CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Utah Valley softball dropped its first two games of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, falling to the California Golden Bears 6-5 before losing 3-1 to Long Beach State. 

The opener versus Cal was a back-and-forth affair. Megan Gibbs opened the scoring in the top of the second with a no-doubt two-run home run to left. The Golden Bears answered right back with a solo home run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. 

Cal took its first lead of the night on a two-run single in the fourth. Britney Moreno singled home Taylor Wooten to tie things back up in the top of the fifth, but the Golden Bears retook the lead with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The Wolverines halved the two-run deficit in the sixth when Taylor Wooten reached on an error by the shortstop, bringing Victoria Vazquez home. Cal pushed the lead back up to two in the bottom half of the inning with another solo home run. 

Utah Valley loaded the bases in the seventh, but were only able to bring home one run. 

In the night cap, Jaeden Barajas got the Wolverines on the board in a hurry with a solo home run to left in the first. 

LBSU tied things up in the fourth after a one-out error came around to score on a two-out single. The Beach tacked on two more runs in the sixth off of a solo home run and an RBI double. 

The Wolverines will return to action later tonight when they face off against the Portland State Vikings and the No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies. First pitch versus PSU is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT. Follow UVU Softball on social media for updates regarding changes to start times due to weather or other games going long.