Tim Castaneda, Sports Writer, @xTIMBOxSLICEx
After getting out to an early three-run lead against Weber State on Wednesday, the UVU softball team dropped the second game of a double-header against the Wildcats by a score of 10-5 to start their home schedule winless.
Two early homers in the top of the first inning gave the Wolverines a 3-0 lead to start the game. First, with one runner on base, Brianna Gatlin hit a two-run homer to center field to bring home Breezy Roth. Next UVU’s Jaylen Watson hit her first of two homers on the night with a solo shot to left-center field.
In spite of a strong start, UVU never scored again, as they allowed Weber to counter with big offensive innings of their own in the second, fourth and seventh innings. The Wildcats responded with four runs in the second inning to capture a 4-3 lead.
“We can’t let that happen. We talked about getting that zero after we score and we need to do a better job of that,” said UVU head coach Nikki Palmer. “They (Weber State batters) just came up and found little ways to get runs in here and there, nothing big, but little hits that snuck by us that we need to take care of.”
Weber State fought back to score three runs in the fourth and seventh innings to stretch the lead to five runs.
Although UVU regained the lead in the third inning momentarily, the Wolverines would go the rest of the way without scoring a run. With one out in the inning, Watson hit her second home run of the game to bring home Gatlin for UVU’s final two runs and a brief 5-4 lead.
“We just need to perform a little bit more,” said coach Palmer. “We had just two top performing hitters and other than that we were quiet, which is uncharacteristic of us.”
Watson finished the day leading the way for UVU batters on a 2-for-3 day at the plate, including her two homers and 3 RBIs. Gatlin also had a 2-for-3 outing to bring in another two RBIs for the team.
Shortstop Aubrey Whitmer, who went 1-for-3 in the batters box, led all Weber State players with three RBI
The Weber State hitters caused problems for the Wolverines, as they drew 7 walks and racked up ten hits on the UVU pitching staff.
Bailey Moore (7-10) pitched 5.2 innings for UVU and was credited for the loss after giving up six earned runs, eight hits and three walks. However, she did strike out two Weber State batters.
UVU next takes on Oklahoma State in a double-header at Wolverine Field on Thursday, March 19, with the first game set to being at 2 p.m. MT.
