March 31, 2007

Orem, Utah - Riding momentum from the end of game one of its doubleheader, Utah Valley took the final game of a three-game series against South Dakota State, 7-5.

The Wolverines improved to 8-17 on the season with the victory. The Jacks fell to 12-12 with the loss.

UV benefited from a four-run fourth in which the Jacks committed three errors. Dan Christensen got the win for the Wolverines to improve to 2-4 on the season. Marcus Moore picked up his third save of the season.

Like the first game, South Dakota State wasted little time to get on the scoreboard. The Jacks got a leadoff single to get their offense going early. After a fielder's choice, Tyson Fisher delivered a RBI double to put SDSU ahead, 1-0.

Unlike the first game, UV got a quick start in game two. The Wolverines scored in the first after Tyler Garretson drove the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a stand-up double. Two batters later, Garretson scored on an Eli Slesk RBI groundout to tie the game.

An inning later, Utah Valley took its first lead of the series when Austin Heaps and Jace Brinkerhoff led the inning off with back-to-back singles. Heaps later came around to score on a Keiki Albino groundout to give the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.

Heaps went 3-for-4 from the plate and scored two runs while Brinkerhoff went 2-for-3 and crossed the plate once.

In the third inning, South Dakota State tied the game on another Fisher RBI. The Wolverines responded with a big inning in the bottom of the fourth.

After recording a three up, three down top of the fourth, UV put four runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Utah Valley took advantage of three consecutive Jacks' errors. Heaps and Brinkerhoff led the inning off with a pair of singles before the SDSU defense began to fall apart. Kevin Arendse picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice but no outs were recorded due to a fielding error. Albino followed with a sacrifice bunt that ended up being a three-base throwing error that scored two runs. Kevin Jones picked up an RBI on a fielding error by the first baseman that gave the Wolverines a 6-2 lead.

SDSU came cut into the lead in the next half inning. Jake Rogers nailed a two-run home run to cut UV's four-run lead in half. The Wolverines responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Arendse picked up a RBI groundout to score Derrick Thomas who reach on an error to start the inning.

After Rogers knocked in his second run of the game in the top of the sixth frame, the pitching settled down as neither team scored for the rest of the game. Moore entered the game in the eighth for UV and recorded six straight outs, including five strikeouts to record the save. Moore's accuracy was key as 18 of his 21 pitches were strikes.

UV returns to action April 3 when the Wolverines welcome Binghamton for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.