Utah Valley Softball heads to Huntsville, Texas this weekend for a first-ever meeting with WAC foe Sam Houston. The Wolverines and Bearkats will play a three-game series at the Bearkat Softball Complex, with a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday.
Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. MDT, with game two starting about 30 minutes after the completion of game one. Saturday's series finale is slated for 11 a.m. MDT. Friday's games will be shown on ESPN+ and Saturday's game will be broadcast on WAC International.
While this is Utah Valley's first-ever meeting with the Bearkats, this is the Wolverines' second-ever trip to Huntsville. Bearkat Softball Complex was the site of last year's WAC Tournament, where Utah Valley went 2-2.
Jaeden Barajas will be looking to keep her hot streak going following a breakout series against New Mexico State. Barajas went 7-for-10, including a game-tying double in Friday's series opener that set up Angelique Mann's walk-off single. Barajas followed that up with a four-hit game in the second half of the doubleheader.
Kalena Shepherd provided a spark both at the plate and behind it. Shepherd racked up six RBIs while also throwing out a runner attempting to steal. Mann and Britney Moreno have been giving consistent quality at-bats for the Wolverines. The two newcomers are riding reached-base streaks of six and eight games respectively entering this weekend's series.
Jorja Barrett picked a gem of a complete game in her first start as a Wolverine on Friday. The lone blemish on the Aussie's scorecard was a two-run home run in the sixth inning with Utah Valley in control of the game. Barrett struck out four Aggies and flashed the leather in the circle, snagging three comebackers.
ABOUT SAM HOUSTON (FIRST MEETING)
The Bearkats come into this weekend's series holding a 10-21 record and are losers of eight of their last nine games. Sam Houston was able to secure a 9-6 win this past weekend over WAC favorites Grand Canyon, but only managed three runs across the other two games. The Bearkats fell 7-2 to Houston Christian at home in a midweek matchup on Tuesday. Sam Houston was selected to finish 11th in the 12-team WAC before the season. Utah Valley holds a 16-21 all-time record against schools from Texas.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will return home for the first of 10-straight games in the state of Utah. Utah Valley will face off against the No. 19 Utah Utes on Tuesday before returning to Wolverine Softball Field for their third WAC series of the season against the Abilene Christian Wildcats.
