April 2, 2010
OREM, Utah - After dropping a two-run decision to Southern Utah in the series opener Thursday night, the Wolverines bounced back and took Game 1 of the double-dip 10-5 before giving in eight runs in the ninth in losing 13-11 in Game 2 Friday at Brent Brown Ballpark.
With the split, the Wolverines are now 9-12 on the season. The two teams will conclude the four-game series Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We are on our home field and I feel terrible about a split," UVU baseball coach Eric Madsen said. "I don't think a split is good. If we'd won Thursday and then won earlier and then this happened with this bad luck, okay baseball is biting us a little bit. We don't want to lose games. That's just it. We want to win, so to me a split is not good."
Utah Valley scored in each of the first five innings in Game 1 and broke open the one-run game with four runs in the bottom of the sixth in the seven-inning contest.
Cole McWhorter led the Wolverines by going 2-for-2 with a double, homer and four RBIs, and Chris Benson went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Jake Rickenbach had a pair of doubles and Kevin Arendse added two hits and a RBI.
The Wolverines led 6-0 before the T-Birds put up five runs in the top of the fifth, but the Wolverines answered.
Goose Kallunki set the table for McWhorter's two-run homer by singling. Later, Rickenbach doubled, Sage Thorpe walked. Benson later recorded a two-run double.
Justin Campbell picked up his first win of the season by allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in four innings of work. Ryan Chadwick notched his second save of the year by allowing one unearned run on four hits in three innings.
In Game 2, the Wolverines pounded out 21 hits in the loss.
The Wolverines led 9-6 heading into the final frame, but the T-Birds exploded for eight runs, seven of which came with no outs, in the top of the ninth.
Jace Brinkerhoff led the Wolverines by going a perfect 5-for-5 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Rickenbach went 3-for-4 with a double, and two RBIs. He also drew three walks.
The game was tied at 5-5 in after six innings before the Wolverines scored two runs on a triple by Austin Heaps. He finished the game with three RBIs. Rickenbach, who finished the day 7-of-8 with two RBIs and five runs scored, plated two more runs in bottom of the eighth with a two-run double to give the Wolverines a four-run cushion with three outs to go.
After the T-Birds eight-run outburst, Kallunki added a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth to cut the lead to 13-11. Following Kallunki's bomb, McWhorter singled to bring the tying run the plate. Rickenbach drew a walk to put runners in first and second before Thorpe grounded out to end the game.
Rickenbach, who finished the day 7-of-8 with two RBIs and five runs scored, plated two more runs bottom of the eighth with a two-run double to give the Wolverines a four-run cushion with three outs to go.
Sam Armstrong, who allowed just one hit an no runs in first 2 1/3 innings was touched up for four runs in the ninth on three hits, and Kyle Beecher, who took the loss, allowed four runs on five hits in one inning.
Benson picked up hits in both games to run his hitting streak to 19, while Brinkerhoff has now hit safely in 11 straight games.
