SEATTLE — No. 3 Utah Valley punched its ticket to the WAC Tournament semifinals with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over No. 2 California Baptist on Thursday morning at Logan Field.
Payge Armendariz and Halle Morris combined to hold the Lancers to one run on five hits. Armendariz pitched the first four innings before giving way to Morris, who pitched the last three to earn the save.
Angelique Mann went 2-for-3 and Britney Moreno went 1-for-2, both with an RBI and a run scored. Armendariz also went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Ry Binne went 3-for-3 out of the leadoff spot and reached base in all four plate appearances.
Armendariz was perfect through the first 3.1 innings before surrendering the lone run of the day in the fourth. Three singles and a wild pitch plated a run for the Lancers, but Armendariz was able to get out of the jam without allowing any more runs with a strikeout and a grounder to second.
Utah Valley wasn't behind for long, with Armendariz and Mann getting back-to-back hits to start the fifth. Armendariz sliced a double down the left field line, then Mann smoked a line drive to right to bring in Armendariz. Moreno and Binne reached on a hit by pitch and a single respectively to load the bases, then Morris was hit by a pitch to score a run on what would've been ball four anyways.
Mann sparked another rally in the sixth with a two-out single and a stolen base to get into scoring position. Moreno then crushed a double down the left field line to switch places with Mann and push the lead to 3-1.
CBU put runners on with two outs in both the sixth and seventh, but Morris was able to bounce back with a groundout each time.
Utah Valley awaits the winner of No. 1 GCU and No. 4 Seattle U, and will play for a spot in the championship game tomorrow at 2 p.m. MT. All WAC Tournament games are streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available at UVUStats.com.