March 8, 2006

pdf notes 

Opponent: UC Davis 
Dates: March 10-12, 2006 
Location: Davis, California
Times: 3pm/2pm/2pm MST 
Live Stats: Click HERE 
Live Audio: Click HERE

What's on Deck ... 
Utah Valley State travels to Davis, California this weekend for a three-game series with fellow D-I Independent UC Davis beginning Friday afternoon. 

The Wolverines are coming off of a series against Air Force at home where the Falcons took two out of three from UV.

Utah Valley won the series finale 11-7 thanks to a hot start as they scored nine runs in the first to innings to take a big lead before holding off Air Force in the later innings.

Eli Slesk leads the team with a .352 average while Nick Connor, who was hitting .529 before he was forced to miss eight games due to a minor injury, is expected to return to the lineup this weekend.

This will be the second time that UV and UC Davis has met in a three-game series. Last season in Davis, the Aggies swept the Wolverines March 11-13. 

Kam Mickolio (0-4, 7.50), Kalen Parsons (0-3, 6.53) and Kyle Tash (3-1, 5.53) round out the rotation for Utah Valley State 

Scouting the Opposition ... 
UC Davis (8-8) is one of six Indpendent teams that Utah Valley State will play in 2006. The Aggies life as an Independent will come to an end with the start of the 2007-08 season when they join the Big West.

Davis is coming off of a series sweep at the hands of Oral Roberts in Oklahoma last weekend.

Daniel DeScalsco (.455), Tyler LaTorre (.431) and Jimmy Goetz (.429) are all hitting above .400 for the Aggies.

Four pitchers on the UC Davis staff sport ERA's of 2.84 or lower, led by Brian Evans, who is 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in six appearances.

Freshmen Impact ... 
Freshmen Kyle Beecher, Chris Benson and Jason Zundel have all made an early positive impact on the Wolverine season so far. 

Beecher, a reliever from Pleasant Grove, threw 2.1 innings of relief on Saturday against Air Force and was nearly perfect, walking just one Falcons but retiring him on a double play in the next at bat. He has thrown 7.0 innings so far and holds a team best 1.29 ERA while allowing five hits and striking out three.

Benson entered last Friday after senior Reno Mendenhall went out with a minor injury. Benson went 4-for-11 during the weekend with two doubles, one triple and a stolen base. The Mountain View High School (Orem) grad is hitting .333 in his first season of collegiate baseball.

Zundel made his third start of the season in last Saturday's game and his his first collegiate home run in the third inning. The Bear River (Tremonton) product is hitting .250 in limited action so far this season.

Bulow Heating Up ... 
Junior 1B/DH Dan Bulow is heating up after a solid weekend at the plate against Air Force. During the three-game series he hit .417 (5-for-12) with two double, one home run and five runs batted in. 

After leading the team with 15 home runs in 2005, Bulow was homerless until the third game of the series when he helped UV to a six-run first inning on the way to an 11-7 win.

Last Weekend's Recap ... 
The first home series against the Falcons did not start well for the Wolverines as they dropped the first two games in a Friday doubleheader. 

In the first game, five errors and 11 free passes (eight walks, three hbp) led to a disastrous 10-8 loss. Eli Slesk had three hits and four RBI in the game as UV outhit Air Force 13-8 but still lost.

The second game of the series saw the Falcons erupt for a six-run third inning on their way to an 11-4 win. Three home runs in the third inning reversed a three-run Wolverine lead.

In the final game of the series, Utah Valley quickly jumped out on the Falcons with a six-run first and three-run second to take a 9-0 lead.

Dan Bulow and Jason Zundel both hit their first home runs of the season as UV pounded out 16 hits on the day. 

Bulow, Canyon Vance and Kade Boyer each had three runs batted in on the day.

Up Next ... 
The Wolverines will embark on their longest road trip of the season next week. It will begin with four games at Sacramento State on March 17-19 then move on to San Francisco March 21-22 for two games. The trip will conclude with a three-game series at nationally ranked Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon March 24-26.