PROVO, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team found itself on the wrong end of a 10-2 six-inning decision to No. 20 BYU in UVU's 2017 regular season finale on Monday evening at Gail Miller Field in Provo. Monday's ballgame was a part of the UCCU Crosstown Clash between UVU and BYU.
 
The Wolverines cap their regular season with a 16-22 record, and will now head to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for the 2017 WAC Tournament. UVU finished Western Athletic Conference play in a tie for third place with a 7-8 league record and has earned the two seed for the championship event.
 
"I think that we came into this game expecting to have to play really hard because BYU is such a strong competitor. Obviously it's not the outcome we expected, but we were able to stay positive and energized and not let their big first inning get us down," said junior shortstop Kirsten Andersen. "Playing a really talented team before the WAC Tournament will help us to get in the mentality to compete at an elevated level and be ready to go when we open against Seattle U on Thursday."
 
The Cougars (41-10) were the first to get on the board in the contest thanks to a six-run first inning. Five walks in the frame aided the six-run rally for BYU, as the Cougars jumped out to the quick 6-0 lead.
 
The Wolverines then responded by driving in a run of their own in the top of the second to make it a 6-1 game. UVU loaded the bases with nobody out thanks to a leadoff double from Basia Query, a walk from Taylor Miller and a single from Eryn Sustayta to set the table for Kirsten Andersen. Andersen then drove home Query via an RBI fielder's choice, but BYU starter Arissa Paulson followed by retiring two of the next three batters she faced to get out of the jam.
 
With Brigham Young still holding to the 6-1 advantage in the bottom of the third, play was halted for nearly an hour and a half due to lightning in the area. When play resumed, the Cougars then tacked on a run in the inning on a wild pitch to extend their lead to 7-1. 
 
BYU then tacked on a couple of more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend its lead to 9-1. Ashley Thompson and Alexa Strid both delivered RBI hits for the Cougars in the frame, but Utah Valley's defense later managed to get out of the jam thanks to an inning-ending F-8-2-1-5 double play.
 
With two outs and nobody on for the Wolverines in the top of the fifth inning, senior Brittney Vansway extended the game with a solo home run to center to make it a 9-2 score. The round tripper marked Vansway's 13th of the season, which matches a UVU single-season school record. Vansway, who is also UVU's all-time RBI and single-season RBI leader, is now tied atop the single-season home run record with former Utah Valley sluggers Amanda Robinson and Jaylen Watson.
 
The Cougars then put the game away in the sixth when Caitlyn Alldredge led off the inning with a double and later came around to score on a walk-off run-rule fielder's choice from Thompson.
 
Vansway led Utah Valley offensively in the game by going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Beavers and Sustayta each finished 1-for-2. Lexi Tarrow paced BYU by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a run batted in while her teammate Thompson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
 
The contest halted UVU's winning streak at four, but extends BYU's winning streak to 20 consecutive ballgames.
 
Utah Valley will now head to Las Cruces for the 2017 WAC Tournament. The second-seeded Wolverines will open play against the No. 3 Seattle U Redhawks on Thursday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. at the NM State Softball Complex. The winner of that ballgame will advance on to Friday's semifinal contest, while the loser will play in an elimination game on Thursday evening.
 
"We are really excited to get to the tournament and show what changes we have made this year," added Andersen. "We have already come so far since last year's team, and hope to take it all the way to the championship game on Saturday."