EL PASO, Texas — Utah Valley University's late rally fell short as the Wolverines dropped their final non-conference game of the season, 10-9, at UTEP on Sunday afternoon.
 
UVU (20-26) trailed 9-1 in the top of the fifth before nearly climbing all the way back to tie it in the seventh. Peyton Prigge led off the fifth with a solo home run — her fifth — to guarantee the Wolverines would extend the game. Madison Carr doubled and later scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Jade Miller to make it 9-3.
 
The Wolverines scored two more times in the sixth, on a Prigge RBI single that brought home Siena Sandoval, and an Emery Nielson RBI single that plated pinch-runner Brynne Hilton.
 
The Miners (10-23) got what turned out to be a crucial insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run off the bat of Kasey Flores to give them a 10-5 lead.
 
In the top of the seventh, Rien Milliken was on first with two outs before a string of four straight hits put the potential tying run in scoring position. Sandoval singled before Kyla Hardy doubled home two runs to make it 10-7. Prigge drove in her third run of the game with a base hit to left and moved up to second on the throw home. Carr flared a base hit to left that scored Prigge to make it 10-9, and also moved up to second on an error, but was stranded there to end the game.
 
Prigge and Carr both went 3-for-4 while Nielson, Sandoval and Hardy had two-hit games. Utah Valley had 14 hits overall while the Miners finished with nine.
 
UTEP got an early three-run home run from Karina Somoza. She also drove in two more runs in the third to finish with five RBIs. The Miners scored five runs in the third, taking advantage of three walks and an error in the inning.
 
Utah Valley returns home this week to host Tarleton in the final series of the regular season. The teams will meet Friday at 10 a.m. MT before a Saturday doubleheader, also starting at 10 a.m. The early start on Friday is due to UVU graduation.