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Show B1 I HUNGRY LIKE A WOLVERI Utah Valley's softball team hit the road again as they traveled all the way from the west coast back to the Beehive State, hungry for more victories By Rachel Anderson Assistant Sports Editor @rachach3x Utah Valley's softball team hit the road again as they traveled all the way from the west coast back to the Beehive State, taking on three of their very own in-state rivals, hungry for more victories. The Wolverines began their latest journey to Moraga, Calif. where they took on Saint Mary's, leaving the Sunshine State with a 2-2 game split. UVU fell 5-1 on the first day but striking back with a 3-1 win on their second attempt. The next day left UVU with the same results: falling to Saint Mary in the first game, 1-0 in 10 innings and then coming back with another 3-1 victory to finish off the weekend. "Stats proved that we should have won every single game," said Head Coach Rachel Hartgrove. "St. Mary's are the defending champions on that side, so it's good to at least come out of there with a split, but we should have done better." With highlights from the weekend, first baseman Amanda Robinson hit the ball out of the ballpark as she slammed her third home run of the season, putting the Wolverines up 1-0 in the last attempt on Saturday. Pitchers Josi Summers and Tiffany Mills took the ball to town against Saint Mary's as they kept striking out the opposing batters. Although the scores were down, the efforts were high. "Our pitchers were awesome," Hartgrove said. "They pitched great and our defense was good enough to win the game, we just didn't get the runs in and that's what we need to work on." With a long trip back to Happy Valley, the Wolverines were ready to take on another battle against Utah. After an upset against the Utes a couple weeks ago at Utah Valley's game-opener, the Wolverines are ready to fight back. "I know the girls want their payback and their revenge," Hartgrove said. "We out-hit Utah in that game but didn't come out with a win. I think the girls are hungry, and they're going to come out ready to go." The prediction and anticipation of the Utah game was on point when the Wolverines came back Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory, upsetting the Utes on their new turf. Starting the game off, run after run, was enough to keep the Utes on their toes. Robinson went 2-for3 with two RBI's with an additional two from shortstop Krystin Jachim in the first half of the game. Not only were the four runs held accountable for the win, but the pitching of UVU's very own Mills was giving Utah a run for their money. Mills pitched a big game, striking out five, allowing only one earned run from the Utes. Summer loving sports As we bathe in the sun and enjoy the local and not so local pools, we need to remember that sports still live on at UVU By Alex Rivera Sports Editor @HashtagginAlex SHANE TRUSKOLASKI/UVU ATHLETICS The Wolverines stand 17 11 overall after an exciting match against in state rival. - It was a great night for the Wolverines as their vengeance paid off. As the anticipation heats up, an appetite for more wins begins to pump the girls up. With a short stall from the 23 road games being played this season, the Wolverines prepare to take on their next two oppo- - nents, matching up on their own field. CSU Bakersfield travels to Orem for a four-game Pacific Coast Softball Conference set, hoping to keep the Wolverines from another win. "We're working on a lot of things in practice so hopefully we can fix it by this weekend when Bakersfield comes into town," Hartgrove said. Anticipating a tough battle against Bakersfield, the girls will then take another four-game set with in-state rival BYU. The Cougars and Wolverines will claw it out, seeing who can claim the throne in their own Happy Valley. A trip to the 'big show' The UVU wrestling team sent three grapplers to the 2013 NCAA Division 1 National Championship By Garrett Coleman Sports Writer Email@email.com College sports are unique. Whenever a tournament comes to town, anticipating a national champion to be crowned, there is some magic and mystique in the air. March usually holds strong for basketball with all the madness going on, but what most people don't know is around the same time, wrestling also holds a tournament to determine its champs. UVU sent three wrestlers to Des Moines, where they took on competitors in the NCAA Division 1 National championship tournament held on March 2123. Jade Rauser (125 lbs), Josh Wilson (149) and Adam Fager (285) all helped bring some attention to a program on the rise as they competed for respect among some of the most elite programs in the country. For Wilson, this was his second consecutive year at the tournament. He was hopeful with his experience last year, hoping to perform even better and advance even farther in the tournament. Wilson dropped his first match to returning All-American Nick Lester of Oklahoma, in a close bout 4-3. Losing the first match meant an uphill battle for Wilson, but he continued to fight and won his next two matches. One match was against another All-American, Derek Velenti of Virginia. He seemed to be gaining some momentum, but Wilson's 2013 run then came to a close with a tough 5-3 loss to the eight-seed from Virginia Tech, Nick Brascetta. After a scoreless first period, Wilson got on board with an early escape in the second period. Brascetta then took the lead with a takedown, but Wilson tied it back See WRESTLING, B3 SIDELINE The Wolverines stand 17-11 overall after an exciting match against in-state rival. MIKE SMITH/NCAA The summer is fast approaching. The weather is heating up and the local public pools will soon be open. Some of us will head our ways back home from Washington to New York. Others will have the luxury of going on a cruise for a few weeks or "visiting" family in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. But for the lucky ones who get to stay in beautiful Utah County, we need not forget that sports live on, even through the summer. I could easily turn your attention to the Jazz, who are actively vying for a spot in the playoffs come the end of April, but even that will be short lived. I can even turn your attention to the semi-professional team, the Salt Lake Bees, who will be playing all summer. But why leave Utah County to watch some quality sports when we have the UVU baseball team and softball team chugging along their games? The summer is not all fun and games. Alright, it is all fun and games. But have some of that fun at the UVU games, because the student athletes will. The UVU baseball team will have games at home against in-state rivals Utah (April 16) and BYU (April 30). They will also hold a plethora of home games against conference rivals Houston Baptist (April 11-13), Chicago State (April 26-28) and NYIT (May 9-11). Allimportant games, all happening at UVU. The UVU softball team will also hold a few games in the summer at home. They will host conference rival Santa Clara from April 27-28 and then Weber State right after. All this considering, this is also the final season in which UVU will be playing in the Great West Conference before they make their move to the WAC. Alright, so their games will only last through May. What to do when the real summer hits in June and July? The Orem Owlz, a Single-A affiliate of the Angels of Anaheim, play on our home field at Brent Brown Ballpark. The Orem Owlz had players like Mike Trout and Mike Trumbo on their roster before sending them off to the big leagues. With the season under way at the end of June, this should leave plenty of room in your busy summer schedule to cheer on a local team. And Caleb Bushyhead is returning. With a name like that, who wouldn't want to come to the park? At the end of the summer, the women's soccer team returns to action, and this time in a new conference. With returning players like Haley Curtis and Lauren Sack, the team can pull off a great Western Athletic Conference victory at the end of the season but the start is just as important. The summer is not all fun and games. Alright, it is all fun of games. But have some of that fun at the UVU games because the student athletes will. |