April 15, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
OREM, Utah - Two of the three teams that went unbeaten on the Great West Conference's opening weekend face off in a four-game series as Utah Valley travels to Northern Colorado. The series begins Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Jackson Field in Greeley, Colo. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 11 a.m. with Sunday's finale scheduled for noon.
The Wolverines (14-13, 4-0) swept four home games from North Dakota last weekend while the Bears (13-15, 4-0) went on the road and took four at Texas-Pan American.
UVU saw its five-game winning streak come to an end in a 5-3 loss to Utah on Tuesday at Brent Brown Ballpark. Billy Burgess had three hits and Sage Thorpe added two hits and two RBI but three Utah pitchers limited the Wolverines to eight hits and struck out 15 batters.
Chris Benson went 0-for-3 and saw his school-record 24-game hit streak come to an end. Benson flew out to the warning track in left-center, lined out to left and struck out before being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. As of Wednesday, Benson continued to lead the nation with a .467 average with the Wolverines sixth as team, batting .354 and ninth in slugging at .546.
Jace Brinkerhoff is second on the club with a .421 while Jake Rickenbach is hitting .406. Rickenbach had hit in 12 straight before going 0-for-4 vs. Utah on Tuesday. During that streak, the junior shortstop hit .625 with 10 doubles.
The Wolverines head to the Windy City to face Chicago State April 23-25 before closing out the month with a home series against Texas-Pan American April 30-May 2.
Northern Colorado has won nine straight games after an 18-14 win over Air Force on Tuesday. TJ Berge hit .647 in the series against UTPA last week and was named the GWC Offensive Player of the Week. Berge is batting .372 while Mike Raudenbush leads UNC with a .373 average.
UVU and Northern Colorado played eight times last year with the Wolverines winning six out of eight. Utah Valley won three out of four at both team's respective home park including surviving a wild 23-21 game in Greeley in the final game between the two during the 2009 season. The Wolverines built a 17-2 lead after just four innings only to see the Bears nearly come all the way back. UVU is 14-8 all-time against UNC.
