May 15, 2010
OREM, Utah - It was a record-setting day for Utah Valley baseball in a doubleheader sweep, 7-1 and 24-7, over NJIT on Saturday at Brent Brown Ballpark. The Wolverines (32-17, 21-2 in GWC) are now a win away from clinching the Great West Conference regular season championship.
In the second game, Jace Brinkerhoff had five of UVU's school-record 28 hits while surpassing his own single-season record with his 95th hit. UVU also hit five triples on the day -- two each by Jake Rickenbach and Chris Benson -- also setting a single-game record.
Goose Kallunki had the fifth triple and finished with four RBI in game two to give him nine batted in on the day after he drove in five of the team's seven runs in the first game.
He also hit his 22nd double of the season in the second game, setting a current school record. It will be a race to see who grabs the doubles record with Brinkerhoff (21) and Benson (20) right behind and three others with at least 17. Utah Valley had seven doubles in the game and a total of 13 extra-base hits.
"Our guys just stayed focused and did a great job of hitting today. They got after it early and stayed within the approach," said head coach Eric Madsen "Guys were hitting the ball on a line and it was awesome to watch them swing the bats like they did."
Kade Andrus also got into the act, going 3-for-3 off the bench and getting not only his first career hit, but his first career home run on a two-run homer in the eighth.
In addition to Brinkerhoff, Rickenbach finished with four hits while Jason Zundel, Andrus, Benson and Sage Thorpe all had three hits. Utah Valley scored in all but one inning and at point scored 18 unanswered runs.
Sam Armstrong got the win on the mound to improve to 4-4 after pitching five scoreless innings. Mark Leiter Jr. took the loss and dropped to 3-7 for the Highlanders (11-38, 7-15).
In the first game, Blake Krahenbuhl kept NJIT off the board over his first five innings to improve to 7-1 on the year. He was charged with one run on five hits over five-plus innings.
Kallunki delivered a bases-loaded, two-out double in the first to put UVU out front 3-0. He added a two-run single in a three-run fifth that pushed the lead to 6-0.
Also in the fifth, Benson had a sac-fly that scored Rickenbach to give him 67 runs batted in on the season, which also sets a current single-season school record. Benson also drove in two runs in the second game and sits at 69 on the year.
The series finale starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday. A win or an NYIT win over Northern Colorado loss would assure the Wolverines of the top seed at the GWC Tournament that begins March 26 in Edinburg, Texas.
