TUCSON, Ariz.—The Utah Valley University baseball team dropped a midweek game to the Arizona Wildcats by a lopsided score of 14-0 at Hi Corbett Field Tuesday night. The Wildcats jumped all over Wolverine pitching to the tune of 13 hits, including five for extra bases. The Wolverines managed just five hits, struck out 10 times, and committed three errors on the night. UVU fell to 11-11 on the season.
After striking out the first two hitters, starter Kyle Valgardson got into an early hole with two outs in the bottom of the first inning by allowing a pair of walks and a single. But Valgardson got out of jam unscathed with a 4-3 putout.
UVU had some momentum going in the top of the second inning when Mark Krueger drew a lead-off walk, then Ryne Edmondson poked a one-out single to right field that advanced Krueger to third. The inning ended abruptly when Edmondson was caught stealing second as Keaton Asay struck out.
The Wildcats capitalized on a Wolverine error in the bottom of the third inning as Zach Gibbons knocked a two-out single to right field with the bases loaded. Two runs scored initially on the play, but a throwing error plated one more and allowed Gibbons to advance to third. UA struck again with two outs the in the bottom of the fourth when Bobby Dalbec smoked a triple to right center field with two runners on to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead.
The game was blown open with a six-run sixth inning for the Wildcats. UA logged six hits in the inning, including a two-run home run with no outs. UVU had a chance to get out of the inning with just the two runs, but new life was given to UA when Spencer Gothberg took a bad hop at first base, the ball skipped to his right and the Wolverines couldn’t close out the inning as the Wildcats tacked on another run. It was a brief image to sum up the night for UVU.
The Wolverines look to rebound from the loss with a three-game series against the Grand Canyon Antelopes that begins Thursday night at 8 p.m. MT in Phoenix, Ariz.
