OREM, Utah — Utah Valley will face a pair of regional rivals in its midweek matchups this week, as the Wolverines will head down University Parkway to face crosstown foe BYU, before turning around and hosting Big Sky foe Idaho State on Wednesday.
First pitch of Tuesday's game at BYU is scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT, and will be live streamed at BYUtv.org. Wednesday's game versus ISU is scheduled for 3 p.m. MDT, and will be broadcast live on WAC International.
The Wolverines have played the Cougars and Bengals 50 times apiece, which are tied for the second-most meetings on the softball diamond in Utah Valley's Division I history. The Wolverines have only faced Northern Colorado more at 55 times.
This week's games will be just the second and third midweek games for Utah Valley this season, after prior meetings with Weber State and Utah were canceled due to snow. The Wolverines are slated to play four more midweek games — barring any rescheduling of prior canceled games — at Utah State and Washington, and at home against BYU and Utah.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley took one game out of three over the weekend against GCU at Wolverine Softball Field. Katie Zuniga pitched a complete game four-hitter to earn the win in Friday's series opener. After giving up her lone run of the afternoon on a solo homer to lead off the 3rd, Zuniga retired 12-straight Lopes, then was able to roll a double play to get around a lead-off single in the 7th.
Freshmen Britney Moreno and Payge Armendariz each hit their first home runs of their collegiate careers over the weekend. Moreno and fellow newcomer, junior transfer LF Libbie Hawker have been key cogs in the Utah Valley lineup as conference play has rolled on. Moreno is hitting .333 in WAC play (.295 overall), while Hawker is hitting .343 in WAC play (.257 overall) and has reached base in 12-straight games. Moreno and Hawker are two of three Wolverines who have started every game for Utah Valley, with senior C/DP Kalena Shepherd being the third.
Utah Valley enters the week tied for fifth in the WAC at 6-6. The Wolverines reached six WAC wins in 10 games, which is the fastest since 2018 and second-fastest since joining the WAC in 2014. Under Cody Thomson, the Wolverines are 17-9 (.653) at Wolverine Softball Field, the best two-year home win percentage in UVU's Division I history, and the best home win percentage by any UVU softball coach.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will make its fourth and final trip of the season to the Golden State to take on the California Baptist Lancers for a three-game set. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday. Friday's games are slated for 5 and 7:30 p.m. MDT, with Saturday's series finale scheduled for 2 p.m. MDT.
