SAN DIEGO — Brooke Saili pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run and three hits to lead the Utah Valley softball team to a 6-2 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego on Friday. The win secured a split on the day, as the Wolverines fell to No. 24 Oregon 9-0 earlier in the day.
"That was a great team win for us," said head coach Cody Thomson following the win over LMU. "It all started with Brooke in the circle. She looked great and pushed through when we needed her to."
Megan Gibbs hit her third home run of the season and Kalena Shepherd picked up her seventh and eighth RBIs of the season to lead the charge. Britney Moreno went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored to overtake Shepherd for the team lead in hits with eight.
Libbie Hawker reached base twice on a pair of walks and came around to score each time. Rylee Thorpe went 1-for-2, adding an RBI and a run scored.
"Kalena continues to lead us with her power and RBIs," said Thomson. "She's a tough out every time she stands in the box. Britney's starting to find her groove, and she's a tough out at the top of our lineup."
LMU got on the board with the very first batter of the game. The Lions' Sydney Poole bunted for a hit, but an errant throw sailed down the right field line and allowed her to come all the way around and score.
Utah Valley wasted no time evening things up. Libbie Hawker walked to lead off the game, stole second, then came around to score on an RBI single by Kalena Shepherd to tie the game at one.
The Wolverines added a pair of runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Moreno got the rally started with a one-out double to left. Thorpe reached on an infield single, allowing Moreno to move over to third. A passed ball and throwing error allowed Moreno to score and Thorpe to advance to third. Shepherd then brought Thorpe in on a sacrifice fly to right.
Two more runs came across for Utah Valley in the fifth, with the Wolverines loading the bases with nobody out. Taylor Wooten, who led off the inning by reaching on an error by the shortstop, scored on a wild pitch. Hawker scored later that at-bat on a sacrifice fly by Thorpe.
After LMU got a run back in the top of the sixth off a solo home run, Megan Gibbs answered right back with a first-pitch leadoff home run to start the bottom half of the inning. Saili worked around a hit batsman in the top of the seventh to secure her second complete game win of the season.
In game one, Katie Zuniga kept the Wolverines in striking distance through five innings, allowing just two runs — only one of which was earned — heading to the sixth. After retiring the first batter in the bottom of the sixth, the next two Oregon batters produced hits with a home run and a single.
Payge Armendariz came on in relief, but would not retire a batter as the Ducks plated four more runs to put the Wolverines on the brink of a run rule. Joslyn Thieme relieved Armendariz, but was unable to get out of the inning as Oregon walked it off on a two-run home run.
Utah Valley continues Campbell/Cartier Classic play against two more Southern California opponents in UC Riverside and host San Diego State. Game one against UC Riverside is scheduled for noon MT. The nightcap against SDSU is scheduled for 7:30 pm MT. Saturday night's game will be live streamed on the SDSU Softball YouTube channel with video only.
