STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Avery Sapp came two outs away from a complete game shutout, but a walk-off two-run home run spoiled the sophomore's brilliant pitching performance as Utah Valley dropped a doubleheader to Tarleton State on Friday evening in Stephenville, 5-1 in game one and 2-1 in game two.
Sapp put up one of her best pitching performances of the season in the night cap, striking out five and allowing just two hits in six innings before surrendering a one-out single and home run to back-to-back hitters.
The Wolverine pitchers kept the Texans off-balance for most of the evening, holding them scoreless in 11 of 13 innings played, but Tarleton made the most of its scoring with a five-run inning in game one and the two runs to walk it off in game two.
GAME ONE
The opener was a pitcher's duel to start, with the two sides combining for two hits through the first three and a half innings. Cam Davis fell on the wrong end of the duel, allowing three ER on six hits with three strikeouts in six IP.
Angelique Mann and Rachael Brown combined for three of the team's four hits out of the seven and eight spots in the lineup. Tatum Hall was the only other Wolverine to register a hit off Tarleton ace Hannah Blincoe. Utah Valley stranded seven runners on base, and recorded just one hit with runners in scoring position.
The Texans broke the seal with a five-run fourth inning to take the lead for good. It was mostly a ground attack for Tarleton, with six of the seven runners reaching base via a single or a walk. Austin Germain and Hayden Fox delivered the big blows, with a two-run double and two-run single respectively.
The Wolverines responded with a run of their own in the fifth. Brown and Kendyl Purdy reached with one out, then Tatum Hall doubled home Brown. Megan Gibbs walked to load the bases, but Emma Haygood grounded out to end the inning.
Blincoe bounced back from the rough fifth with a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to close the door.
GAME TWO
The nightcap was another pitcher's duel, as the Texans' Shelby Schultz matched Sapp and then some with a nine-strikeout performance while allowing just the one run.
Utah Valley scratched across a run in the third to take its first lead of the day. Britney Moreno singled, then advanced to second on a tricky grounder by Tatum Hall. Peyton Hall cashed in the run with a single up the middle to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
As was the tale in game one, Utah Valley struggled to capitalize with runners on base, going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position aside from the Hall RBI single. Sapp did her best to make sure it didn't matter, but her one mistake of the day was punished as Tarleton's Austin Germain launched a walk-off two-run homer over the fence in left.
The Wolverines will look to get back in the win column tomorrow afternoon in the series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. MDT on WAC International. Fans can view the game for free by heading to WACInternational.tv, selecting the Tarleton State logo, then logging in with a Gmail, Apple ID, or Facebook account.
