Feb. 26, 2009
CEDAR CITY, Utah - Justin Smith threw 8.1 innings and Kyle Beecher got a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded in the ninth as Utah Valley survived, 4-3, at Southern Utah in the opener of a three-game series.
Smith struck out five and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits for the Wolverines (2-2), who have now won two straight.
"I was fortunate enough to make good pitches. Their hitters helped me out by jumping on balls early and I didn't throw a lot of pitches which made it easier," said Smith.
Chester Wilson grounded out to Ryan Jones at second to open the bottom of the ninth. The T-Birds (2-3) then got back-to-back soft singles from Ray Wright and Justin Neuhart off of Smith. Beecher then came on and after a wild pitch moved Wright and pinch-runner Levi Swenson into scoring position, Tyler Hogge walked to load the bases.
Beecher then got the ground ball to Jake Rickenbach off the bat of pinch-hitter Derek Pena, giving Utah Valley its second one-run win of the season. The Wolverines were just 2-11 in one-run games during the 2008 season.
"That was big," said Smith of Beecher's game-saving performance. "He's a great pitcher and everyone had faith he was going to get out of it."
After Southern Utah scored first in the second, Cole Anderson drove home Riley White with a sacrifice fly in the third to tie the game at one.
Jace Brinkerhoff led the Wolverines with three hits including an RBI single that scored Anderson as part of a three-run fifth for the Wolverines. Kevin Arendse followed Brinkerhoff with a double to right-center that plated Jones. Brinkerhoff then scored on a sac-fly from Chris Benson. Benson was 1-for-2 and extended his hitting streak to 21 games.
SUU got two back in the sixth. After Matt Sanford reached on a wild pitch after striking out. Keli'i Zablan tripled to right and then scored on Wilson's two-out single.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Wolverines survived a scare when Nick Freitas just missed a home run down the right field line that sliced foul. Later in the at-bat, right fielder Kirk Doxey robbed Freitas of what would have been a go-ahead home run for the third out.
The series continues on Friday at 2 p.m. MT. Brock Sargent will start on the mound for UVU while Steve Johnson is slated for SUU.
