OREM, Utah — Saige Nielsen hit her first home run as a Wolverine and Avery Sapp had another quality pitching outing as Utah Valley (17-25) dropped its Sunday matinee, 4-2 to the Iowa State Cyclones (17-25) at Wolverine Softball Field.
Nielsen's two-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the seventh proved to be too little too late, but Libbie Hawker put up a valiant effort in the next at-bat trying to keep the game going. Hawker saw 10 pitches — including fouling off eight — before eventually grounding out to third on the 11th.
Sapp continued her recent pitching form with another strong start. Sapp went 4.1 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out five. In her last three outings combined, Sapp has allowed three earned runs in 18.1 innings pitched.
Iowa State pushed a run across in the second to open the scoring with a trio of singles. After a fourth single loaded the bases, Sapp was able to get a swinging strikeout to get out of the jam.
A leadoff double for the Cyclones turned into their second run of the day in the third. A single put runners at the corners, then a double steal play brought in the runner from third.
Iowa State doubled its lead in the sixth with a two-out, two-RBI single. Halle Morris got squeezed on a 2-2 pitch on the outside corner that would've ended the inning, then Angelina Allen poked the next pitch through the right side to bring in two.
After two quick outs in the seventh, Britney Moreno drove a pinch-hit single to left that popped out of the diving left fielder's glove. Saige Nielsen then stepped up and blasted her first home run of the season over the fence in center. Iowa State was able to close out the game after the 11-pitch battle with Hawker.
Utah Valley will look to get back in the win column with another non-conference game. The Wolverines will head up I-15 to Ogden for a Tuesday afternoon showdown with the Weber State Wildcats at 3 p.m. MT. The season series is tied at a game apiece after the two teams split the prior meetings in Orem. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
