Coming off a 2-3 start to the season at the NorCal Kickoff, the Utah Valley Softball team will head to SoCal for the Campbell/Cartier Classic, hosted by San Diego State. The Wolverines will play five games this weekend, with four of them being against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Utah Valley opens the weekend on Friday against No. 24 Oregon at 10 a.m. MT before facing reigning WCC champion Loyola Marymount later that day at 3 p.m. MT. The Wolverines' Saturday slate consists of a matchup with UC Riverside at noon MT and a faceoff with host SDSU at 7:30 p.m. MT. UVU closes out the weekend with a rematch with LMU at 1:30 p.m. MT on Sunday.
The Wolverines are coming off of a strong weekend at the NorCal Kickoff that included a pair of dominating wins over WCC foes Santa Clara and Pacific, as well as a pair of one-run losses to co-hosts Sac State and UC Davis.
Kalena Shepherd led the line for the Wolverines with a 6-for-14 (.429) weekend that included two doubles, three walks and six RBIs. The freshman foursome of Britney Moreno, Taylor Wooten, Kassidy Stiles, and Emma Haygood combined to go 15-for-45 (.333) on the weekend.
Utah State transfer Libbie Hawker set the table for the heart of the order, picking up six hits and scoring six runs, both of which lead the team. Megan Gibbs broke out the boomstick, hitting a grand slam and a three-run home run, while also reaching base four other times on three walks and a hit-by-pitch. Hawker and Gibbs are each tied for third in the WAC in runs and RBIs respectively.
BROADCAST INFO
Saturday's game against host SDSU will be the only game broadcast this weekend. The game will be streamed on SDSU Softball's YouTube channel. All five games will have live stats available at UVUstats.com.
ABOUT OREGON
The Ducks come into the weekend ranked No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings. Oregon went 3-2 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, with wins over Wisconsin, Ole Miss, and North Dakota State, as well as losses to No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Maryland. The Ducks were tabbed to finish fourth in the Pac-12. Seniors Terra McGowan and Allee Bunker were selected to the preseason All-Pac-12 team. UVU is 0-11 all-time against the Ducks.
ABOUT LMU
The Lions qualified for their third NCAA Tournament in 2022 after earning the WCC's automatic bid. LMU went 2-4 last weekend with wins over Utah State and CSU Bakersfield. The Lions' Jessica Hubbard picked up the win in both games, including a no-hitter on Sunday against the Roadrunners. Hubbard was named WCC pitcher of the week alongside teammate Morgan DeBord, who hit .353 with 10 RBIs in LMU's opening weekend. The Wolverines are 4-11 all-time against the Lions.
ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders started off the season with a 3-2 record, including wins over Middle Tennessee, Montana, and Fresno State. UC Riverside will also play a mid-week game against crosstown rival California Baptist on Wednesday before heading to San Diego. UVU is 0-2 all-time versus the Highlanders, including a 7-4 loss last season in Riverside.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs capped off the first weekend of the season with a 4-1 record, and are now receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. SDSU picked up wins over CSUN, Notre Dame, Memphis, and NIU, while their lone loss came at the hands of No. 22 Arizona State. The Aztecs made the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history, where they were eliminated by Arizona State in the Tempe Regional.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will head to California for the third-straight week for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City. Utah Valley will face off with Cal, Long Beach State, Portland State, Texas A&M, and San Diego over the three-day tournament. All games at the tournament will be broadcast on FloSoftball, and tickets are available
here.
