ATHENS, Ga. — Avery Sapp struck out seven in a complete game and Britney Moreno went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead Utah Valley to a 6-1 win over the App State Mountaineers on Saturday night at Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
Sapp tossed the second complete game of the day by a Wolverine pitcher, following up Lily Riley's stellar performance earlier against Buffalo, who also struck out seven. Moreno delivered the knockout blow with a two-run single to cap off a six-run fourth inning rally that provided all the offense the Wolverines needed.
"The team is finding our groove," said head coach Cody Thomson. "We had a lot of pieces come together today. Very proud of what we did on the mound today, especially with Lily getting her first D-I win."
Neither team had a hit until the third inning when App State was able to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Amber Rodriguez then came up with a clutch defensive play in left to gun down the runner at the plate trying to score on a flyout. Sapp got out of that inning with a strikeout, then worked around a leadoff double in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts.
Utah Valley strung together four straight singles to start the fourth and bring in a pair of runs. Angelique Mann drove in Moreno with the last of those singles, then worked her way out of a rundown to allow Tatum Hall to also score on the play. Peyton Hall brought in the third run of the inning after Megan Gibbs beat out the throw home on an infield grounder.
Mann scored on a wild pitch, which ultimately chased the App State starter Sejal Neas from the game. Sapp and Rodriguez worked walks sandwiched around a pair of strikeouts, then Moreno singled for the second time in the inning to bring home the final two runs of the six-run rally.
The lone blemish on Sapp's linescore came in the fifth inning when she surrendered a one-out solo home run. The Mountaineers threatened for more, but Sapp was able to strand runners at the corners and didn't allow another baserunner the rest of the way.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley faces its marquee opponent of the weekend, the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs, tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+, which can be accessed via the ESPN App and ESPN.com with an ESPN+ subscription. Live stats will also be available at UVUStats.com.
