OREM, Utah—Lyndsay Steverson hit a walk-off two-run homer over the left field wall to lead the Utah Valley University softball team to a 7-5 win over in-state rival Weber State on Senior Day on Wednesday afternoon at Wolverine Field. Seniors Courtney Beavers, Bailey Moore, Melanie Ostler, Kalli Suesue, and Brittney Vansway were honored in a ceremony after the game.
 
"I never doubted that we were going to win for a second. I could just feel it in our energy throughout the game and I wasn't worried at all," said senior outfielder Courtney Beavers. "I knew that Brittney or Lyndsay would come up big for us in the bottom of the seventh inning. And Lyndsay did just that for us today."
 
Steverson led the Wolverines (16-21) at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance that included a walk, a run scored and three RBIs. Kirsten Andersen also went 2-for-3 on the day with a pair of RBIs, while Taleigh Williams too finished with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate.
 
Bailey Moore started the game and worked 6.1 innings. The performance helped Moore break the UVU all-time career record for innings pitched at 500.1 career innings in the circle. She surpasses the previous record of 495.1 set by Josi Summers in 2015. Moore gave up just two earned runs and recorded three strikeouts on the day. Lauren Frailey picked up the win in relief in the circle to improve to 12-8 overall on the year. Frailey pitched 0.2 innings while giving up just one hit.
 
"The team made a number of great plays behind me on defense and gave me a pretty good lead again to work with. I just have all the faith in the world in my team, and that makes going out there and pitching a lot easier," said senior pitcher Bailey Moore. "I just wanted to leave it all out on the field that I have played on for the past four years. Regardless of the outcome I knew that if I gave it my best effort that it would all work out in the end."
 
The Wolverines were first to get on the scoreboard as Steverson reached on a fielder's choice to third base to score Beavers, who had reached on a single to center field to open the inning. The run gave UVU an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
 
Weber State (30-15-1) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning as Riana Splinter hit an RBI single that sent Takesha Saltern across the plate. Mackenzie Corta then hit a fielder's choice to second that scored Landi Hawker to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead through 2.5 innings of play.
 
Utah Valley went back on top in the bottom of the fourth inning as Steverson led off the inning with a walk. Williams then singled to left center to advance Steverson to second. Basia Query then singled to center field to load the bases. Eryn Sustayta registered an RBI walk that scored Abbie Tuttle who was pinch-running for Steverson. Andersen then singled up the middle to score both Query and Suesue, who pinch-ran for Williams.
 
UVU scored its fourth run of the fourth inning as Andersen stole second on a throwing error that got past the second baseman, which allowed Sustayta to score from third. The four-run fourth inning gave the Wolverines a 5-2 advantage.
 
Weber State tied things up at 5-5 after scoring three unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning before Steverson sent a walk-off home run over the wall in the last of the seventh to secure the 7-5 victory.
 
"I'm proud of this team and I had no doubt that we would come back. Lyndsay is clutch and she did what she always does," said senior third baseman Brittney Vansway. "It hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm really going to miss this when the season is over. UVU will always be my softball home."
 
The win over Weber State marked the final home game of the 2017 season for the Wolverines. UVU finished its home campaign with an impressive 11-3 record. The 11-3 home ledger marked the best home winning percentage in school history (.786), and the 11 victories marked the second most wins as the 2013 club went 12-5 at Wolverine Field.
 
Utah Valley will close its 2017 regular season at No. 20 BYU in Provo on Monday, May 8, before traveling to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to compete in the WAC Tournament, May 11-13. The Wolverines have secured the No. 2 seed at the tournament and will open play on Thursday, May 11 against No. 3 Seattle U.