SEATTLE – Thanks to a four-run sixth, the Utah Valley University softball team managed to split a WAC doubleheader at Seattle U on Friday evening at Logan Field in Seattle. Following a 6-4 setback in game one, UVU answered back with a 7-4 victory in game two to split the conference twin bill.
 
With the win, the Wolverines improve to 7-37 overall and 3-11 in WAC play and will now look to take the series and lock up the fourth seed for the WAC Tournament on Saturday.
 
"The team really rallied after that first loss and worked together to get the win," head coach Nikki Palmer said. "Makayla (Shadle) showed a lot of grit to close things out for us in a tough seventh inning."
 
UVU was the first to get on the board in game two thanks to a three-run first-inning home run off of the bat of Tiani Hensley. Hensley's team-high sixth homer of the season came with two outs and two on in the frame, as she drove home both Brianna Gatlin and Dana De La Torre to give the Wolverines a quick 3-0 advantage.
 
Seattle U (16-31, 2-12 WAC) later answered back with three runs in the second to tie the game at 3-3 and one more in the third to take a 4-3 lead. All four runs came home with two outs in each respective inning and the Redhawks managed to score the tying run in the second on a Wolverine miscue that should have ended the frame.
 
With SU still holding to a 4-3 lead in the sixth, the Wolverine offense once again got things going with a four-run frame to take a 7-4 advantage. Eryn Sustayta started the rally by getting hit by a pitch and Morgan Smith quickly followed with a bunt single, but an errant throw by Seattle's catcher allowed Sustayta to come all the way around and score on the play to tie things up. Bryanna Fox then gave UVU the lead on just her second hit of the season with an RBI double to left to make it 5-4. Two batters later, Brittney Vansway then gave the Wolverines a little breathing room with a two-run home run to left to make it a 7-4 game.
 
Right-handed reliever Makayla Shadle then retired the Redhawks in order in the last of the sixth and managed to escape a bases loaded jam in the seventh to help preserve the win for the Wolverines. Shadle (2-6) earned the victory for UVU in the process, as she allowed just two hits and no runs over the final 3.0 innings of the ballgame. Seattle U's Alyssa Reuble was tagged with the loss after giving up five earned runs (seven total) in 7.0 innings of work.
 
Hensley and Vansway both homered for Utah Valley en route to the victory while Taleigh Williams went 3-for-4 with a trio of singles.
 
The victory snapped a six-game skid for the Wolverines.       
 
After leaving the bases loaded in the first, SU's Isabella Geronimo delivered a two-out, two-run double in the second to give the Redhawks an early 2-0 lead.
 
Utah Valley wasted no time answering back, as it drove home a trio of runs of its own in the top of the third to take a 3-2 advantage. Following a triple from Kendall Ohman, Gatlin drove in the first run for the Wolverines with an RBI single to right. Vansway later tied the game with an RBI single to center and Hensley gave UVU the lead with an RBI fielder's choice.
 
Seattle U struck back with a four-run third to retake the lead at 6-3. Hayley Beckstrom and Kaylee Ree delivered the big hits in the frame for the Redhawks, as they both came through with RBI doubles.
 
UVU then countered back with a run in the fourth, when Smith singled, stole both second and third, and came in to score on a throwing error to make it a 6-4 ballgame. That was all the offense the Wolverines could muster the rest of the way however, as the Redhawks managed to hold on to take game one by a score of 6-4.
 
Andie Larkins went the distance in the circle for Seattle in game one to improve to 9-13 on the year after giving up just three earned runs (four total) on eight hits while striking out five. Bailey Moore suffered the loss for Utah Valley after allowing three earned runs (five total) in 2.1 innings of work.
 
Vansway led UVU offensively in the contest by going 2-for-4 with an RBI, while De La Torre finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and a pair of walks.
 
The Wolverines and Redhawks will conclude the series and the 2016 WAC season on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT. Following Saturday's series finale, UVU will step out of conference play to conclude its regular season with a pair of midweek doubleheaders at No. 5 Oregon (May 3) and Portland State (May 4) next week.