OREM, Utah — Kyla Hardy hit a pair of three-run home runs and
Brooke Carter tossed a complete game as Utah Valley University snapped BYU's 16-game winning streak with an 8-1 win on Tuesday at Wolverine Field in the UCCU Crosstown Clash.
Hardy homered in the first with two on and two out, and again in the third with two aboard and one down as the Wolverines (20-22) did all of their offensive damage in those two innings. Carter (4-5) didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and finished with seven strikeouts on four scattered hits, with the lone run coming on a 5th-inning home run from Rylee Jensen.
"She (Brooke) was unbelievable. They have some really good hitters in that lineup and she made them really uncomfortable and got a lot of swing-and-misses from good hitters. You could tell she was rolling early on... and the defense came up with a couple of plays later," said UVU head coach
Stacy May-Johnson. "And Kyla was great. We had a bunch of quality at-bats from the middle of our lineup."
In the first,
Linnah Rebolledo singled and
Basia Query was hit by a pitch before
Siena Sandoval singled up the middle on a 3-2 pitch to drive in Rebolledo for the first run of the game. Hardy followed and hit a towering fly ball to left that exited the yard for her fourth home run of the season.
Query led off the third with a single and Sandoval again hit the ball back up the middle for a base hit to set the table for Hardy, who hit it to the same part of the park but this time a no-doubter, giving the Wolverines a 7-0 lead.
Madison Carr followed with a base hit and then scored when
Peyton Prigge doubled to extend it to an 8-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Cougars threatened with two on and two out but Rebolledo made a diving catch right on the line in left that potentially saved at least two runs. Jensen extended the game with the solo home run, her 15th of the season, but was the only run the Cougars could scratch across against Carter.
Hardy's two-homer game marks the 33rd time a UVU player has hit two home runs in a game at the NCAA Division I level, while her six runs batted in are tied for third all-time in a single game in the school record book. Tuesday's win also ended the Wolverines' 13-game skid against the Cougars (27-14), dating back to March 21, 2015. That game was a 13-0, 5-inning win in Provo and a no-hitter for UVU pitcher Bailey Moore.
Utah Valley will now travel to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State, who leads the WAC with two weeks to go in the regular season. The Wolverines will also play a single game on Sunday at UTEP in the final road game of the season.
