Utah Valley closes out the regular season this weekend with a trip to Cedar City to take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds for a three-game conference series.
The Wolverines and T-Birds will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. MDT, then wrap up the series on Saturday at noon. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available at GoUVU.com/stats.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley dropped an 8-4 midweek contest to the Utah Utes on Tuesday in Salt Lake City. The Wolverines scored first and led entering the bottom of the fourth, but a six-run inning from the Utes proved to be the difference.
In the seventh inning of that game, Britney Moreno made history by hitting her program-record seventh triple of the season, breaking a tie with Chris Jimenez, who had six in 2005. Moreno already broke the career triples record earlier this season, and now ranks eighth all-time in WAC history with 14.
Mya Higareda threw out her 10th would-be base stealer on Tuesday against Utah, the ninth-most in a single season in program history and most since Basia Query's 11 in 2018.
QUICK HITTERS
Entering this weekend, Moreno is five hits away from 200 for her career and nine away from the career hits record of 204, set by Query from 2017-2021. Moreno also needs two more runs to match the single-season runs record of 50, set by Linnah Rebolledo in 2022.
UVU has three players with 50+ hits in one season for the 5th time in program history — Britney Moreno, Tatum Hall, and Amber Rodriguez. If Angelique Mann gets two more hits, the Wolverines will have four with 50+ hits for just the 2nd time ever and first time since 2010, when the team had five players with 50+ hits.
Utah Valley ranks among the top three in the WAC in the following team offensive categories: batting average, doubles, triples, hits, home runs/game, OBP, RBIs/game, scoring, slugging, and stolen bases.
With a series sweep, Utah Valley can secure its best-ever winning percentage against in-state competition in a season (minimum five games). The Wolverines are 9-4 against their Utah rivals, and have won or split the season series with BYU, Utah Tech, Weber State, and Utah State. Their best win percentage to date was in 2024, when the team went 8-3 (.727).
SERIES HISTORY VS SUU
Utah Valley and Southern Utah have met 40 times entering this weekend, with the Wolverines leading 21-18-1. The T-Birds swept UVU in Orem last season. The last time UVU played at SUU in 2024, the Wolverines took two out of three. UVU was one strike away from a sweep, but the T-Birds rallied for a walk-off win in game one of that series.
WAC TOURNAMENT SEEDING SCENARIOS
Utah Valley knows it will be in the 4-5 game on Wednesday at the WAC Tournament, but does not know if it will be the home team or visitor. With a series win, the Wolverines will be the four seed, but with a series loss will be the five.
WINNING RECORD SECURED
With Utah Valley's win over Utah State, the Wolverines have officially secured their first full-season winning record since 2013, the team's first winning record as members of the WAC, and just the fourth overall since the team began its transition to D-I in 2004. UVU's 26 wins to date are also the team's most since 2013, and are the fourth-most in the D-I era.
KEEPING IT .400
Entering this weekend, Utah Valley has two hitters hitting .400 or better in Tatum Hall (.429) and Britney Moreno (.417). Since becoming full-status D-I members in 2010, Utah Valley has had just one hitter hit .400 or better for a full season, Madison Carr in 2022. Carr set the single-season hits record with 82 en route to a .453 batting average.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will open their WAC Tournament run on Wednesday in Stephenville, Texas. The Wolverines will play in the second game of the afternoon, scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT, but do not know their opponent yet. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats at GoUVU.com/stats.
