Feb. 8, 2008

Box Score

ST. GEORGE, Utah - For the second time on Utah Valley's opening day, the Wolverines game went down to the final at bat as UV fell in a heartbreaker, 3-2 to Loyola Marymount at the Red Desert Classic.

The Wolverines (0-2) were leading 2-1 heading into the final inning before the Lions (3-0) put together a string of hits to get pull out the win.

"Alli (Bramwell) threw a great game," UV head coach Todd Fairbourne said. "Loyola Marymount is a great hitting team. I can't say enough about her effort today. I am disappointed in the number of strikeouts we had today with runners on. If we put some of those in play, we could very well be 2-0 right now."

The Wolverines struck first in the first inning. Meghan Woodworth led the game off with a single and Magan Niemann followed with a walk. After the two advanced bases on a groundout, Heidi Stocks delivered a two-run single.

LMU cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning as the Lions scored on a walk and a double.

From there, pitching settled in. Bramwell retired eight consecutive hitters from the second to the fifth innings and kept the Lions off the scoreboard until the seventh. Meanwhile, LMU's Tiffany Pagano struck out 12 UV batters. The Wolverines had their chances, as batters reached base in all seven innings.

In the seventh, LMU got an infield hit then recorded a seeing-eye double to get runners on second and third with just one out. The Lions got back-to-back RBI singles to win the game.

Utah Valley will return to action tomorrow at the Red Desert Classic when the Wolverines play Rhode Island at 11 a.m. and Idaho State at 1 p.m.