ARLINGTON, Texas — Avery Sapp tossed a complete game shutout and Megan Gibbs hit her 10th home run of the season to lead Utah Valley (16-20, 9-6 WAC) to a 1-0 win over the UT Arlington Mavericks on Friday evening at Allan Saxe Field. UTA won the first game, 4-3 in extra innings.
Sapp tied a career high — which she set on Tuesday against BYU — with five strikeouts and allowed just three hits. Gibbs' solo blast was a no-doubter down the left field line and provided Sapp all the run support she needed.
"Avery was pretty impressive today. She was in command the whole game," said head coach Cody Thomson. "Gibbs' homer was all we needed. She's come up big in a lot of games for us, and when she does good, the team does good."
Sapp's shutout was the team's first of the season and the first complete game shutout by a Wolverine since Brooke Saili's masterful performance on opening weekend last year against Santa Clara. It was also the first by a UVU freshman since 2012 when Cassie Herrera shut out Omaha, and the fourth overall.
GAME ONE
Utah Valley lost in extra innings in game one after coming from behind to tie it late in the ballgame. The Wolverines were unable to capitalize on early scoring chances, stranding six runners on base through the first three innings and eight overall.
Halle Morris got the start in game one, and gave the Wolverines six-plus innings of solid pitching. Morris tied a career high with six strikeouts and allowed two ER while getting a no decision.
UVU loaded the bases in the first with nobody out, but were unable to cash in. The Wolverines put runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames, but came away empty-handed.
Ry Binne found the breakthrough hit in the fourth to give the Wolverines the lead. Her single through the left side drove in Angelique Mann and gave UVU a short-lived one-run lead.
UTA responded with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fourth, two of which were earned.
A pair of Maverick errors helped the Wolverines tie the game in the sixth inning. Mann reached on an error and Moreno legged out an infield single to set up Binne. Binne hit a slow chopper back to the pitcher, who sailed the throw down the right field line. Mann and Moreno scored easily, but Binne was thrown out at the plate trying to secure the Little League homer.
UTA looked to have the win in the palm of their hands after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the seventh, but a nice play by Sapp on a comebacker gave the Wolverines new life as she was able to gun down the runner and send the game to extras.
The Mavericks capitalized on their scoring chance in the bottom of the eighth, with a leadoff walk coming around to score on a double to left center.
GAME TWO
Sapp was masterful in game two, holding UTA hitless for the first 3.1 innings. Payge Armendariz hit her ninth double in her last seven games with two down in the first, but she was stranded there.
Utah Valley had another scoring opportunity in the second after singles by Rachael Brown and Mann and an error put them both in scoring position. Laynee Betancur hit a chopper to short and the throw just barely beat Brown to the plate.
Gibbs provided all the scoring the Wolverines would need in the fourth inning with a towering drive down the left field line to give Utah Valley a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks last true scoring threat came in the fourth after a one-out double and single. Mann was able to get to the ball quickly on the single to center to hold the runner at third, and Sapp was able to work out of the jam.
After the single in the fourth, Sapp retired 11 of the final 12 UTA batters to close out the game.
Utah Valley will look to take the series tomorrow in the rubber match of this three-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. MT and the game will be streamed live on WAC International.
