FRESNO, Calif. — Avery Sapp pitched her second complete game of the weekend and the bottom half of the order came through clutch to help lead Utah Valley (4-5) to a 5-4 win over the Oregon State Beavers (5-5) on Sunday morning.
The six-through-eight hitters of Megan Gibbs, Taylor Wooten, and Mya Higareda combined to go 4-for-9 with two doubles, four RBIs, and two runs scored to help lead the Wolverines to the come-from-behind victory. Angelique Mann also went 1-for-3 with an RBI double.
"The whole weekend was a good challenge for us, and I thought we played really well," said head coach Cody Thomson. "We're starting to get into a groove. Taylor had a really big weekend for us coming back from injury, and Sapp's continuing to grow as a pitcher."
Today's win secured a 4-1 weekend for the Wolverines. It is the first time Utah Valley has had a four-win weekend at a preseason tournament since the 2020 season, when the Wolverines went 5-1 at the UNLV Tournament.
Utah Valley jumped out to a short-lived 1-0 lead in the first. Ry Binne singled to left to lead off the game, then Mann doubled her home two batters later.
Oregon State plated a trio of unearned runs in its half of the first with some help from a couple of Wolverine errors.
The Wolverines took the lead for good in the top of the third with a four-run, two-out rally. Mann and Halle Morris reached base via a hit-by-pitch and a walk respectively. After a wild pitch and a strikeout, Gibbs plated both runs with a single to center.
Back-to-back doubles by Wooten and Higareda gave Utah Valley their last two runs of the inning and the game. Wooten capped off a successful return to the lineup by going 5-for-8 this weekend, with a double, two RBIs, and three runs scored.
After allowing two hits in the first, Sapp scattered four over the final six frames. The Beavers would only get one more run in those six frames via a wild pitch in the sixth. Sapp was able to work around a leadoff error in the seventh to shut the door and secure the victory.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will head to Arizona for five games at the ASU/GCU Classic. The Wolverines will face off with a pair of familiar foes in New Mexico State and Idaho State at GCU Softball Stadium, then head over to Tempe for games against Texas State, Arizona State, and Seton Hall.
