CEDAR CITY, Utah — Megan Gibbs hit her 13th home run of the season — tying the UVU single-season record — and Avery Sapp tossed a complete game with one ER allowed to lead Utah Valley (19-25, 11-10 WAC) to a 4-1 win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (19-24, 8-14 WAC) in a doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon.
Gibbs' home run means there is now a four-way tie atop the UVU softball leaderboards for most home runs in a single season. Gibbs is now tied with Amanda Robinson (2012), Jaylen Watson (2015), and Britney Vansway (2017) for most home runs in a season.
Sapp came a couple outs away from her second complete game shutout of the season, but was able to cap off her night by allowing one ER while striking out four.
Amber Rodriguez had a strong day at the plate and on defense. Between the two games, Rodriguez went 3-for-7 with a walk and two runs scored, and also made a spectacular run-preventing diving catch in deep left center.
GAME ONE
Utah Valley saw two separate late-inning leads slip away, as the T-Birds scored six runs in the final three frames to take the first game 7-6.
Payge Armendariz got the start in game one and put up three strong innings before running into some trouble in the fourth. Through three, Armendariz had five strikeouts, four of which came in the first two innings.
SUU struck first with a run in the first. The T-Birds executed a first-and-third steal play to bring in the run.
The Wolverines weren't behind for long, responding with three runs of their own in the second. Rachael Brown brought in a run on a sac fly, then Saige Nielsen reached on an error to plate Gibbs. Angelique Mann then doubled Nielsen home to make it 3-1.
Utah Valley added two more in the fifth to make it 5-1. Rodriguez singled and Halle Morris doubled to put two in scoring position. Gibbs singled and Armendariz hit a sac fly to bring in the runs.
SUU tied the game with two in the fifth and two in the sixth, but the Wolverines were able to retake the lead courtesy of an RBI single by Morris. The T-Birds were able to rally for two in the seventh after twice being down to their last strike to take game one.
GAME TWO
Sapp kept up her recent form with another strong performance in game two. In her last five outings, Sapp has allowed a total of four ER with 21 strikeouts in 26.2 IP.
Gibbs homered in the second to open the scoring for the Wolverines with a solo shot to left. That would be the only run until UVU put up three in the fifth.
Rodriguez made what proved to be a run-preventing diving catch in left center for the second out in the fourth. With a runner on second and one out, Rodriguez made a leaping snag deep in the gap to keep the run from scoring, and Sapp was able to get the next batter to pop out to short.
UVU rode that momentum into the fifth with a three-run rally to extend the lead to four. Gibbs and Armendariz each pitched in with an RBI single and Brown hit a sac fly to plate the runs.
Sapp surrendered a lead-off double in the seventh, which came around to score, but that was all the damage the T-Birds could muster on the evening against her. SUU finished the game with just one hit with runners in scoring position.
Utah Valley will look to take the series tomorrow in the series finale. First pitch is slated for Noon MT, and the game will be shown live on ESPN+.
