OREM, Utah — Britney Moreno laced an RBI double into the right-center field gap to drive in Taylor Wooten to propel the Utah Valley Wolverines to a 4-3 walk-off win over the Abilene Christian Wildcats in Friday's series opener at Wolverine Softball Field.
The Wolverines trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but were able to push a run across in both the sixth and seventh to come out victorious.
"Britney's one that can do so many different things for us," said head coach Cody Thomson. "They were playing her in, thinking she was going to drag bunt. Getting that ball to the fence is the difference in the game."
Katie Zuniga (3-9) came on in relief in the fifth inning and held the line for the Wolverines. Zuniga pitched three no-hit innings, striking out four Wildcats on two walks. Zuniga kept the ACU hitters off-balance, mixing location and speed effectively to earn the win.
"We've struggled a bit with pitchers coming in [out of the bullpen] and performing, and I challenged Katie to do that," said Thomson. "Getting the four strikeouts in three innings when we needed it, that's huge for her."
Libbie Hawker set the tone at the top of the lineup, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Thomson praised Hawker's adjustments at the plate, with the Wildcats using a 5-player infield to try and limit her slap-hitting abilities.
"They set up a different defense on her. We've been working with her a lot, and for her to come through with an RBI and a couple hits is a confidence-builder for her, and huge for us."
Brooke Saili started in the circle for Utah Valley. The senior from Spanish Fork, Utah went four innings, and allowed three earned runs while striking out three Wildcats.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when the bottom of the order set the table for Utah Valley. Rylee Thorpe singled sharply through the left side to start the frame, then was bunted to second by Wooten. Moreno was able to leg out an infield single to shortstop to give the Wolverines two base runners with one out, with Thorpe being held at second on the play.
Libbie Hawker roped a single up the middle to bring home Thorpe and advance Moreno to third. Hawker, anticipating the throw to go through to home, broke for second and slid in safely. The throw kicked away from Wildcat shortstop Logan Gaspar, allowing Moreno to come in and score as well.
ACU wasn't behind for long, as the Wildcats plated three runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run home run by Avery Miloch and a solo shot by Emma Rote to take a 3-2 lead.
Utah Valley used a pair of singles and some well-executed small ball to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Hawker led off the inning with a single to center, and was then bunted to second by Jaeden Barajas. Angelique Mann singled sharply to left, which meant Hawker had to hold at third.
Megan Gibbs reached on a fielder's choice to the second baseman, who flipped to the shortstop covering to force out Mann. Hawker caught the defense flat-footed and was able to swipe home on the play after the Wildcats thought they had held her at third.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh plated the winning run for the Wolverines. Wooten singled to left field, then was able to use her speed to come all the way around to score on Moreno's RBI double to right-center.
The two teams will reconvene for a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at Wolverine Softball Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. MDT, with the second half of the twin bill slated for 30 minutes after the completion of game one. Tomorrow's games will be streamed on WAC International free of charge, and live stats will be available at UVUStats.com.
