STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Lily Riley tossed a complete game, Bailey Marvin hit a pinch hit two-run single, and Britney Moreno had a go-ahead sacrifice fly as Utah Valley rallied for a 3-2 win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in the opening round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Marvin came off the bench in the fourth and turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, then after the T-Birds tied the game in the sixth, Moreno hit a fly ball to center that allowed Maddie McSorley to score from third. The win is Utah Valley's first this season when scoring fewer than four runs, and just the second when scoring fewer than five.
With the win, the Wolverines will advance to play the No. 1 seed and regular season champion California Baptist tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. MT. With a win, UVU would advance to the semifinals on Friday, while a loss would mean playing an elimination game later in the evening at 3 p.m. MT.
"The dugout was awesome, everyone played with the energy we needed to pull this off," said head coach Cody Thomson. "That was a huge hit by Bailey, she's been working so hard to get that hit, going through some ups and downs, and I'm just so proud of her."
After retiring the first eight T-Birds in order, Riley got into some trouble with two down in the third that gave SUU a 1-0 lead, as McKenzy Becerra worked a bases-loaded walk.
Riley got into trouble immediately again in the fourth, as the first three T-Birds reached. Riley pulled off an impressive escape job, picking up back-to-back strikeouts before getting a grounder to third to end the inning.
Utah Valley rode that new-found momentum back into the dugout, rallying to take a 2-1 lead after four. Tatum Hall singled and Megan Sterzer worked a walk before Emma Haygood grounded out to first to advance both runners. Marvin then stepped up in place of Mya Higareda and roped a single to left to score both runners.
Riley got out of another bases-loaded jam in the fifth, working around a lead-off double and a pair of singles to get a groundout and a popout.
SUU tied the game back up with a lead-off homer to start the sixth, but it would be short-lived as Utah Valley got the run right back in the home half of the frame. The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out to set up Moreno, whose fly ball to center was just deep enough to score McSorley from third.
Riley shut the door in the seventh, working around a one-out walk to retire the final two batters. With her complete game win, Riley now has 16 wins on the season, just two behind the single-season record held by Tiffany Mills in 2012. At 16-8, her .667 win percentage is the best by any Wolverine pitcher with more than 10 wins in a season.
Utah Valley advances to face No. 1 CBU tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. MDT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats at GoUVU.com/stats.
