OREM, Utah -- After seeing weather cancel last weekend's scheduled opening weekend, Utah Valley University softball is now set to have its season opener this week at the Dixie State Classic in St. George, Utah. The Wolverines are scheduled for five games, which will take place at the Canyons Softball Complex.
UVU opens on Friday against Montana at 11 a.m. MT and following that contest will face Utah State. On Saturday, the Wolverines will take on BYU at 11 a.m. MT and then Nevada at approximately 4 p.m. MT. The weekend concludes with a game against No. 2 Washington on Sunday at 11 a.m. MT. Utah Valley is the only team competing this weekend—including host Dixie State—who did not play last week.
Montana, Utah State and BYU are also on the schedule for later games this season, while the 2nd-ranked Huskies are the highest-ranked opponent a UVU softball team has faced since playing at No. 2 Oregon in 2015. It will mark the fifth time the Wolverines will meet the Huskies, who are 4-0 against UVU and have been ranked at the time of each meeting.
Last week Utah Valley had it's originally scheduled tournament at Abilene Christian canceled due to weather, only to see the back-up plan at the Texas A&M Aggie Classic also fall victim to Mother Nature.
ON DECK
Next weekend the Wolverines will be back in the St. George area for a three-game series against in-state rival Southern Utah. The teams will play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. MT and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon MT at Archie Gubler Park in Santa Clara, Utah.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Montana went 1-4 last week in a tournament at Grand Canyon University. The Grizzlies dropped a pair of games to No. 10 Oregon, one to Weber State and also split two games with Grand Canyon. Cami Sellers went 9-for-15 at the plate and hit two home runs to lead Montana on the weekend ... Utah State dropped four games in a tournament at Cal State Fullerton, losing twice by a single run to the host Titans and also falling to Oregon State twice. ... BYU was 1-3 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona on its opening weekend. The Cougars dropped two games the No. 15 Arizona State, lost 1-0 to Utah (RV) and defeated Seattle University, 4-3 ... Nevada had a successful weekend in a tournament at UC Davis and Sacramento State, going 4-1 with two wins over UC Davis, one over Sac State and a split of two contests with Saint Mary's ... No. 2 Washington went 5-0 at the Rebel Kickoff at UNLV. The Huskies defeated Southern Utah and Dixie State two times each and host UNLV once.
