April 3, 2006

Opponent: Utah 
Dates: April 4th & 6th-8th, 2006
Location: Salt Lake City (Ute Field) April 4th and 7th - Orem, Utah (Wolverine Stadium) April 6th & 8th 
Times: 3pm/7pm/3pm/1pm
Live Audio: Click HERE (April 6th & 8th Only) 

What's on Deck ... 
Utah Valley State will take on its second straight in-state opponent this week with four games against Utah. The Wolverines and Utes will play Tuesday and Friday at 3pm in Salt Lake City at Ute Field and Thursday and Saturday at Wolverine Stadium.

The games at Ute Field will not be broadcast online although both home games are scheduled to be broadcast.

The Wolverines won three out of five games in 2005 against Utah and lead the all-time series 6-5. 

Utah Valley is coming off of a 3-3 week, splitting both a doubleheader against Northwest Nazarene and a four-game series against Southern Utah.

Against SUU, the Wolverines took the first two games before falling in the final two.

Senior Canyon Vance had quite a week at the plate, hitting .609 (14-for-23) and raising his average from .271 to .343 (72 points). He had one home run, one double and a triple, to go along with five RBI and seven runs scored. He was also 2-for-2 in stolen bases and slugged .870. 

In Thursday's 13-7 win over Southern Utah, Vance went 3-for-5 with a home run and five runs batted in.

Freshman Chris Benson also continued his hot bat, going 12-for-27 (.444) with four doubles, one triple, one home run and eight runs batted in while also scoring eight runs. Benson, who is currently in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak, had multiple hit games in five out of six games during the week. The true freshman is currently batting .398 in his first season of college baseball. 

Scouting the Opposition ... 
Utah is currently 13-12 and has won three of its last four, including two in a row. The Utes most recent win came on Saturday, a 6-3 win over BYU in the preseason Mountain West tournament in San Diego.

They were leading New Mexico 13-4 in the eighth inning of a Sunday contest before that game was postponed until the Utes travel to Albuquerque in mid-April. Assuming they hold on to win that game, the Utes would finish the tournament with a 3-1 record.

Utah is led at the plate by Ryan Khoury, who is batting .425 with 10 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 23 RBI. Both John Welsh and Jay Brossman are currently tied for the team lead in home runs with four apiece.

The Utes are batting .302 as a team and have hit 21 home runs.

The staff is headlined by freshman Brad DeVore, who is 3-1 with three saves and a 1.31 ERA out of the bullpen. Utah also boosts a strong starting rotation in Josh Cooper, Eric King and Lucas Trinnaman. Other than Cooper, all three pitchers are in their first season in Salt Lake City. 

Up Next ... 
The Wolverines will host neighbors BYU on Tuesday, April 11th before a three-game series with Northern Colorado on Friday and Saturday. The games on Tuesday and Friday will begin at 7pm while a Saturday doubleheader with the Bears will begin at 1pm.