OREM, Utah—The Utah Valley softball team dropped both ends of a double header to Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon at Wolverine Field, falling 4-0 in game one before taking a 10-6 setback in game two.
With the two wins on the day, Grand Canyon improves to 31-15 overall on the season and 6-5 in WAC play. The Wolverines fall to 6-35 overall and 2-9 in league play.
"I thought we played well at the beginning of the game but needed a little extra fight at the end of the game," Utah Valley head coach
Nikki Palmer said. "We need to clean up the errors but I think we had some good momentum offensively that we can take into tomorrow's game. We're excited to honor our seniors tomorrow and hopefully we can make it a special day for them."
After a pair of scoreless innings in the opening game, Grand Canyon was able to get on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the third after Laynee Gomez crossed the plate on a passed ball to give the Antelopes a 1-0 lead. Gomez walked to get on base, stole second, advanced to third on a Kendsey Hill sacrifice, and then found home on the passed ball.
GCU scored two more runs in the top of the fourth as Briielle Breland doubled to right center in the top of the fourth to send Camree Wartman cross the plate. Breland then scored on a Sierra Smith fielder's choice to put the Lopes up, 4-0.
Utah Valley had an opportunity to put runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning as
Bryanna Fox singled through the right side to open the inning. Fox then advanced to second on a
Brianna Gatlin single to right. Fox advanced to third on a
Tiani Hensley ground out. UVU was not able to capitalize as the Wolverines ended the inning with runners left on second and third.
Fox, Gatlin,
Taleigh Williams,
Kendall Ohman and
Brittney Vansway each tallied a hit for the Wolverines.
Taylor Nowlin picked up the complete game shutout win in the circle for the Lopes, improving to 16-5 on the season.
Bailey Moore pitched 4.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts, while
Kelsey Ensign worked 3.0 innings with three strikeouts.
Utah Valley got things going early in game two as the Wolverines took a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Ohman led off the first inning with a walk and then advanced to second base after
Breezy Roth got hit by a pitch. Dana De La Torra then sacrificed Roth to second and Ohman to third before scored before Vansway singled through the left side to score Ohman and advance Roth to third.
Brianna Gatlin then put down a sacrifice bunt to score Roth to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 advantage.
The Wolverines extended their lead to a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the second after Roth registered a pair of RBIs on a single up the middle that scored both
Morgan Smith and
Cera Stanley.
Grand Canyon got a run back in the top of the fourth as Kendsey Hill hit a sacrifice fly to left field to put Laynee Gomez across the plate, cutting the UVU lead to 4-1.
Utah Valley responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Vansway singled to right field to score Roth from third. Gatlin then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that put Vansway across the plate to put the Wolverines up, 6-1.
The Lopes rallied to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning with six runs on four hits and an error. With runners on second and third, Madelyn Dowdle reached on a fielders choice and then advanced to second on a throwing error that scored both Briielle Breland and Sierra Smith. Nicole Newbury then doubled down the left field line to score Taylor Kaye and Gomez. A Camree Wartman single scored Heaven Acquart before a Brittany Medina single up the middle helped Wartman cross the plate, putting the Antelopes ahead 7-6.
Grand Canyon added three more runs in the top of the seventh before holding UVU scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to secure the 10-6 victory.
Vansway led Utah Valley going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. Smith went 2-for-2 with a run, while Williams went 2-for-3 on the day. Roth went 1-for-1 with two RBIs and a pair of runs.
Bailey Bergman was credited with the win in the circle as she improved to 7-5 overall. Bergman worked 4.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts. Nowlin came in to pick up the save, throwing 2.0 innings without giving up a run. The Wolverines used four pitchers in game two.
Utah Valley will wrap up the three-game series against Grand Canyon on Saturday at noon. UVU's seniors will be honored in a ceremony prior to the first pitch.
