Utah Valley University’s baseball team went to California over the weekend to take on UC Davis in a four-game series.
Friday, they played a double header against the Aggies. In the opening game it was a slow start for the Wolverines as they allowed a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to the Aggie short stop Tanner Murray. The score remained 1-0 up until the bottom of the fifth when the Aggies scored three runs in back-to-back innings, making the score 7-0.
UVU finally got on the board with an RBI ground out from senior Ryan Eastburn, while senior Trevor Howell scored the only run for UVU in the eighth inning as they lost 7-1. Wolverine infielder senior Paul Estrada went 3-4 in the game.
The second game of this double header was a scheduled seven-inning contest. Once again UVU got off to a slow start and found themselves down 3-0 after the first inning. The Wolverines were able to bounce back in the top of the second inning, scoring two runs to cut the lead to 3-2. A sacrifice fly in the second drove in the fourth run for the Aggies, making it a 4-2 game, but in the top of the third, sophomore Drew Sims and junior Alexander Marco had back to back doubles which made the score 4-3.
In the top of the sixth UVU tied the game 4-4 after a hit from Kody Hall and run from Estrada. However, in the bottom of the sixth, Aggie Garret Kelly hit a home run to give the Aggies the lead back. They scored another two runs to make the score 7-4 and that’s how it remained the rest of the way. Wolverine sophomore pitcher Blake Zeleny picked up the loss (0-1) while UVU lost both games of the double header.
The two teams were scheduled to play Saturday but due to rain and wet field conditions, it was postponed until Sunday making it another double header for both teams.
Game three of this series was a pitching dual between UVU’s junior Paxton Schultz (0-1) and the Aggies senior Chris Brown (2-1) as both pitched complete games. The score was 2-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning in favor of the Wolverines. A three-run inning for the Aggies put the game out of reach for UVU and they lost 4-2.
The night cap of Sunday’s double header was a thriller. UVU erased a six-run deficit in the sixth inning and came from behind again in the ninth to force an extra inning where they won 11-9 in 10 innings.
In the extra frame, with the bases loaded and one out, Hall hit a ground ball to short and the out was made at second, but with a throwing error to first base, two runs scored. UVU had a season high in hits with 16. Three came off the bat of junior Kade Poulsen. He also had four RBIs including a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning and game-tying RBI in the ninth. This was a huge win for the Wolverines as they were able to prevail in the last game of the series.
The Wolverines move to 2-8 on the season with cross town rival Brigham Young University up next. They play the Cougars March 5 in Provo.
Photo courtesy of UVU Athletics
