RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Utah Valley University dropped both ends of a doubleheader in WAC softball at California Baptist, 9-6 and 6-3, on Friday night at Funk Stadium.
In the first game,
Lyndsay Steverson homered twice and drove in three runs for the Wolverines (12-25, 4-10), but it was a pair of three-run home runs from Shelby Arbeiter that helped Lancers (20-26, 7-7) to the win.
After Caitlyn Lloyd homered with one out in the first, Arbeiter hit the first homer during a five-run first inning for California Baptist. CBU added a run in the second to take a 6-0 lead.
Steverson got the Wolverines on the board with a solo home run on the first pitch of the third inning. UVU scored a second run with two outs after a bases-loaded walk was issued to
Peyton Prigge.
Arbeiter's second home run, which gave her six RBIs in the game, came in the bottom of the fourth and extended CBU's lead to 9-2.
Brianna Moeller tripled to lead off the fifth and later scored when
Basia Query homered to center and trimmed the deficit to 9-4. Steverson's second home run – her ninth -- was in the seventh inning and came two batters after
Abby Doughty doubled to lead off the inning. That's as close as the Wolverines would get though.
Brittany Galvez had three hits to lead California Baptist, who had 13 hits in the game. Steverson's pair of home runs accounted for two of Utah Valley's six hits.
In the night cap, Moeller went 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI while Doughty was 2-for-3 with two RBIs on a two-run home run in the third inning. Doughty's home run, her seventh, tied the game after Caitlyn Lloyd hit a two-run homer in the first inning for CBU.
The Lancers continued their power streak in the fourth when Galvez delivered a three-run blast that gave CBU the lead for good. Moeller doubled home
Skylar Cook in the fifth to make it a 5-3 game but Cheyann Tucker got that run back with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning.
California Baptist hit six home runs in the two games combined, three in each contest, in earning the series win. The Wolverines will try to salvage the series on Saturday when the teams face off at 12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. MT.
