UVU (15-19, 1-2) jumped out to an early lead thanks to homers from Derek Houston and Hunter Katschke, but Trevor Wilson went five innings without allowing a hit to help the Hornets (15-22, 3-3) come back in the game.

On Friday, the two teams split a doubleheader, with Jacob Heppner recording nine strikeouts to set a new career high and taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning of an 11-1 victory.

Sacramento State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a single by Jace Jeremiah that ricocheted off Garrett Miller’s foot into center field. The Wolverines answered right back during the top of the second inning after a single from Brody Block. Houston took a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall for his fourth career home run and tie the game up at 2-2.

The Wolverines jumped in front in the third inning when Katschke hit his 12th homer of the season to make it 3-2. The UVU offense kept the pressure on the Hornets’ staff after Mason Strong doubled on the first pitch he saw and lined it down the line. He came around to score when Chipper Beck singled through the middle to put Utah Valley up 4-2.

Cooper Brass reached on a pinch-hit single in the fourth inning and stole second base as UVU won a challenge, as he was originally called out. He moved to third on a ground ball before scoring on Kaden Carpenter’s one-hopper over the head of the first baseman for an RBI double to make it 5-2.

The Hornets went to the bullpen and brought in Wilson, who retired the next 15 straight hitters and allowed the Sacramento State offense to rally, including a four-run fourth inning, before adding a run in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to take a 9-5 lead.

The Wolverines chased Wilson with two outs in the ninth inning after Will Applegate and Katschke worked walks and later moved to third base on a wild pitch. An infield pop-up that was aided by the wind ended the late UVU rally.

Utah Valley will travel to Air Force for a non-conference series starting Monday, at 3 p.m. MT from Colorado Springs. The Wolverines return home to UCCU Ballpark for a three-game WAC series against Utah Tech next weekend in the Old Hammer Rivalry.

Softball rallies on the road

ABILENE, Texas — Britney Moreno hit a game-tying triple and Tatum Hall added a go-ahead double as Utah Valley erased a five-run sixth-inning deficit to beat the Abilene Christian Wildcats, 8-7 to take the game and the series.

The Wolverines trailed 5-0 entering the fifth and 7-2 entering the sixth, but were able to score two in the fifth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh to complete their largest comeback of the season.

Moreno extended her reached-base streak to 20 games, going 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI, two runs, and two walks. Hall and Emma Haygood  each drove in a pair, as Hall went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, while Haygood went 1-for-3.

ACU scored three in the first on a solo homer and a pair of doubles, then tacked on two more in the second with a two-run homer, taking a 5-0 lead into the third.

The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out in the second and two outs in the fourth, but were unable to capitalize on either scoring opportunity.

UVU finally broke through in the fifth as the Wildcats gifted the Wolverines a rally for free. Three walks and a hit batter turned into a pair of runs as Haygood drove in Britney Moreno on a sac fly, then Amber Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch.

After ACU matched the two Wolverine runs in the fifth, Utah Valley got back within three as Hall drove an RBI single through the right side and Haygood grounded out to second.

Craziness ensued in the seventh following a leadoff single by Megan Sterzer and a double by Payge Armendariz. Ry Binne laid down a bunt, with the low throw to first going into the first base dugout, allowing both runs to score and Binne to take second.

Moreno narrowly missed a round tripper, sending her game-tying triple off the wall in right center. Two batters later, Hall plated the winning run with a double that was just out of the reach of the Wildcat left fielder.

Hannah Ortega, who came on in relief in the fifth, threw 2.1 perfect innings to hold the line and ultimately walk away with the win.

Utah Valley will return home for its final homestand of the season, beginning with a three-game Senior Weekend series against the Tarleton State Texans. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. MT, then wrap up the series on Saturday at 12. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats at GoUVU.com/stats.

Busy weekend for track

Utah Valley wrapped up its weekend of competition on Saturday after competing at the Bryan Clay Multis and the Weber State and Utah Spring Opens over the last three days.

Utah Valley had five top-10 marks on Friday in Ogden, led by two in the women’s discus. Grace Degarimore set a new PR of 49.81, improving her standing at No. 2 all-time. Cale Stinebaugh improved from 10th to eighth all-time with a new personal best of 44.97m. Matthew Maclennan posted an impressive 14.16 in the 110-meter hurdles, leapfrogging James Duncan to move into third all-time.

The last two top 10’s in Ogden came in the mile. Skyler Roper entered at No. 8 with a time of 4:08.14, while Lyza Yetter squeaked in at No. 10 on the women’s side with a new PR of 5:03.65.

Utah Valley sent three decathletes to the Bryan Clay Multis in Azusa, Calif., in Neal Berkey, Cole Johnson and Joey Trageser. Berkey posted the highest point total of the three at 6709, with Johnson following behind at 5948. Trageser was unable to finish.

Inclement weather forced a handful of Wolverines to withdraw from their events in Salt Lake on Saturday. Prior to the lengthy weather delay, Emily Conlin matched her personal best of 3.85m in the pole vault, which ranks fourth all-time.

Gavin Stafford, Kade Thompson and Garrett Nelson went one, two, and four in the 100-meter dash at 10.58, 10.78, and 10.92 respectively.  Ella Hopper won the women’s 400m with a season-best 58.90, while Olivia Pixton took second with a season-best 11.49m in the triple jump.

Utah Valley will head to Southern California for three more meets next weekend, the ULV Leopard Invitational, the Bryan Clay Invitational, and the Beach Invitational.