OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team found itself on the wrong end of a 8-3 decision to Seattle University in the series and 2016 Western Athletic Conference finale on Saturday afternoon at Logan Field to earn the No. 5 seed for the WAC Tournament.
 
The Wolverines drop to 7-38 overall and 3-12 in WAC play with the loss, as they finish conference play in a tie for fifth place with Seattle U (17-31, 3-12 WAC). UVU and SU will open up against one another in the first game of the 2016 WAC Tournament on Thursday, May 12 at Seattle U's Logan Field.
 
"I thought we made some nice adjustments and gained some good insight for the upcoming conference tournament," head coach Nikki Palmer said.
 
The Redhawks were the first team to break through in the ballgame with a five-run third to take a 5-0 lead. Savannah Loomis and Hayley Beckstrom each drove home a pair of runs apiece in the frame, as Loomis delivered a two-run double while Beckstrom capped the big inning with a two-run homer.
 
The Wolverines then struck back with two runs of their own in the fourth, thanks to a two-run home run from Brianna Gatlin, but SU countered back with three more runs of its own in the last of the fourth to take an 8-2 advantage. Seattle's first two runs of the frame came in on a couple of UVU miscues, while the third came home on an RBI double from Maddy Kristjanson.  
 
The score remained 8-2 until the seventh when Dynasty Lauvai reached on an error and later came around to score on an RBI triple from Breezy Roth to make it an 8-3 contest. That was as close as the Wolverines would get however, as SU's Andie Larkins retired Kori Barrios to end the threat and the ballgame.
 
Larkins (10-14) earned her second win of the weekend for the Redhawks after going the distance and giving up just two earned runs (three total) on seven hits. Makayla Shadle (2-7) was tagged with the loss for UVU after allowing five runs on four hits in 2.2 innings of work.
 
Roth led Utah Valley offensively in the contest by going a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, while Vansway finished with a 2-for-3 performance.  
 
With a total of four steals during Friday's doubleheader and another on Saturday, Morgan Smith set a new single-season stolen base record for Utah Valley with 21. The senior speedster is now UVU's single-season record holder in steals, all-time career leader in stolen bases (58), as well as the all-time program leader in career triples (11). 
 
The Wolverines will now step out of conference play to close their 2016 regular season with a pair of midweek doubleheaders at No. 5 Oregon State and Portland State next week. UVU will first take on the top-five ranked Ducks on Tuesday, May 3 before facing the PSU Vikings in its 2016 finale on Wednesday, May 4. The 2016 WAC Tournament will then begin on May 12.