Utah Valley makes its final road trip of the season to Seattle U this weekend for the final conference series between the two squads that have been league rivals for 15 of the last 16 years.
The Wolverines and Redhawks will play a doubleheader on Friday, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m. MDT, then wrap up the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. MDT. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available at UVUStats.com.
This weekend marks the final time Utah Valley and Seattle U will meet as league foes, as the Redhawks will compete in the WCC beginning next season. The two teams first shared the same conference from 2010-12 in the PCSC, and have competed together in the WAC since 2014.
LAST TIME OUT
By the time Utah Valley takes the field on Friday, it'll have been 10 days since their last game against Idaho State on April 15. The Wolverines were blanked by the Big Sky-leading Bengals, 6-0 in that game.
Going into this weekend's series, Utah Valley has a number of players ranking among the WAC leaders in a variety of categories. Emma Haygood ranks 6th in batting average during conference play with a .465 mark, and is one of five players league-wide to rank in the top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.
Cam Davis leads the pitching staff with a 2.20 ERA during WAC play, good for fifth among qualified pitchers. Angelique Mann ranks third in the WAC in stolen bases with five.
Britney Moreno ranks second among all WAC shortstops with a .952 fielding percentage, just .006 behind CBU's Priscilla Estrada. Moreno also has a team-high 42 hits, already surpassing a career high set in her 2023 freshman campaign.
GOOD MEMORIES AT LOGAN FIELD
Utah Valley returns to the site of their two best showings at the WAC Tournament — a semifinal run in 2024 and a title in 2014. In last year's run Utah Valley won a 2-1 walk-off extra-inning thriller over UT Arlington and ground out a 3-1 win over California Baptist before dropping the next two to GCU and CBU. In 2014, the Wolverines won four games in three days as the No. 4 seed of five teams to claim the improbable title with two wins over regular season champs New Mexico State.
DEUCES ARE WILD
This weekend's series features the top two teams in the WAC in doubles per game. Seattle U leads the WAC — and ranks #6 in the nation — at 1.86/game, with Utah Valley in second at 1.48/game. Additionally, Utah Valley ranks t-2nd in double plays turned at 16.
SERIES HISTORY VS SEATTLE U
After this weekend's series, the Wolverines and Redhawks will have met 56 times on the softball diamond, making Seattle U Utah Valley's joint-most played opponent in the team's D-I history, tied with BYU. The Redhawks hold a 33-20 advantage all-time, but the Wolverines won both meetings last season in Orem, 14-9 and 7-2. In that doubleheader, Payge Armendariz torched the Redhawks, going 4-for-4 with a homer, three doubles, three walks, and nine RBIs, while also earning the win in game one.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Seattle U has cooled off a bit after a red-hot 6-0 start to conference play and rattling off 11-straight wins. Since winning the first game of a doubleheader at Tarleton on March 28, the Redhawks are 2-9. Seattle U is led by two-way threat Nicola Simpson, who holds a team-best 1.90 ERA in the circle, while also hitting .317 with six home runs and 25 RBIs.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will wrap up the regular season at home next weekend against in-state rival Southern Utah on May 2-3. The team will honor their three graduating seniors — Megan Gibbs, Victoria Vasquez, and Rachael Brown — following the series finale on May 3.
