TUCSON, Ariz. — Tatum Hall hit a grand slam and Britney Moreno went 4-for-4 with a homer to lead Utah Valley to a 10-6 win over the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday night at Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson.
The Wolverines dropped their first game of the night to the No. 15 Arizona Wildcats 15-0, but were able to bounce back against the Bluejays and sweep the quick two-game season series.
Hall's grand slam came at the perfect moment with the Wolverines trailing 3-1 in the top of the fourth. Moreno's homer capped off the rally that put Utah Valley up for good in the nightcap. Moreno now enters Sunday's weekend finale riding an eight-game reached-base streak and has hit safely in seven of nine games to start the season.
GAME ONE
The hosts struck for one in the bottom of the first and piled on from there. Arizona scored five in the second, one in the third, and eight in the fourth to pick up the win.
Moreno, Paige Shumway, Peyton Hall, and Tatum Hall each picked up base hits in the setback, including a double by the elder Hall.
GAME TWO
Utah Valley got on the scoreboard in the top of the first as Emma Haygood doubled home Amber Rodriguez from first. Haygood is off to a red-hot start to the season with a team-best 1.779 OPS, three homers, and 10 RBIs.
Creighton rallied to tie it in the second and took the lead in the third at 3-1. Tatum Hall flipped the script with her grand slam in the top of the fourth to make it 5-3. Two batters later, Moreno tacked on another run with her third home run of the season.
Back-to-back hits to lead off the fifth gave Utah Valley another run to make it 7-3. Peyton Hall led off the inning with a double to left center, then Brooklyn Ricci smoked a single up the middle to drive her in. Peyton Hall picked up another double in the sixth that drove in Angelique Mann to make it 8-3.
A bases-loaded error in the top of the seventh plated two more Wolverines. Bailey Marvin hit a sharp grounder to first, but the throw home sailed wide of the catcher and caromed down the third base line, allowing Kendyl Purdy and Moreno to score easily and increase the lead to 10-3.
The Bluejays trimmed the lead down to four in the bottom of the seventh after rallying for three, but the Wolverines were able to close it out.
Utah Valley closes out the Bear Down Fiesta early tomorrow morning against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 8:30 a.m. MT. That game will air live on FloSoftball, with live stats at GoUVU.com/stats.
