Utah Valley University’s women’s softball team is set for a series of five games in Northern California, marking its final road trip before conference play begins. The Wolverines will compete against Pacific in a three-game series in Stockton on Saturday and Sunday, then face UC Davis and Sacramento State on Monday and Tuesday. All matches are available to stream on ESPN+.
This weekend’s matchup with Pacific brings the Wolverines against former associate head coach Sam Duran Kukuk, who led Utah Valley from 2022 to 2024 and is now in her second season as head coach at Pacific. Kukuk succeeded Brian Kolze, who amassed 824 wins over his 32-year tenure at the program.
Last weekend, Utah Valley finished 3-1 at the Beehive Classic, matching their best 19-game start during their time in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) at 12-7. The team recorded victories over Utah State twice and Weber State once before losing to Utah Utes.
The Wolverines maintained strong offensive performances, scoring a total of 29 runs across the first three games but were held scoreless by the Utes. Ry Binne emerged from an early-season slump by going 8-for-11 and scoring five runs during the tournament. Megan Sterzer continued her consistent performance with five hits out of ten at-bats, including two doubles and three RBIs; she currently holds a nine-game hitting streak. Bailey Marvin contributed with five hits in fourteen attempts, including three doubles and four RBIs, extending her reached base streak to eleven games.
Britney Moreno’s consecutive reached-base streak ended at seventeen games—the longest for a Wolverine since Madison Carr’s record-setting thirty-one straight appearances in 2022. Moreno currently holds a .444 batting average, which ranks second-best in the WAC this week. She is also close to breaking the program’s career triples record.
Pitcher Lily Riley has played a central role recently, pitching more than forty innings since February 13 while maintaining an earned run average of 1.89 during that span. Her seven wins so far this season place her tied for twenty-third nationally and first within the WAC.
As they enter this week’s contests, Utah Valley ranks among the top fifty teams nationally across several categories: batting average (.362), doubles (35), hits (187), on-base percentage (.440), RBIs (122), scoring (7.37 runs per game), slugging percentage (.562), sacrifice flies (10), and triples (7).
In historical matchups:
– Against Pacific: UVU leads with a 3-1 all-time record.
– Against UC Davis: UVU has not secured a win in five previous meetings.
– Against Sacramento State: UVU remains winless through four games.
Head coach Cody Thomson is nearing his one-hundredth career win—just four away from becoming only the second head coach to reach this milestone during Utah Valley’s Division I era.
Utah Valley also leads both its conference and ranks fifteenth nationally in sacrifice flies this season with ten recorded so far; notably, three came during one game against Idaho State.
After these road games conclude, Utah Valley will return home for a six-game homestand beginning March 17 against Weber State Wildcats; this game will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
