March 15, 2006

Opponent: Sacramento State 
Dates: March 17-19, 2006
Location: Sacramento, California
Times: 3pm/12pm (DH)/2pm MST 
Live Audio: Click HERE

What's on Deck ... 
Utah Valley State (4-11) travels to Sacramento this weekend to take on WAC opponent Sacramento State in a four-game series beginning Friday. The two teams will play Friday afternoon before a Saturday doubleheader and Sunday's finale.

The Hornets are in their first season as a member of the WAC after spending time as an Independent.

This will be the second time the two teams have met in a series. Sac State swept a four-game series during the 2005 season in Sacramento.

Friday's game is the first of a 12-day, nine-game road trip that will also take UV to San Francisco and Oregon State.

The Wolverines are 4-11 after splitting a rain-shortened two-game series with UC Davis. The Wolverines won the opener 4-2 before losing 8-7 in the second game.

Kam Mickolio (1-4, 5.88), Kalen Parsons (0-3, 6.33) and Kyle Tash (3-1, 5.53) will get the starts in the first three games with Sunday's starter TBA.

Scouting the Opposition ... 
Sac State (9-12) took two out of three games from Northern Colorado last weekend including a 6-0 shutout in Sunday's win. 

Mick Joyce (4-0, 1.76) earned the four-hit shutout and leads the Hornets with four wins and two complete games on the season.

Pat Keiper leads the team with a .388 average and has started all 21 games for Sac State this season. 

Brian Blauser has four home runs as the Hornets have already smacked 13 round trippers in 2006. Montana Dye and Kyle Atrat have three home runs apiece for Sac State.

Wolverines by the Numbers ... 
Nick Connor is currently leading the way at the plate for Utah Valley State, batting .500 so far after missing part of the season due to a quad injury. 

Connor returned to the lineup in the series at UC Davis and went 4-for-9 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Freshman Chris Benson is second on the team witha .348 average and has filled in at third base for the injured Reno Mendenhall admirably.

Senior catcher Cory Newton is third with a .346 average while Eli Slesk and Adam Openshaw are both batting .333. Slesk leads the team with 21 hits so far while Dan Bulow is batting .311 and leads UV with 13 runs batted in.

On the mound, freshman Kyle Beecher sports a 1.12 ERA in limited action while Marcus Moore has one save to go along with his 1.50 ERA.

Kyle Tash leads the starting staff with an ERA of 5.53 and a 3-1 record.

Last Weekend's Recap ... 
Utah Valley State got a strong pitching performance from Kam Mickolio as the Wolverines topped UC Davis 4-2 in the opening game of a scheduled three-game series.

Mickolio lasted eight innings and gave way to Marcus Moore in the 9th, who earned his first save of the season.

In the second game of the series, the Wolverines carried a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning before Davis got a three-run home run from Daniel DeScalso and then added three more runs in the eighth to come from behind for an 8-7 win.

Sunday's series finale started well for Utah Valley as they carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the second before rain pummeled the field and the game was cancelled, forcing a split in the two games.

Up Next ... 
The Wolverines will play a two-game series next Tuesday and Wednesday at San Francisco before traveling to Corvallis, Oregon to take on nationally ranked Oregon State in a three-game series.