CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Utah Valley University softball team opened play at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic by going 1-1 on Friday at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Southern California. The Wolverines opened the tournament with an 11-1 victory over George Washington on Friday morning before falling by a score of 11-4 to Notre Dame on Friday afternoon.
 
The UVU (2-5) offense combined to bang out 16 hits on the day, as it put up 10 in the win over GWU (0-1) and six more in the setback to the Fighting Irish (4-2) of the ACC. Dynasty Lauvai led the way in the win over the Colonials by going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored while Brittney Vansway paced the offense against UND with a 2-for-3 outing that included a two-run home run and three total RBIs for the game.
 
Makayla Shadle (1-1) earned her first victory of the season in the win over George Washington as she allowed just five hits and one unearned run in six solid innings of work. She also struck out six and stranded 11 Colonial baserunners en route to the victory.
 
"I really liked our approach today, especially in that first game. We came out fighting and didn't let up as we finished the game strong," head coach Nikki Palmer said. "In that second game, the score doesn't really show how close that ballgame was as we were a couple of swings away from a real tight game. We need to do a better job with runners in scoring position, but overall it wasn't a bad day."
 
The Wolverines got on the board first in the opening game against the Colonials as they scored three times in the top of the first to jump out to a 3-0 lead. After loading the bases, Taleigh Williams drove home the first run of the game with an RBI groundout. A costly George Washington error then brought home two more runs, as Kristy Snyder and Vansway both scored on the play to give UVU the early three-run advantage.
 
Utah Valley then added two more runs in the second to extend its lead to 5-0. After loading the bases for the second consecutive inning, GWU reliever Sarah Costlo was called for back-to-back illegal pitches to plate two more Wolverine runs.
 
George Washington then answered with a run of its own in the third and looked for more in the fourth as it loaded the bases, but Shadle managed to pitch out of the jam for the Wolverines to keep it a 5-1 game.
 
The UVU offense then once again managed to push across a run in the fifth, as Tiani Hensley singled, Dana De La Torre bunted her into scoring position and Lauvai delivered a two-out RBI single to extend the lead to 6-1. The Wolverines then put the game away with five more runs in the seventh thanks to RBIs from Lauvai, Brianna Gatlin and Snyder.
 
Three players finished with multiple hits against the Colonials, as Snyder and Hensley each finished going 2-for-3 and Lauvai added her three-hit outing.
 
In the second game of the day against the Fighting Irish, who are just outside of the top-25 as they are currently receiving votes for the NFCA/USA Today poll, the Wolverines started right were they left off in the earlier game as they scored twice in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 2-0 lead. After Morgan Smith and Snyder reached base, Vansway then drove home the first run of the game with an RBI single to left-center and Williams brought in the second thanks to a sacrifice fly.
 
With Notre Dame later holding to a 6-2 advantage in the third, Vansway answered for the Wolverines with a two-run shot to make it a two-run game at 6-4. The Irish then countered with four more runs in the third to extend their lead to 10-4 and one more in the sixth to take the contest by seven runs.
 
Behind Vansway's two-hit and three-RBI game, the leadoff hitter Smith was next as she also recorded two hits by going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a walk.
 
The Wolverines will continue play at the Mary Nutter Classic on Saturday with two more games against Army (6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT) and Bethune-Cookman (8:30 p.m. MT/7:30 p.m. PT). UVU will then close the weekend trip against Binghamton on Sunday at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT.