RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Utah Valley University head coach Cody Thomson notched his first career win as UVU defeated Pacific, 8-3, on Saturday at the Lynn Russell Miller Classic at UC Riverside.
 
Megan Gibbs homered and went 4-for-4 and Mikaela Thomson also hit her first home run in a Wolverine uniform. Katie Zuniga earned the win after going the distance in the circle for the Wolverines (1-2) while Madison Carr finished 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot. Thomson's home run comes after the Dixie State transfer opted to spend her final season playing for her father when he took over the program after 12 seasons on staff at Utah.
 
"I'm so blessed to be able to coach my daughter. I really haven't had the opportunity to watch her play during her college career. To be able to be in the same dugout and to experience the first win and have her first home run of the year be a part of that is something special," Thomson said. "I was really happy with the way we responded today. Katie really kept us in the game, was effective with a lot of different pitches, and came up big for us. Offensively, we had key hits in different parts of our lineup and Megan is really showing how dangerous she is at the plate."
 
Rian Dirmeyer hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to give the Tigers (1-2) an early lead. Utah Valley got a run back in the second when Rien Milliken doubled home Gibbs, who led off the inning with a base hit. In the third, Kalena Shepherd singled and moved to second when Thomson walked. Gibbs then tied the game with a base hit that scored pinch-runner Brynne Hilton.  
 
Linnah Rebolledo's RBI groundout scored Victoria Vasquez and gave the Wolverines a 3-2 lead in the third. Vasquez got her first career hit and run scored in the inning. UVU broke open the game with a four-run fifth inning. Shepherd walked before Thomson's two-run homer gave the Wolverines a 5-2 lead. UVU added two more runs, the first on Jaeden Barajas' RBI single to left-center to score Gibbs, before a bases loaded walk to Rebolledo put the Wolverines up 7-2.
 
Gibbs' solo home run, her second of the season, came with one out in the sixth. Pacific added a run in the seventh for the final 8-3 tally.

The Wolverines wrap up play on Sunday with weekend rematches against Portland State at 10 a.m. MT and Pacific at 12:30 p.m. MT. UVU will travel to Las Vegas next weekend for the UNLV Desert Classic.