Softball Bounces back with two dominant wins in Day 2 of the NorCal Kickoff Tournament
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Wolverines only give up one run combined in their day 2 games against Santa Clara and Pacific.
The Utah Valley University softball team defeated the Santa Clara University Broncos 6-0 and the Pacific University Tigers 6-1 on the second day of games for the Wolverines in the NorCal Kickoff Tournament held in Sacramento, California.
The Wolverines started slowly against the Broncos, although UVU was the only team to record a hit in the first two innings. The Wolverines managed to only put one runner in scoring position in that span.
In the top of the third inning, the Wolverines’ bats came alive and erupted for six runs on five hits and one error. Kassidy Stiles started off the inning by drawing a walk. Libbie Hawker followed up on a fielding error, and Britney Moreno grounded out to second advancing Stiles to third. Rylee Thorpe and Kalena Shepherd’s back to back RBI singles to put the Wolverines on the board. Megan Gibbs stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and homered to left field, her second home run of the tournament. With a 5-0 lead and two outs Emma Haygood doubled to right center and Taylor Wooten drove her in for a run with a single to left center.
The game saw five hits in the final four innings leading to no runs and a 6-0 final score.
Brooke Saili picked up the win bringing her record to 1-1 on the year.
The Wolverines started hot in their second game of the day against Pacific University. A Shepherd double to left center drove in Hawker for the Wolverines first run of the game.
After a big second inning scoring four runs, the Wolverines sat with a comfortable 5-0 lead. Two Tiger errors would lead to three Wolverine points. An RBI Thorpe double would be the final run scored in the second inning for the Wolverines.
In the final five innings the Wolverines tacked on one more run coming from a Hawker groundout that allowed Barajas to score, extending the lead to six.
One out away from recording a second consecutive shutout, Pacific’s Allie Capello reached on a fielding error allowing Carly Lucchetti to come from third and score the Tigers only run of the game. The Tigers next batter would ground out to shortstop to conclude the game.
Katie Zuniga was awarded the win, coming in at 1-1 this year.
For more information and a look at the Wolverines’ full softball schedule visit go.uvu.edu.
Josh is a senior at UVU, studying Communications and graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Communications in Spring 2023. Along with writing for the Review, Josh is a member of UVU’s PRSSA Chapter. Josh will be pursuing sports media after his time at UVU is complete.