OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team swept a doubleheader over UMKC on Saturday afternoon at Wolverine Softball Field to clinch key a Western Athletic Conference series over the Kangaroos by scores of 6-4 and 9-1 (in 5 innings).
 
With the victories, the Wolverines (14-21, 6-8 WAC) moved a game ahead of the 'Roos (15-35, 5-9 WAC) in WAC play to move into fourth place in the league standings. UVU will go for the three-game sweep in its final conference series of the season on Sunday when it closes the series against UMKC at 11 a.m.
 
Solid pitching and timely hitting were key for UVU on the day, as junior Lauren Frailey and senior Bailey Moore pitched a pair of complete-game outings for the Wolverines on Saturday. Frailey scattered 10 hits and allowed just three earned runs en route to earning a seven-inning complete game victory in game one, while Moore gave up just five hits and one run on her way to recording her second complete-game win of the year.
 
Senior Brittney Vansway led the way for the Wolverines at the plate on the day by going 4-for-6 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs. Junior Taleigh Williams followed by going 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a run batted in, while senior Courtney Beavers finished 2-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base, two runs scored and a run batted in.
 
"It was a complete team effort," said senior pitcher Bailey Moore. "It's pretty easy to pitch when you have an eight-run lead. Big credit goes out to our offense as well as to our defense. They were both great for us today."
 
GAME ONE
A complete-game victory from Frailey and a two-hit, two-RBI outing at the plate from Vansway helped Utah Valley take game one against UMKC, 6-4, to open the doubleheader.
 
In her first at-bat of the afternoon, Vansway belted a two-run homer after a single by Caragh Morris to put the Wolverines ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first. The blast gave Vansway 49 RBIs on the year to make her UVU's all-time single-season RBI leader, surpassing former Wolverine Amanda Perez's previous record of 48 in 2010.
 
The Kangaroos evened the score, 2-2, with a pair of runs by Kendra Leach and Sydney Garcia at the top of the third inning. UMKC's Kelsey Goodwin put her squad on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Leach, which was followed by Garcia's run that came after a defensive miscue on a missed tag at second.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, UVU regained the lead, 5-2, with a three-run shot hit over the left field fence by freshman Lyndsay Steverson. The homer by Steverson came after the second hit of the day by Vansway on a single to left field that moved Morris to second.
 
The 'Roos answered with a pair of runs in the sixth to cut the Wolverine lead to 5-4. UMKC's Alex Gale brought home Abbi Johnson from second following Johnson's single to left that scored Maegan Rollow.
 
UVU added an insurance run in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead heading into the final frame. In as a pinch runner, sophomore Abbie Tuttle gave the Wolverines a two-run cushion as she scored on a throwing error to first following a strikeout that allowed Kawehi Kahana to reach base.
 
Tuttle's run came after taking the place of designated player Taylor Miller, who reached base on a fielder's choice to shortstop.  A walk drawn by UVU's Kristy Snyder, who was pinch hitting for Kirsten Andersen, then moved Williams over to second before Tuttle was brought in.
 
Frailey's 11th complete game of her junior campaign led to her 10th win of the year in the circle for the Wolverines (10-8).
 
Vansway went 2-for-3 in game one with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Williams too finished with a 2-for-3 performance.
 
GAME TWO
UMKC countered back early in game two with a single run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 advantage. Kelsey Goodwin delivered an RBI single in the frame to give the 'Roos the early lead. The run was all the offense the Kangaroos would muster in the contest, however, as UVU's game two starter Moore put up zeros the rest of the way for the Wolverines.
 
The Wolverine offense got things going in the second inning by driving home runs to take a 4-1 lead. UVU then tacked on three more runs in the third and two more in the fourth to put the game away via the run rule.
 
With runners on second and third following a single from Basia Query and a double from Eryn Sustayta, Andersen drove home UVU's first run of the nightcap with a RBI single to right to bring home Query. Utah Valley then took the lead moments later when Andersen stole second and Sustayta came in to score on a UMKC throwing error to make it 2-1. Beavers then promptly followed for the Wolverines with an RBI triple to left-center, and Morris capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI double to right to make it 4-1.
 
After Moore managed to escape a bases loaded jam in the top of the third, UVU's offense continued to produce in the bottom of the frame with three more runs. Following a leadoff double to centerfield from Vansway, Williams drove her home with another double over the centerfielder's head to make it 5-1. Miller then drove home Williams with an RBI single up the middle, and she later came around to score on a fielding error in right field to give the Wolverines a 6-run cushion.
 
Following a leadoff bunt single from the speedster Beavers, Vansway then blasted out her second home run of the day on a 3-0 pitch over the leftfield wall to extend UVU's advantage to 9-1. The home runs gives Vansway 12 on the year, putting her just one back of tying the UVU single-season record of 13 in that category.
 
Moore then retired the side in order in the fifth to seal the five-inning run-rule victory and doubleheader sweep for the Wolverines.
 
Moore improved to 2-8 on the year after pitching the complete-game gem in which she allowed just one run on five hits while striking out one.
 
Beavers and Sustayta paced the UVU offense in the game by each going 2-for-2, while Vansway finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.