The Wildcats pulled out a come-from-behind victory in their first match-up against the Wolverines on Wednesday, scoring a walk-off run in the seventh inning.

“We are so proud of the way our team fights for each other and until the game is over,” said WSU head coach Mary Kay Amicone. “We are never out of the fight. That was a great comeback in Game 1.”

The Wildcats fell behind in the first inning when UVU lead-off hitter Dynasty Lauvai sent the third pitch of the game over the left center fence to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.

After three scoreless innings, the Wildcats tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lead-off hitter Malia Campos reached on an error. After a single and a sacrifice bunt got her into scoring position, Campos scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.

But the Wolverines regained the lead in the sixth inning. After pitching eight strikeouts and no walks in the first five innings, WSU pitcher MaCauley Flint gave up three straight walks to load the bases. Flint was relieved by Kylee Colvin, who gave up a two-run single down the left field line. Lauvai hit another home run in the seventh inning to give UVU a 4-1 lead.

“I love how we can be down in the game and I have absolutely no worries or anything about it,” said Campos of the team’s mindset. “We have that fire to come back and trust our swings and trust each other.”

The Wildcats fought back. After getting two walks and both runners advancing to scoring position on a wild pitch, WSU junior Janel Cunningham hit a single into center field, scoring both runners. A wild pitch brought in the game-tying run, and a deep single to right field from sophomore Alyson Kulp brought in the game-winner.

“Janel had a clutch two-RBI pinch hit, and Aly battled to have a great game-winning hit,” Amicone said. “I love our depth throughout our lineup.”

The Wolverines got a quick jump on the Wildcats to start the second game of the doubleheader, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning off of Colvin. Amicone then pulled Colvin in favor of Jasmine Ioane, who blanked the Wolverines for the remaining of the game.

The Wildcats got on the board in the bottom of the first. Campos got on base with a single, and then was driven home on a two-run homer from Ioane. That brought the Wildcats to within two.

“I really loved the way we bounced back with two runs after giving up four early,” Amicone said. “We knew that we could scratch back a couple of runs to tie it.”

The Wildcats got two more runs, one in the second inning and one in the fifth. Ioane gave up just three hits in her six innings pitched.

The Wildcats blew the game open in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs on seven hits, including a two-run double from senior Brooke Silva and a three-run home run from catcher Mylee Davis. Rudi Barrios hit in the final run of the game after hitting a double into right field. The game was called due to the run rule.

“The sixth inning was just a great display of hitting together as a team,” Amicone said. “Jasmine threw a tremendous game.”

The Wildcats also played three games against Southern Utah University over the weekend. Those games will be covered in the Wednesday edition of The Signpost.