April 11, 2009
SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State swept a Saturday doubleheader against Utah Valley (16-6, 7-1) on Saturday behind a huge day from junior Tim Wheeler.
A pre-season All-American, Wheeler hit four home runs and drove in 10 runs on the day. He had solo, two-run and three-run home runs in game one, before hitting a grand slam in the second game for the home run cycle over the twinbill.
The Hornets (20-13) used six home runs in game one and two more in game two to take three out of four from the Wolverines (11-24) on the weekend.
Dick Bargewell led the Wolverines with seven total hits on the afternoon, four in game one and three in game two. Billy Burgess also had a three-hit game in the finale and scored the only UVU run on an RBI single by Bargewell in the ninth.
Nine of the 11 UVU hits in game two came from Burgess, Chris Benson and Bargewell. Benson was 2-for-4.
Sac State won the first game via the 10-run rule when Hunter Martinez singled home the game-ending run in the seventh inning. It was a 2-1 UVU lead in the fourth when a five-run inning followed by an eight-run fifth gave the Hornets a commanding 14-2 lead.
Wheeler made it 1-0 in the first with an opposite field shot to left. UVU tied it in the second when Bargewell doubled with two outs and then scored when Josh Powers threw Cole Anderson's grounder away.
The Wolverines got another break in the third when Ryan Jones reached after a wild pitch on strike three. He moved over to third on two straight groundouts before Burgess doubled down the left field line to score Jones and put UVU up 2-1.
The Hornets got three homers in the fifth inning; a two-run shot by Aaron Crouch, followed by a solo home run from Justin Lamb. Wheeler capped the scoring in the inning with his two-run shot to make it 6-2.
Sac State then used an eight-run fifth to break the game wide open. Derrick Chung had a two-run double and Wheeler hit his third home run of the day, a three-run blast to right
Utah Valley had 12 hits in the game led by the 4-for-4 day from Bargewell. Sage Thorpe and Jake Rickenbach also had two hits apiece.
In the second game, Martinez led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run and Jeff Roth hit a two-out single that scored Chung to make it 2-0 Hornets after one.
Wheeler's grand slam came as part of a five-run fifth that broke the game open.
Tommy Elrod carried a shutout into the ninth inning and got the win after allowing just one run on 10 hits, all singles, and striking out eight in 8.1 innings.
The Wolverines now host Dallas Baptist in a three-game series beginning next Thursday at 6 p.m. at Brent Brown Ballpark. Dallas Baptist was an NCAA Tournament team in 2008, making it as an at-large team as an independent.
