March 28, 2007
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This Week's Action
After playing its first 22 games on the road, Utah Valley (7-15) will finally open its home schedule this week when fellow Division I Independent South Dakota State comes to Orem for a three-game series.
Thursday and Friday's games are scheduled for 7pm while Saturday is set for a 1pm first pitch. All three games will feature Gametracker and can be found by going to www.WolverineGreen.com.
The Wolverines won two out of three last weekend at Gonzaga to take the series from the Bulldogs. Jace Brinkerhoff threw a complete-game in the series opener, a 5-3 UV win.
In the second game, Derrick Thomas was the hero when his eighth inning grand slam put Utah Valley up 9-7 and completed a comeback from a six-run deficit. Thomas drove in six runs in the game and for his efforts was named the Division I Independent Player of the Week.
Turreal Moore earned his first win after throwing 5+ innings in relief and Marcus Moore came on to earn his second save.
Gonzaga starter Brandon Harmon helped his squad avoid a series sweep when he threw a five-hit shutout in the finale, a 5-0 Bulldog win.
Scouting the Jacks
South Dakota State is in its final season as an independent in baseball and will be joining the Mid-Continent Conference next summer. The Jacks are 10-11 and due to bad weather, haven't played since March 18th when they defeated Missouri State 6-3.
Tyson Fisher leads four players batting at least .325 with a .333 average while Nick Adams is hitting .325 with four home runs for SDSU.
The all-time series is tied 3-3 with Utah Valley winning the most recent meeting 9-5 at last year's independent tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Wolverines will travel to Brookings to face the Jacks in mid-April in a three-game series while SDSU will also be back in Orem for the 2007 independent tournament May 23-26, although the teams will not meet.
Thomas Named Player of the Week
Catcher Derrick Thomas was named the Division I Independent Player of the Week after leading the Wolverines to a series win at Gonzaga over the weekend.
In the series against Gonzaga, Thomas hit .417 (5-for-12) with a grand slam, seven runs batted in and a stolen base as Utah Valley won the first two games against the Bulldogs.
In a come-from-behind 9-8 win, Thomas was 4-for-5 with six RBI and helped the Wolverines from recover from a 6-0 deficit. He hit what turned out to be the game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning with two outs, putting UV up 9-7.
On Deck
Utah Valley hosts Binghamton on Tuesday in a doubleheader beginning at 4pm before a weekend series against Utah. The Utes and Wolverines will meet twice in Salt Lake City (Thursday/Saturday) and Friday in Orem.
