Feb. 25, 2009

OREM, Utah - Head coach Eric Madsen will get his first shot at an in state rival this week when Utah Valley Baseball heads to Cedar City for a three-game series at Southern Utah. Each game of the series is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch.

Justin Smith (0-0, 3.60) will start Thursday's series opener. In his first start, Smith threw five innings and allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. He retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced in his 80-pitch appearance.

"It's important for us to play well and to win these in state battles," said Madsen. "We looked at things and worked on areas we need to improve on and the guys went after it this week in practice. We're anxious to get back out on the field."

The Wolverines (1-2) are coming off of a 6-5, 11-inning win in last week's series finale at Portland. Jake Rickenbach delivered the game-winning run on a double that scored Kevin Arendse and the UVU bullpen threw 6.2 shutout innings.

Jory Jensen got the win on the mound after throwing 2.2 innings and allowing just one hit while striking out three.

Chris Benson had one hit in each game of the series and extended his school record hit streak (NCAA only) to 20 games. Benson ended the 2006 season on a 17-game streak before not playing in 2007 and 2008 while on an LDS mission.

Following the series at SUU, the Wolverines will open at home against Northern Colorado next Thursday in a four-game series.