OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University softball team split a pair of games during its 2018 home opener on Wednesday afternoon at Wolverine Field. UVU first topped Idaho State 11-3 in six innings, before giving up a couple of late runs to fall to in-state foe Utah State, 4-3, in the nightcap.
 
The 2017 WAC Pitcher of the Year Lauren Frailey Spendlove pitched five strong innings en route to leading the Wolverines (8-16) to the 11-3 run-rule victory over the Bengals (4-18) in the opener, while USU (10-15) managed to drive home two runs in the top of the seventh inning on its way to recording a come-from-behind victory in the finale.
 
"It's always great to come home. It was fun to see our defense come together behind me, as well as our offense string together some key hits to drive in those runners when we needed them too," senior pitcher Frailey Spendlove said. "We've had a lot of games on the road, so it was nice to come on out and be able to perform on our home field in front of our fans. It's definitely more comfortable to be able to play at home."
 
GAME ONE VS. IDAHO STATE
Idaho State got things going in the first inning by loading the bases with just one out. Aubrey Creekmore walked to send Makenzie VanSickle home for the Bengals' lone run of the inning. Frailey Spendlove recorded a pair of strikeouts in the inning, including a strikeout with bases loaded to get out escape the jam by only allowing one run.
 
Utah Valley responded in the bottom half of the first as Skylar Cook got opened the inning with a double down the right field line. Abbie Tuttle followed up Cook's hit with a walk to place runners on first and second. Cook recorded her 16th steal of the season to get to third base, while Tuttle stole second. Peyton Angulo later loaded the bases for UVU with a walk. Lyndsay Steverson then walked to send Cook across the plate. Kayee Bott then singled to the right center gap to score both Tuttle and Angulo to give the Wolverines an early 3-1 advantage.
 
The two teams went scoreless through the next two innings before ISU's Ashlyn Ames doubled to right field in the top of the fourth inning to send VanSickle across the plate to cut UVU's lead to a 3-2 advantage after three and a half innings of play.
 
The Wolverines responded again with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Kirsten Andersen opened the stanza with a walk and then advanced to second after Cook grounded out to first base. Caragh Morris then singled to left field and advanced to second on a throw to home after Andersen crossed the plate. Brianna Moeller walked before Angulo doubled to the right center gap to send Tuttle, who replaced Morris on the bases, across the plate. Basia Query then singled up the middle to send Moeller home from third. Angulo capped the scoring inning for the Wolverines by coming home on a fielder's choice by Steverson to make it 7-2.
 
Idaho State got one back in the top of the fifth inning as Kelsey Breen crossed the plate on a Genesis Zamora single. UVU then scored pair of runs in the bottom half of the fifth as Karly Bunderson, Andersen, and Madison Sisco opened the inning with walks to load the bases. Tuttle then reached on a fielder's choice while Cook advanced to second, Andersen to third and Bunderson home for the score. Angulo then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to send Andersen home to give the Wolverines a 9-3 lead after five innings of play.
 
After holding the Bengals scoreless in the top of the sixth, Utah Valley's Cook singled to score pinch-runner Sydney Cluff. Eryn Sustayta then drew a bases loaded walk to send in Bunderson for the walk-off six-inning run-rule victory.
 
Frailey Spendlove (2-2) earned the win for the Wolverines in the ballgame after giving up just three runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work. Cook paced UVU at the plate by going a perfect 2-for-2 from the leadoff spot with a double, a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI. Angulo too performed well by going 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Andersen finished going a perfect 1-for-1 with a double, two runs scored and two walks.  
 
GAME TWO VS. UTAH STATE
UVU opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning as Cook was walked after battling through a full count. Cook then registered her 17th stolen base of the year to advance to second. Tuttle then hit a single towards third, advancing Cook to the hot corner. Angulo then followed by knocking out a sacrifice fly to center field to advance Tuttle to second base and Cook home. Basia Query then singled up the middle to score Tuttle from second for the team's second run of the inning, giving the Wolverines a 2-0 early lead.
 
The two teams went scoreless through the second inning before Utah State's Amee Aarhus reached on a UVU fielding error and then scored on a Riley Plogger double to the gap in right center in the top of the third inning to cut the UVU lead to a 2-1 advantage in the third.
 
The Aggies later tied things up in the top of the fifth inning as Aarhus bunted down the third base line to get to first. Bailey Lewis then singled to left center to score Aarhus, who had previously advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt to tie the score at 2-2.
 
The Wolverines responded right back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the fifth. Cook safely reached first on a USU throwing error. She then stole second before scoring on a wild pitch that put the Wolverines back on top, 3-2.
 
Utah Valley took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning where the Aggies scored two runs in the top of the frame to take the lead. Aarhus started the rally with a leadoff single and Lewis followed with a one-out single to center and both runners managed to move into scoring position on the play as the throw went into third base. Devan Sperry then singled down the third base line to score both Aarhus and Lewis to give the Aggies a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
Utah Valley wasn't able to get anything going in the bottom of the seventh with three up and three down as the Aggies managed to secure the 4-3 come-from-behind victory.
 
Addie Jensen (4-7) pitched well in the contest for the Wolverines but ended up taking the loss after giving up three earned runs while scattering 11 hits in the complete-game outing. Utah State's Delaney Hull (5-3) was credited with the win after going the distance in the ballgame for the Aggies.
 
As a team, UVU mustered just five hits in the game. Tuttle, Moeller, Query, Steverson and Andersen all finished with one hit apiece, and Query and Angulo both drove home runs in the game for the Wolverines.
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the midweek home opening twin bill against the Bengals and Aggies, the Wolverines will now return to the road to begin Western Athletic Conference play at Seattle University next weekend (March 30-31). UVU was picked to finish fourth in the WAC this season after tying for third a season ago with a 7-8 league mark.