Utah Valley Wolverines women’s softball team defeated the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 3-2 in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on May 6. The game took place in Stephenville, Texas, with Lily Riley pitching a complete game and Bailey Marvin delivering a key pinch hit.
The win is significant as it marks Utah Valley’s first victory this season when scoring fewer than four runs, showing their ability to succeed in close contests. The Wolverines now advance to play California Baptist, the tournament’s top seed and regular season champion.
Bailey Marvin came off the bench in the fourth inning to turn a one-run deficit into a lead for Utah Valley. After Southern Utah tied the game in the sixth inning, Britney Moreno hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Maddie McSorley to score what became the winning run. Head coach Cody Thomson said, “The dugout was awesome, everyone played with the energy we needed to pull this off. That was a huge hit by Bailey, she’s been working so hard to get that hit, going through some ups and downs, and I’m just so proud of her.”
Lily Riley managed several challenging situations throughout her complete game performance. She escaped bases-loaded threats from Southern Utah multiple times and ultimately secured her sixteenth win of the season—just two behind Tiffany Mills’ single-season record set in 2012. With a .667 win percentage at 16-8, Riley currently holds the best record by any Wolverine pitcher with more than ten wins in one season.
Utah Valley will face California Baptist next at 9 a.m. Mountain Time on Thursday morning; if victorious they will advance to Friday’s semifinals while a loss would mean playing an elimination game later that day.
