcap and series finale is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Live video and stats will be available for all three games by visiting
WolverineGreen.com. Saturday's finale and second game of the doubleheader (12:30 p.m.) will air live on the
WAC Digital Network with Dave Fox of KUTV Channel 2's Talkin' Sports on the play-by-play.
In a wild game that featured seven double plays and seven errors, the Wolverines (14-27, 2-4 WAC) found themselves on the wrong end of a 9-2 contest to BYU at Wolverine Field on Tuesday. The visiting Cougars slugged out 12 hits while limiting UVU to just three en route to the victory.
Despite giving up just three hits, BYU starter Ashley Thompson handed out seven walks and hit three batters in the ballgame. Thanks to the 10 free passes, Utah Valley had a number of chances to score but Thompson and BYU managed to escape a number of jams as she stranded eight runners on the base paths thanks to four double plays from the Cougar defense.
Freshman
Jaylen Watson led UVU offensively versus BYU by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Watson is second on the team in batting (.315), home runs (6) and RBIs (17). Sophomore
Brianna Gatlin, who recorded the lone other hit for the Wolverines against the Cougars, paces Utah Valley in hitting (.378), home runs (7), doubles (7), RBIs (19), runs scored (22), slugging (.545) and on-base percentage (.450). Fellow sophomore
Bailey Moore leads UVU in the circle with a 9-15 record and a 4.68 ERA. She also leads the entire WAC in innings pitched (160.0), appearances (35) and starts (25).
After turning three more double plays on Tuesday, the Wolverines still lead the country in double plays per game average. With 33 double plays in 41 games, UVU will enter the weekend with an impressive 0.80 double plays per game average.
About Seattle UThe Redhawks (12-28) were picked to finish third in the WAC Preseason Poll but will come to Orem in last place in the conference standings with a 1-5 league record. Seattle U took one of three at Grand Canyon in its opening WAC series two weeks ago before getting swept by the first-place New Mexico State Aggies at home last weekend. SU will enter Friday's opener having dropped five of its last six ballgames.
Paige Bouska and Rose Saenz lead the Redhawks at the plate with identical .344 batting averages. Bubba Morrow is next with a .308 clip and paces Seattle with six round trippers and 17 walks. Mandie Sugita is tops in the circle with a 3.96 earned run average and a 7-10 win-loss record.
Friday's opener will mark the 18th all-time meeting between UVU and SU. The Redhawks will come to town with an 11-6 series advantage, including taking two out of three from the Wolverines last year in Seattle.
Up Next for the WolverinesUVU will head up to Logan to face in-state foe Utah State in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 14. Following Tuesday's twin bill with the Aggies, the Wolverines will then return to league action against Grand Canyon in Phoenix next weekend (April 16-17).
