SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Three home runs in the sixth inning proved to be just enough for the UVU baseball team to take down the Sacramento State Hornets by a score of 3-2 and win the weekend series. Zac Willis and Greyson Bogden each hit one-out solo home runs, then Craig Brinkerhoff tacked on another solo homer with two outs.
Winning pitcher Jake Mayer allowed two runs on six hits, one walk and two strikeouts over 7.2 innings of work. Kyle Valgardson pitched 1.1 innings with one walk and one strikeout for the save.
“For Jake to come in in a spot start for us and pitch the way he did was awesome. And Kyle’s always good for us in the big situations,” said UVU head coach Eric Madsen in a statement to WolverineGreen.com. “Our pitching was good all weekend.”
The Hornets got on the board first with three-straight, one-out singles sprayed across the infield in the fourth. Chris Lewis scored from second on a single to the right side by Kody Reynolds to put Sacramento State on top 1-0.
Willis answered and tied the game with a one-out home run in the top of the sixth to left, then Bogden followed with a home run of his own on the next pitch. Mark Krueger grounded out to first, then Brinkerhoff gave the Wolverines a 3-1 with a home run over the center-field fence for what would be the deciding run in the game.
Looking to start a two-out rally in the eighth, Andrew McWilliam homered to left to get the Hornets within 3-2. Valgardson came on in relief after the homer and allowed a walk to Trent Goodrich, then retired the final four batters in order.
The Wolverines moved into third place in the WAC standings with the victory.
UVU starts their final four-game home stand Tuesday by hosting the BYU Cougars at 6 p.m. at Brent Brown Ballpark. The UTRGV Vaqueros then come to Orem for the final three games at home of the season for the Wolverines.
