SEATTLE — Utah Valley dropped a pair of tight contests to start its weekend WAC series against Seattle U, falling 5-3 in eight innings before dropping the nightcap 4-3.
The Wolverines came from behind to take the lead in the opener, but saw two separate leads slip away in the seventh and eighth innings as the Redhawks took game one in walk-off fashion.
Utah Valley fell behind in the fifth after a sacrifice fly plated a run, but stormed right back to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Megan Gibbs laced a two-out double down the left field line, and was immediately brought home on an RBI single by Angelique Mann. Payge Armendariz hit a sinking liner to right that was missed by the diving right fielder and rolled all the way to the wall for the go-ahead triple.
After a leadoff single in the seventh, Katie Zuniga retired the next two batters in order. Lily Garcia hit a pop-up into no-man's land in center that fell between a quartet of Wolverines, allowing the runner to score from first.
Rylee Thorpe hit a lead-off homer to begin the eighth to give Utah Valley a 3-2 lead, but the Wolverines wouldn't record an out in the eighth after a single, double, and a home run from the Redhawks.
Seattle U picked up right where it left off in the nightcap, plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Wolverines had threatened themselves in the top of the first when Libbie Hawker singled and Rylee Thorpe doubled, but Hawker had to make sure the ball wouldn't get caught on Thorpe's double and was held at third. Kalena Shepherd then flew out to left, and Hawker was thrown out at the plate trying to tag up.
A two-out Redhawk rally plated the fourth and final run for Seattle U in the third.
Utah Valley looked poised to score in the fourth, but came up short again. The Wolverines got runners on first and second with one out, then loaded the bases with two outs but were unable to push a run across.
Utah Valley halved the deficit in the sixth with a trio of singles to plate two runs. Mann and Moreno picked up the RBI knocks to trim the lead down to two.
A Jaeden Barajas walk and a Thorpe double set the table for the Wolverines to lead off the seventh. After a one-out walk from Gibbs to load the bases, Mann reached on a fielder's choice, with Barajas scoring on the play and Gibbs being thrown out at second. Armendariz then popped out to end the game.
The Wolverines will look to salvage one game from this pivotal three-game WAC series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. MDT, and the game will be shown live on ESPN+.
