CHICAGO—The UVU baseball team made short work of the Chicago State Cougars with a 14-2 win in seven innings. UVU buried CSU early as they broke the game open with a four-run second inning and took a 7-0 lead. All nine Wolverine starters reached base as UVU tallied 13 total hits on the afternoon. Starter Jackson Cofer took the win and allowed just one run over 5.2 innings of work with five hits, five walks and six strikeouts.
UVU put CSU in a hole in the top of the first as Zac Willis punched a one-out ground-rule double to right center. Greyson Bogden then singled and Craig Brinkerhoff walked to load the bases for Mark Krueger, who shot a two-run double to right. Spencer Gothberg reached on a ball to shortstop, but Krueger was put out at third as Brinkerhoff scored and the Wolverines jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.
Willis gave UVU a 4-0 lead as he drove Jordan Schlehuber home in the top of the second with nobody out. With runners on second and third, Brinkerhoff busted the game open with a one-out, three-run home run to right center, which gave the Wolverines a 7-0 lead.
The Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out single through the left side of the infield, which scored David Wright from third.
Krueger put the Wolverines into double-figure scoring with a two-run home run to left in the top of the seventh. UVU posted four more runs in the inning, including a two-run double to left center from Trevor Howell that scored Ryne Edmondson and Jake Atkinson. The Wolverines took a 13-1 lead on the play.
Matt Davidson came on in relief to work the final 1.1 innings and allowed just one hit, which came on a solo home run to left field from Andy Gertonson. However, the Cougars’ brief power surge came too late as the score was already 14-2. Chris Hipchen drew a two-out walk for CSU to keep hopes alive, but was thrown out attempting to steal second to end the game.
The Wolverines completed the regular season with a 33-21 overall record, including 18-9 in WAC play. UVU has locked up the third seed in the WAC Baseball Tournament, which begins Wednesday, May 25, in Mesa, Ariz.
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