Utah Valley travels to St. George this weekend to renew the Old Hammer Rivalry with the Utah Tech Trailblazers in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday at Karl Brooks Field.
Friday's doubleheader is slated for a 2 p.m. MDT start, with the second game scheduled for 30 minutes following game one. Saturday's series finale will start at noon MDT. All three games will be shown on ESPN+, with live stats available at UtahTechTrailblazers.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley dropped its midweek non-conference matchup on Monday to the Weber State Wildcats, 5-3. The Wolverines held a 3-2 lead going into the sixth, but a pair of errors aided a three-run rally for the Wildcats.
Sophomore LF Amber Rodriguez enters this weekend on a 12-game reached base streak, dating back to UVU's game against Buffalo on Feb. 22. In that stretch, Rodriguez has one multi-walk and five multi-hit games, and is hitting .421 over her last six games.
Junior SS Britney Moreno comes into the weekend riding a six-game hitting streak. Moreno leads the team in hits at 23 and is also a team-best 4-for-4 on steal attempts. Moreno has also been stellar defensively and has played every inning but one at shortstop.
Senior UTL Megan Gibbs has been getting on base at an otherworldly clip so far this season, with a .506 on-base percentage. Gibbs is 2nd in the WAC at 0.75 walks per game, and is already just outside the top 10 in most walks in a single season at 18 with about half the season left to play. If the season ended today, Gibbs' .506 OBP would be the best in a non-COVID season in program history.
Junior 1B Emma Haygood saw her seven-game hitting streak snapped on Monday, but upped her team-best RBI total to 18. Haygood also leads the team in batting average (.360) and slugging percentage (.600) while being second in home runs and on-base percentage. Haygood is also the toughest Wolverine starter to strike out, with just two strikeouts in 53 plate appearances so far this season.
SERIES HISTORY VS UTAH TECH
The home team has swept the season series each of the last two seasons, with Utah Valley sweeping the Trailblazers in Orem in 2024. UVU dominated that series with a pair of shutouts and outscored UTU 21-2. In that series, Megan Gibbs set the UVU single-season home run record — then extended it — with a two-homer game in game two. This weekend will be the sixth D-I series between the two teams, with UVU holding a slim 8-7 advantage.
SCOUTING THE TRAILBLAZERS
The Blazers have run into a similar rough patch of late, dropping their last six contests entering the weekend for a record of 10-18 and 1-5 in WAC play. Utah Tech was swept at home last weekend by the red-hot Seattle U Redhawks, who are 6-0 to start the league season. Preseason All-WAC selections LB Kehahawai-Kekona and Carly Eldredge have lived up to the billing thus far, with a team-leading 36 and 30 hits respectively.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will continue its stretch of in-state rivalry games with the Crosstown Clash on Tuesday against BYU. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
