March 2, 2006

pdf notes 

Opponent: Air Force 
Dates: March 3-4, 2006 
Location: Orem, Utah
Times: 2pm/11am (DH) 
Live Stats: None
Live Audio: Click HERE (Friday Only) 

What's on Deck ... 
Utah Valley State will open the 2006 home schedule on Friday at 4:00pm when Mountain West opponent Air Force comes to town. 

The Wolverines and Falcons have met twice before, with Utah Valley winning 13-5 & 21-4 last February at Air Force. UV pounded out 44 hits in those two games, including a school record 25 in the 21-4 win.

Graduated senior Trent Perry was 6-for-10 in the two games, with three home runs and 11 RBI while Canyon Vance was a perfect 5-for-5. Perry was named National Player of the Week by CollegeBaseballInsider.com after his performance that weekend.

Utah Valley is coming off of a three-game losing streak after getting swept at New Mexico. The Wolverines were shutout for the second time this season in the middle game of the series. Both shutouts have come when a left handed pitcher has opposed the Wolverine hitters.

Following this weekend with Air Force, Utah Valley will play its next 12 games on the road including a nine-game road trip that takes them to Sacramento State, San Francisco and Oregon State. 

They won't return home until March 28th when they host Northwest Nazarene.

Scouting the Opposition ... 
Air Force is 5-6 and has lost five consecutive games after starting the season 5-1. The Falcons, who are in their 50th season of baseball, are led at the plate by sophomore centerfielder Chay Derbigny, who is batting .368 with six stolen bases.

Friday starter Mitch Brown is 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA and has struck out 23 batters in 24 innings of work so far.

Air Force should have some friendly faces in the crowd as former Orem High player Shaun Naugle is a freshman reliever with the Falcons.

Air Force is coached by Mike Hutcheon, who is in his third year with the Falcons and posts a 20-99 record there. 

The Falcons are one of four Mountain West teams that Utah Valley will play this season.

Hales' Streak Continues ... 
Senior second baseman Brad Hales kept his season long hitting streak going last weekend and has now extended his streak to 10 games dating back to the final game of 2005.

On the year, Hales is hitting .389, which is tops on the team for those who have played in at least 75% of the team's games.

Senior outfielder Nick Connor has a six-game hitting streak dating back to 2005. Connor had at least one hit in the first five games of the season before sitting out the final two games of the Fresno State series to rest a sore quad. Connor is close to returning but has now missed the last five games.

Pleasant Surprises ... 
Sophomore Adam Openshaw and junior Keiki Albino have been pleasant surprises so far for Steve Gardner's club. 

This time last season, Albino wasn't even playing baseball after serving an LDS mission in the Philippines while Openshaw was still on an LDS mission in Wisconsin.

So far this season, the two have been big contributors at the plate. Openshaw is hitting .351 with one home run and seven RBI while Albino is hitting .308. 

Openshaw, who has started every game so far this season, hit a big three run double in the season opener at SUU to give the Wolverines an 8th inning lead. 

Power Shortage ... 
Utah Valley State has struggled so far to find the power that they enjoyed as season ago. Partially due to the losses of Trent Perry, who hit 14 home runs in 2005 and Kory Drew, who hit eight long balls in 2005, the Wolverines have just one home run so far this season. 

Through 10 games in 2005 Utah Valley was 4-6 and had hit 11 home runs as a team. 

Dan Bulow is still without a round tripper this year but in 2005 had just one at this point on his way to a team-high 15 on the season. 

Up Next ... 
The Wolverines will travel to Davis, California to take UC Davis in a three-game series March 10-12.