Utah Valley at Long Beach Louisville Slugger Invitational 
Thursday-Saturday, March 10-12, 2016  
Long Beach/Lakewood, Calif.   |   Mayfair Park (Lakewood) & 49er Softball Complex (Long Beach)
Tournament Central  |  UVU Game Notes
Live Stats: Thu. vs. UCSB | Thu. vs. LBSU | Fri. vs. CSF | Fri. vs. ISU | Sat. vs. UCLA  
 

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OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team will make its third trip to Southern California in the last four weeks to take part at the Long Beach Louisville Slugger Invitational this weekend (March 10-12). The Wolverines will play a total of five games from Thursday to Saturday at the tournament, as they will face UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State on Thursday, Cal State Fullerton and Iowa State on Friday and No. 14 UCLA on Saturday.
 
Thursday's pair of games will be contested at Mayfair Park in Lakewood and are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. PT (vs. UCSB) and 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (vs. LBSU). The Wolverines will then head to Long Beach State's 49er Softball Complex on Friday morning to face Fullerton at 11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT before and Iowa State that afternoon at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT. UVU will then close the weekend tournament against the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins on Saturday at 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT at Mayfair (please note the start times because some changed due to expected rain).
 
Live stats will be available for all five games by visiting WolverineGreen.com.
 
"I am looking forward to seeing some top-notch teams heading into this weekend," head coach Nikki Palmer said. "We know we have some major adjustments to make, but I feel that we are ready for the weekend."
 
The Wolverines (4-16) will enter the weekend having dropped 10 straight ballgames after falling four times at the San Diego Classic I in San Diego a week ago. There, UVU opened the tournament with a pair of one-run setbacks to Pitt (4-3) and Illinois-Chicago (9-8 in eight innings) before concluding the event with an 11-4 loss to Boston University and a 7-2 defeat to Saint Joseph's.  
 
In the extra-inning setback to UIC, Cera Stanley delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single in the seventh and Brittney Vansway drove home the then go-ahead run in the eighth but it wasn't enough as UVU fell to the Flames by a score of 9-8. With Utah Valley holding to an 8-7 advantage following Vansway's go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth, UIC managed to score two runs thanks to back-to-back two-out RBI hits to take the game from UVU.
 
Morgan Smith led Utah Valley last week by hitting .375 (6-for-15) with five stolen bases and five runs scored from the leadoff spot, while Brianna Gatlin batted .357 (5-for-14) with seven RBIs, two doubles, a home run, a pair of stolen bases and a run scored. Kendall Ohman too hit well by going 3-for-7 (.429) with three runs scored, a stolen bag and an RBI.
 
Jaymee Lawton leads UVU on the season with a .355 batting average, while Smith is right behind her with a .354 clip and Gatlin is next at .321. Smith leads the Wolverines in steals and ranks second in the WAC with nine, while Gatlin tops the team in RBIs and doubles with 16 and seven, respectively.
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
UCSB is 12-8 on the season after going 4-1 at the Stacy Winsberg Tournament in Los Angeles last weekend. The Gauchos recorded two wins apiece over CSU Bakersfield and Charleston Southern and their lone loss was a one-run setback to the ranked Bruins (3-2). UC Santa Barbara is currently in fourth place in the Big West standings and was picked to finish seventh this season. UVU will be looking for its first-ever win over UCSB, as the Gauchos will enter Thursday's contest with a 4-0 all-time advantage over the Wolverines.
 
The host Long Beach State 49ers are 11-8 on the season and currently receiving votes for the top 25 poll after going 3-2 at the Judi Garman Classic with wins over No. 19 Arizona State, Northwestern and San Jose State. The 49ers were picked to win the Big West title this season and are currently in fifth place in the conference standings. The Wolverines will also be looking to record their first all-time victory over LBSU, as the 49ers will enter play with a 4-0 series advantage over UVU.
 
Cal State Fullerton will enter the weekend with a 13-8 record after falling to No. 11 Florida State at home on Tuesday and going 4-1 at its own Judi Garman Classic last weekend. CSF defeated No. 19 Arizona State, North Carolina, Northwestern and San Jose State at the Garman Classic. The Titans are currently in third place in the Big West standings and were picked to finish second in the league this year. Utah Valley will enter Friday with a 1-0 all-time series advantage over Cal State Fullerton after registering the program's first-ever win over a ranked opponent when UVU shut out the No. 25 Titans, 9-0, in Las Vegas a year ago.
 
The Big 12 Cyclones will enter the tournament with an 11-8 clip on the season after going 1-4 at the Mercer Challenge in Macon, Georgia with a win over Fordham and a pair of setbacks to Mercer as well as losses to Boston College and Fordham. Iowa State currently sits in fourth place in the Big 12 standings and was picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll. Friday's contest will mark the first-ever meeting on the diamond between the Wolverines and Cyclones.
 
UCLA of the Pac-12 Conference will enter the weekend ranked 14th in the country and off to a 13-8 start after going 4-1 at its own Stacy Winsberg Tournament. The ranked Bruins defeated Charleston Southern, Syracuse, UCSB and UC Davis a week ago. UCLA's lone loss of the weekend came to No. 19 Florida State. The Bruins are currently in eighth place in the Pac-12 standings and were picked to finish second in the league this year. Saturday's ballgame will mark the first all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Bruins.
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the Louisville Slugger Invite, UVU will return to Orem to welcome in-state rival Utah State to town on Tuesday, March 15 for its 2016 home opener. The midweek contest is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. at Wolverine Field.