PHOENIX – Utah Valley University saw a late lead escape as Kansas City came from behind to win 5-4 in the opening game of the 2019 WAC Tournament at GCU Softball Stadium on Wednesday.
 
The Wolverines (15-30) held a 3-0 lead in the seventh and were an out away from notching the win, but the Kangaroos (27-27) rallied for five runs and held on in the bottom of the inning to steal the win.
 
Brianna Moeller and Kaylee Bott had three hits apiece for UVU, and Devyn Cretz didn't allow a hit until the fifth but a pair of defensive miscues allowed the Roos to score five runs. Chyanne Onstad delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded double that scored three and cleared the bases.
 
The game was scoreless in the second when Madison Sisco had a two-run single for the tournament's first runs. Lyndsay Steverson singled, Bott reached on an error and Jordan Freas had an infield single that loaded the bases. Sisco then lined the first pitch she saw down the line in left for the two-RBI hit.
 
Cretz struck out four of the first six hitters she faced and retired the first 10 hitters of the game before issuing a one-out walk in the fourth. She worked around that with a strikeout and a foul out down the line in right that Peyton Prigge tracked down on the run.
 
Moeller gave the Wolverines a 3-0 lead in the fourth when she beat out a grounder to short for an infield RBI single that scored Bott, who led off the inning with a base hit.
 
UMKC got its first hit in the fifth when Alexis D'Ambrosio singled into the hole at short. The Roos had runners at second and third with one out when Freas took a hard grounder a first, stepped on the bag and then had the runner at second off the bag. The play eventually resulted in a 3-6-2-5-3 inning-ending double play and kept UVU in front 3-0.
 
The Wolverines seemed destined for the win after Skylar Cook tracked down a hard-hit ball in center for the second out of the seventh but UMKC rallied to stun the Wolverines and move on in the winner's bracket.
 
Utah Valley will now play for its life on Thursday night in a contest slated for 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT. The opponent will be decided by losing team of the Thursday's 1:30 p.m. PT contest.