PUERTO VALLARTA — Avery Sapp tossed a complete game, striking out four over six innings, but the Utah Valley Wolverines came up just short, falling 4-3 against No. 5/10 Washington Huskies on Friday night at Nancy Almaraz Stadium.

The Wolverines jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but the No. 5 Huskies were able to respond with four unanswered runs across the next two frames to take the lead for good. 

Sapp, in her first collegiate start in her second career game, pounded the strike zone and kept the Husky hitters off balance most of the night. After the first two frames, Sapp allowed just three more hits the rest of the game. 

"Avery's ceiling is so high, and she just showed against a top 10 team that she's capable of being a great, great pitcher," said head coach Cody Thomson. "She commanded the ball really well today, and it was really fun to call her pitches."

Utah Valley wreaked havoc on the base paths in the first inning to plate three runs. Ry Binne and Britney Moreno each singled before Angelique Mann bunted them into scoring position. 

After the Huskies' Brooke Nelson retired the next two batters, Binne was able to score on a wild pitch. Amber Rodriguez then hit a chopper to short that clanked off the defender's glove to bring in Moreno. Megan Gibbs struck out, but was able to reach first on a wild pitch to extend the inning. Rachael Brown capped off the rally with a single to bring in Rodriguez.

UW responded with a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the frame, then pushed across another run in the second with some well-executed small ball. Sidne Peters came on in relief to start the fourth, and closed the door with four no-hit innings while striking out six. 

Utah Valley will have a quick turnaround and face the No. 13 Nebraska Cornhuskers tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. MT. The game can be streamed live on FloSoftball, with live stats available at UVUstats.com.