March 18, 2008
SPOKANE, Washington - Utah Valley fell behind 6-0 and couldn't recover, falling 9-3 in the opener of a three-game series at Gonzaga on a cold Spokane night on Monday.
The Wolverines (3-11-1) had a three-run fifth to trim the deficit in half, but the Bulldogs (11-7) added a single run in the sixth and two more in the eighth for the final tally.
Josh Hinckley had two hits and an RBI for UV while Tyler Garretson and Ryan Jones both drove in runs for UV.
Tyson Van Winkle was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI for Gonzaga while five other hitters had two hits each on a 15 hit night for the Bulldogs, who improved to 8-2 all-time against the Wolverines.
AJ Proszek (1-0) earned his first win after lasting seven innings and allowing three runs on three hits. Brandon Harmon pitched a perfect eighth inning before Cody Martin struck out the side in a perfect ninth for Gonzaga out of the bullpen.
Aaron Brady (1-1) pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in suffering his first loss.
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the first, on an RBI single by Ryan Wiegand and a wild pitch. They added a run in the second on Evan Wells' RBI single.
Gonzaga doubled the lead to 6-0 with a three-run fourth with two of the runs scoring on a balk and an error that extended the inning.
Kevin Arendse led off the fifth with a double to right-center and scored on the next pitch on a Hinckley single. Later in the inning Garretson singled home Cole Anderson with two out for the second run and, following a Garretson steal, Jones doubled home the third run for the Wolverines.
With Gonzaga leading 7-3 in the eighth, Van Winkle delivered a two-run double to left-center, damaging Utah Valley's hopes of a late comeback.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Tuesday at 7pm MT with Marcus Moore the scheduled starter for the Wolverines. The game can be heard live at WolverineGreen.com.
