Halle Morris threw her second complete game of the weekend, striking out six and allowing just one earned run to lead Utah Valley (12-17, 6-3 WAC) to a 5-2 win over the Abilene Christian Wildcats (12-20, 4-7 WAC) in Abilene, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.

The win ties the best start to WAC play through nine games since UVU joined the league in 2014. The Wolverines also started 6-3 in 2018.

“Halle being able to go 14 innings for us this weekend was huge,” said head coach Cody Thomson. “Gibbs had a great day today with some big hits and Amber getting three hits out of the lead-off spot was a huge deal.”

Amber Rodriguez and Megan Gibbs each went 3-for-3 with a trio of singles. Rodriguez drove in two and scored one, while Gibbs drove in one and also drew a walk. Britney Moreno went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.

Morris again tied a career high with six strikeouts. Morris has reached that mark three times this season — yesterday against ACU and last weekend against GCU — and originally set the mark last season at Utah against Washington.

Moreno got the Wolverines on the board in the top of the third after hitting a lead-off triple down the left field line. Rodriguez then brought her home with a sacrifice fly to right.

ACU leveled the scoring in the bottom of the inning after a pair of errors turned into a run.

Utah Valley put together a two-out, two-run rally in the fifth to take the lead for good. Rodriguez and Ry Binne singled, then Morris roped a double over the center fielder’s head to bring in Rodriguez. Gibbs then dunked a single into center to drive home Binne.

A wild play in the sixth brought home two more Wolverine runs. With runners on second and third, Rodriguez hit a towering chopper into no-man’s land between the circle and third. Angelique Mann beat the throw home, and Rodriguez took second while the Wildcats were arguing with the home plate umpire. Victoria Vasquez then swiped home on the throw to second.

ACU plated a run in its half of the sixth, but that was all the scoring the Wildcats would get the remainder of the game.

Utah Valley has a busy week ahead against tough competition. The Wolverines return home for a midweek doubleheader on Tuesday against the Seattle U Redhawks. First pitch has been moved up to 1 p.m. to account for potential inclement weather. UVU will then host California Baptist at the weekend.

Wolverine baseball loses heartbreaker to Abilene Christian

Utah Valley baseball dropped a heartbreaker 5-4 to Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.

UVU (13-15, 5-4) tied the game late in the eighth on an RBI double by Daniel Dickinson and in the ninth on a two-run homer from Cole Jordan, but ACU (17-11, 8-4) scored on a walk-off single by Reece Borho.

The Wolverines had won the last six series against WAC schools from Texas, with the previous series loss coming to Tarleton State in 2021.

“Some good ball games by both teams. If we can play a little better and develop a few more alphas, we can win those types of series and games,” said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.

The Wolverines will now play two games with the University of Utah starting on Monday, Apr. 1 at 6 p.m. MT at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City. They will host Utah on Tuesday, Apr. 2, at 6:05 p.m. MT. The Old Hammer Rivalry will be renewed next weekend as Utah Tech heads north to Orem for three starting on Friday, Apr. 5, at 6:05 p.m. MT.

UVU’s Bunker wins steeplechase at California meet

Adam Bunker won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Utah Valley University saw four top 10 marks on Saturday at the Mike Fanelli Classic. The meet, hosted by San Francisco State, was held on the Chabot College campus in Hayward, California.

Bunker, who was an All-American in the steeplechase after advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene in 2022, won the 44-person field after finishing in 8:57.08.

Andrew Blackham and Abby Linford both shattered their personal records in the 10,000-meter race. Blackham notched the No. 8 time in UVU’s top 10 with a time of 30:43.94, over two minutes better than his previous best of 32:59.54. Abby Linford took second in the women’s 10k, smashing her PR by over two minutes; she ran Saturday’s 10k in 35:49.75 with her prior PR at 37:58.60.

The Wolverines also had Gilbert Olivas, Pierce Vittone, and Jacob Egan all move into the Utah Valley Top 10 in the 800-meter record book. Olivas notched the No. 4 time (1:51.15) while finishing eighth in the race, Vittone lands in the No. 5 spot after finishing 12th overall on Saturday with a time of 1:51.64. Egan finished in 1:52.63, which puts him in 10th in the record book.

Next week the Wolverines will compete at Weber State on Friday and at Utah on Saturday for the Weber State Spring Open and Utah Spring Classic.

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