February 11, 2006 

CEDAR CITY, Utah - Utah Valley State's bats came alive as the Wolverines picked up their first win of the season, 15-2 over Southern Utah, salvaging the finale of a four game series. The game ended in eight innings due to darkness. 

After dropping their third straight in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, 8-6 in a seven inning affair, Utah Valley got the starting pitching they needed as senior Kyle Tash lasted seven innings allowing two earned runs on five hits to earn the win.

"Our back's were against the wall and we needed to start playing better and Kyle really picked us up," said Utah Valley coach Steve Gardner. "He worked ahead and kept them off balance. And it helped that our hitters stood in there and hit the ball pretty well."

Utah Valley State pounded out 18 hits including a perfect 4-for-4 from Nick Connor, who also drove in three runs and scored twice. Canyon Vance was also 4-for-4 while Derrick Thomas had three hits four runs batted in. 

After trailing early in the three series losses, UV pushed across two runs in the first, four in the second and one in the third to take a commanding 7-1 lead. 

With a 9-2 lead heading into the 8th inning, the Wolverines added six more runs including a two-run single by freshman Jason Zundel in his first collegiate at-bat. 

"We finally played like I thought we should be. We started off well, putting a couple of runs on the board early and that helped guys get relaxed," said Gardner. "It's too hard to try and come from behind every time." 

In the first game of the doubleheader, SUU got to Utah Valley starter Ryan Jessop early, scoring five runs in the 2nd to chase Jessop after just 1 1/3 innings.

The Wolverines made a game of it though, scoring three runs in the 5th and three more in the 7th bringing the tying run to the plate before a game ending double play. 

Freshman Kyle Beecher made his college debut in relief for UV, allowing one earned run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Trever Dimick was 4-for-4 with a home run and three runs batted in for the T-Birds.

Connor, Adam Openshaw, Dan Bulow and Kade Boyer each had two hits apiece for Utah Valley State.

Up next for the Wolverines is a three-game series at Fresno State next weekend in Fresno.