April 27, 2007
Orem, Utah - A record-setting offensive explosion propelled Utah Valley to a 17-9 victory over Washington. The Wolverines, who improved to 19-24 with the victory, scored a Division I school record 12 runs in the second inning on 10 hits.
The previous record for runs in an inning was 11, set on March 25, 2005 against Southern Utah in the eighth inning. The victory guarantees a series win over the Pac-10 school. The Huskies fall to 20-20 with the loss.
Every batter in the Utah Valley lineup picked up at least two hits. Seven hitters had RBI while each Wolverine in the batting order crossed the plate.
Adam Openshaw had the most productive RBI game as he went 2-for-5 from the plate with four RBI on one swing of the bat. Openshaw's grand slam highlighted the Wolverines huge inning. Derrick Thomas went 4-for-5 while Scott Croshaw was 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI. Six of UV's 22 hits were extra-base knocks.
UV got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Eli Slesk and Austin Heaps picked up RBI singles as the Wolverines scored two on three hits.
In the second inning, the flood gates opened. UV sent 16 batters to the plate, 10 of which recorded hits to score the 10 runs. Five different Wolverines recorded RBI in the inning. Croshaw, Thomas and Jace Brinkerhoff each drove in runs in separate at bats during the inning. Openshaw delivered the big blow, a grand slam to deep right field. The Wolverines forced two Washington pitchers out of the game.
The Huskies scored their first runs in the top of the third and fourth innings when they scored two in each frame to cut UV's lead to 14-4. The two teams each scored in each of the sixth, seventh innings and Washington added runs in the eighth inning.
Utah Valley scored a run in the sixth on a RBI double by Croshaw while Brinkerhoff and Kevin Arendse added RBI hits in the seventh inning to close out the scoring for the Wolverines.
The series finale will be tomorrow as the Wolverines will go for the three-game sweep face at 1 p.m.
