PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Utah Valley University held off Long Beach State, 3-2, on Saturday to finish 3-1 at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Opening Weekend at Nancy Almaraz Stadium. The Wolverines also defeated George Washington and Nevada, with the only loss coming to nationally-ranked Oregon.
 
Basia Query was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs while Linnah Rebolledo also had two hits. Abby Doughty had what turned out to be the game-winning RBI during a three-run third inning. Devyn Cretz notched her second save in as many days, pitching the final 2.0 innings including a 1-2-3 seventh and Brooke Carter picked up her first win in the circle for the Wolverines.
 
Cretz finished the weekend with a 1-0 record and two saves while Query batted .462 and drove in three runs and both were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
"That's what you need your seniors to do. A team doesn't go anywhere without its seniors and that's both production on the field and leadership, and they've been doing it," said UVU head coach Stacy May-Johnson. "This was a tough tournament. These are really good teams so obviously we're really pleased. We didn't play perfect softball, but I just love the way we played, competed and fought for every game."
 
The Wolverines trailed 1-0 in the third when they loaded the bases with one out. Rebolledo won a battle at the plate when she singled into right and, after an error allowed Peyton Prigge to reach, Jade Miller walked to fill the bases. Query delivered a two-run single back up the middle that scored Rebolledo and Prigge and gave UVU a 2-1 lead. Doughty followed with the RBI groundout that put the third run on the board.
 
Carter lasted into the sixth and handed the ball over to Cretz with two on and nobody out. Despite a pair of walks, Cretz limited the damage to just one run and preserved a 3-2 lead.
 
In the seventh, Cretz got a flyout to deep left and back-to-back come-backers to end it. Carter finished with 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, two of which were sun-aided, and both helped lead to the runs that scored.  
 
Utah Valley will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada next weekend with six games on the schedule, two each against Weber State, Montana and host UNLV.