May 17, 2009

HONOLULU, Hawai'i -- Utah Valley University capped its 2009 season with a 10-2 win at Hawai'i on Sunday afternoon. The Wolverines (18-35) pounded out 18 hits, getting three each from Jake Rickenbach, Chris Benson and Kevin Arendse, to earn a split of the four-game series.

Four UVU pitchers, led by starter Kyle Beecher, limited the Rainbows (31-24) to just three hits on the day. Beecher lasted six innings in his first start of the year and allowed two runs on two hits.

Benson followed his cycle in Saturday's win with a three-hit day and four runs batted in. The sophomore was 9-for-18 on the weekend with eight RBI.

Rickenbach was 3-for-4 and scored three times while Arendse finished 3-for-5. Four other Wolverines had two hit days, with Goose Kallunki driving in a pair and Cole Anderson scoring twice.

Jace Brinkerhoff completed his record season with a 2-for-4 afternoon, finishing with a .433 batting average and 94 hits.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a two-out RBI singles in the first by Benson and Kallunki.

Burgess tripled with one out in the third and scored in a base hit by Benson. The second run in the third came in when senior Ryan Jones walked with the bases loaded.

The lead was extended to 7-0 with a three-run sixth. Benson had a two-run double and later scored on another base hit by Kallunki.

Jones scored in the seventh on Brinkerhoff's RBI single to give the Wolverines an 8-0 cushion.

After Beecher, who improved to 3-3 on the year, Zach Bennett, Devin Nelson and Travis Ayoso limited the Hawai'i bats. Nelson and Ayoso combined to throw three hitless innings to end the game.

The Wolverines finish the season at 18-35, one game better than in 2008 while setting a school record with a .329 team batting average.