Utah Valley heads to Arizona for a five-game weekend at the ASU/GCU Classic. The Wolverines will face off with New Mexico State, Idaho State, Texas State, Arizona State, and Seton Hall at the three-day tournament.
GAME TIMES
Feb. 23 vs NM State - 11 a.m. MT
Feb. 23 vs Idaho State - 1:30 p.m. MT
Feb.24 vs Texas State - 10:30 a.m. MT
Feb. 24 vs Arizona State - 4 p.m. MT
Feb. 25 vs Seton Hall - 9 a.m. MT
BROADCAST INFO
Only Saturday afternoon's game against cohost Arizona State will be broadcast. That game can be streamed live on the PAC-12 Network. All five games will have live stats available at UVUStats.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley bounced back from an 0-4 opening weekend with a strong second weekend at the Fresno State Invitational. The Wolverines went 4-1 with wins over St. Mary's, Fresno State, and Oregon State.
Avery Sapp had another strong weekend in the circle, allowing 3 ER in 17.2 IP. Sapp picked up complete-game wins over Fresno State and Oregon State. Entering the week, Sapp ranks third in the WAC in innings pitched.
Taylor Wooten had a weekend to remember in her first games back from injury. Wooten went 5-for-8 with a double, 2 RBIs, and 5 runs scored, and also secured the win over OSU on Sunday with a diving catch. Wooten had been limited to pinch running the first weekend of the season due to an injury to her throwing hand.
Halle Morris continued her strong start to the season both in the circle and at the plate. Morris went 6-for-12 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, and 4 walks in Fresno, while also picking up 2 wins in the circle. Morris has reached base in all 9 games to start the season and has reached base a tied-for-team-high 15 times (9 hits, 5 walks, 1 HBP).
Joining Morris is leadoff hitter Ry Binne, who has reached base in 8-straight games. Binne has also reached base 15 times to start the season (9 hits, 6 walks).
Megan Gibbs and Angelique Mann broke out of their early-season slumps with a couple of big games at the plate. Gibbs had RBIs in the last 3 games in Fresno, including a game-tying 2-RBI single against Oregon State. Mann broke out in the weekend opener with a 4-RBI game against St. Mary's, and had 6 RBIs in total on the weekend.
UVU vs THE FIELD
This weekend's opponents feature a mix of familiar foes and new faces. On Friday, Utah Valley faces two of its most-played opponents in New Mexico State and Idaho State. The Wolverines have played NM State and ISU 40 and 51 times respectively, but have only faced their other three opponents once each.
NM State - Utah Valley has historically struggled against their former WAC rival, but the series has been more even in recent years. The Wolverines have won 5 of the last 9 meetings, including taking 2 out of 3 from NMSU last season in Orem. The Aggies are off to a 7-2 start this season, but have yet to play a game outside of Las Cruces.
Idaho State- UVU has played the Bengals 51 times entering this season, the 2nd-most of any opponent. ISU has won 8 of the last 10 meetings, but UVU has taken 2 of the last 3. The Bengals are off to a hot start this season with a 10-1 record. ISU will play at Utah Tech on Thursday before heading to Arizona.
Texas State- The Wolverines and Bobcats have met just once on the softball diamond. TSU won that game 11-2 back in 2006. The Bobcats have posted an 8-4 record to start the season, including an 8-1 win over Texas Tech in their last game on Sunday.
Arizona State- The Sun Devils took the only meeting between the two teams back in 2007, winning 12-0. ASU has put together a mixed bag of results en route to a 5-4 record to start the season.
Seton Hall- UVU topped the Pirates 11-3 in run-rule fashion the only time the two teams met in a neutral-site game in Las Vegas back in 2019. Seton Hall took the first weekend off, then posted a 1-3 record at the Joan Joyce Classic in Boca Raton, Florida.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will take a week off before returning to action at the Blue Collar Classic, hosted by Boise State, on March 7-9. Utah Valley will face Kennesaw State and Weber State before playing a pair of games against the host Broncos.
