May 23, 2007
Orem, Utah - Derrick Thomas was the hero for Utah Valley as the Wolverine catcher belted two home runs, the second a three-run, walk-off blast to propel the Wolverines (23-29) to a 8-7 win over North Dakota State in the first day of the independent championship.
Thomas finished the day going 3-for-5 from the plate with the two homers and a career-high tying six RBI. Marcus Moore threw 171 pitches in 8.2 innings from the mound. Moore struck out nine while giving up six earned runs.
Ryan Langlais led NDSU (14-30), going 3-for-4 from the plate with a pair of homers and five RBI.
The Bison built an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first as Matt Mossey had a one-out, RBI triple and was followed by a two-run home run off the bat off of Langlais.
North Dakota State extended its lead in the top of the fourth to 4-0 on a Greg Plecki RBI single.
The Wolverine bats got off to a slow start as UV had only one hit going into the bottom of the fifth. Once the bats got started in the fifth, Utah Valley scored five to grab a 5-4 lead. The Wolverines got their first two runs when Scott Croshaw reach on an error to score Keiki Albino and Adam Openshaw. Three batters later, Thomas gave UV the lead with one swing of the bat when he hit a towering three-run shot to right-center. The Wolverines sent nine batters to the plate in the fifth inning.
The Bison responded in the top of the seventh when Langlais hit his second homer of the game, a three-run round-tipper to give NDSU a 7-5 advantage.
UV threatened in the bottom of the eighth as the Wolverines loaded the bases with one out in the inning. The threat ended without runs when Croshaw bounced into a double play.
The bottom of the ninth produced the drama of the night when Tyler Garretson reached on an error to lead the inning off. Eli Slesk followed with a walk on five pitches. Thomas then came to the plate and drove a 2-2 pitch deep well over the fence for his second homer of the game and 14th on the season.
Utah Valley continues independent tournament play Thursday as the Wolverines host NJIT at 7:30 p.m. Follow all tournament games live via Gametracker at www.wolverinegreen.com.
