BOISE, Idaho – The Utah Valley University softball team dropped a midweek doubleheader to Mountain West foe Boise State on Wednesday afternoon at Dona Larsen Park. The Broncos took the contests by scores of 5-2 and 7-2 on their way to earning the twin bill sweep.
 
UVU drops to 7-12 on the season with the pair of setbacks, while BSU improves to 15-8 with the victories.
 
GAME ONE
The Broncos were the first to get things going in the opener, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after scoring a run in the first and two more in the second. Rebekah Cervantes, Alison Seng and Madison Anthony all drove home runs for BSU during the stretch.
 
The game remained 3-0 until the fifth when UVU managed to manufacture a run without a hit to make it a 3-1 contest. After opening the inning by getting hit by a pitch, Caragh Morris came all the way around to score on a BSU throwing error on a sacrifice bunt from Skylar Cook to pull the Wolverines within two. The Broncos countered right back, however, with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to make it a 4-1 game.
 
With Boise State starter Kelsey Broadus still yet to allow a hit with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, the Wolverines finally broke through with back-to-back doubles from Brianna Moeller and Lyndsay Steverson to make it 4-2.
 
The Broncos then added an insurance run in the last of the sixth via a sacrifice fly and Broadus pitched around a one-out single from Cook and a walk from Peyton Angulo in the top of the seventh to record the complete-game victory.
 
Broadus ended up allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out 13 batters en route to improving to 4-3 on the season. Lauren Frailey Spendlove (1-1) took her first loss of the season after surrendering five runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings of work.
 
Steverson led the Wolverines offensively in the ballgame by going 1-for-2 with an RBI double. Cook and Moeller followed by going 1-for-2 and 1-for-3, respectively.
 
GAME TWO
The Wolverines bounced back early in game two thanks to a two-run first-inning home run from Moeller. After Cook reached on an error to open the contest, Moeller blasted out a two-run round tripper to left center to give UVU an early 2-0 advantage.
 
The Broncos then chipped away at the deficit with a run of their own in the last of the first and three more in the third to take a 4-2 lead. Utah Valley aided BSU's three-run third with a pair of defensive miscues, as all three runs came in unearned in the frame.
 
Boise State then tacked on an insurance run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to go on to take the contest by a score of 7-2.
 
BSU's Gianna Mancha (8-2) ended up allowing just one earned run on four hits in 6.0 innings of solid work to earn the victory, while UVU's Addie Jensen (4-5) took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits in 3.0 innings.
 
Moeller led the Wolverines at the plate by going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Kirsten Andersen too had a two-hit outing by going 2-for-3 in the ballgame.  
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will continue the trip by heading up to Missoula, Montana, for a three-game series at Montana this weekend. UVU will face the defending Big Sky champion Grizzles on Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m., before closing the series on Saturday at noon. Following the series, Utah Valley will welcome both Idaho State and Utah State to town on Wednesday, March 21 for its 2018 home opener.