HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Utah Valley lost for the first time in the 2022 WAC Tournament, falling to No. 1 seed Grand Canyon, 8-0, in five innings on Thursday morning on the campus of Sam Houston.
 
The Wolverines (24-26) will now play No. 7 seed New Mexico State at 4 p.m. CT/3 p.m. MT in an elimination game.
 
Ariel Thompson allowed just one hit, a first-inning single to Linnah Rebolledo. The Lopes (37-13) did most of their damage with two outs in the first inning, scoring six times take early control.
 
The Lopes put the first two runners of the first inning on before a strikeout and pop out had the Wolverines an out away from escaping unscathed. The first three runs scored courtesy of a wild pitch and two errors before Macee Barnes drove in a run on an infield single and Gianna Nicoletti, who walked and scored earlier in the inning, singled home two more runs with a base hit up the middle.
 
Nicoletti had another two-out RBI in the third with a bunt single that scored Hannah Burnett and gave Grand Canyon a 7-0 lead. Grand Canyon ended the game early when Savannah Tourville homered to left with one out in the fifth.