OREM, Utah — For the final time in the 2023 softball season, the Utah Valley Wolverines will take to Wolverine Softball Field when they host the No. 18 Utah Utes on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MDT.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Brice Larson and Kobe Nelms on the call. Live stats will also be available at UVUStats.com.
Utah Valley is coming off a dominating series sweep over Southern Utah this past weekend. The Wolverines took game one on Friday 8-6, before coming away with a pair of run rule victories on Saturday's Senior Day.
Each of the six graduating seniors — Katie Zuniga, Brooke Saili, Joslyn Thieme, Kalena Shepherd, Jaeden Barajas, and Rylee Thorpe — played key roles in securing the crucial sweep that propelled Utah Valley into a tie for third in the WAC. Zuniga, Saili, and Thieme combined to hold the Thunderbirds to five runs in Saturday's doubleheader.
Shepherd, Barajas, and Thorpe combined for four of the Wolverines' six home runs on Saturday. Shepherd hit a blast in both games of the doubleheader, while Barajas and Thorpe went back-to-back in the second inning of the first game. Barajas has impressively improved her batting average as WAC play has progressed. When WAC play began, Barajas was hitting just .182, but has hit .413 in WAC play to improve her overall average to .305.
Megan Gibbs had herself a weekend at the dish as well, picking up three home runs — one in each game of the series — and racked up eight RBIs. Libbie Hawker proved to be the tablesetter for Utah Valley at the top of the lineup, racking up a team-high seven hits this weekend and scoring four runs. Hawker is one of two Utah Valley starters — alongside Barajas — that is hitting over .400 in WAC play (.411).
ABOUT UTAH (4-29 ALL-TIME, 0-1 UNDER THOMSON)
The Utes enter the week with a 30-10 record after losing two out of three on the road at No. 9 Washington, whom Utah Valley will play on Sunday. The last time Utah played in the Beehive State, the Utes came out with a series sweep over the then-No. 5 Stanford Cardinal. Utah currently sits in third in the PAC-12 behind UW and UCLA, who the Utes will host this weekend. The Utes are among the nation's leaders in stolen bases, with 97 attempted on the season (Utah Valley has attempted just 33). Utah's Haley Denning ranks in the top 20 nationally with 26 stolen bases this season.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will head to Seattle for four games this weekend — three against WAC foe Seattle U and one against No. 11 Washington. Friday's doubleheader against the Redhawks is slated to begin at 4 p.m. MDT, and Saturday's series finale is set for 2 p.m. MDT. The Wolverines will close out the weekend on Sunday against the Huskies at 11 a.m. MDT. All three games against Seattle U will be shown live on ESPN+, and the game against Washington will be streamed on the PAC-12 Networks.
