April 12, 2011

OREM, Utah -- Alex Exon hit two three-run home runs, tying a school record with six runs batted in as Utah Valley belted out a 12-4 win over Utah on Tuesday at Brent Brown Ballpark.

Exon also went 4-for-4 and scored three times as the Wolverines (12-17) won their fifth straight and avenged a loss two weeks ago to the Utes (13-13). The teams will meet twice more this season including April 26 again in Orem. Chris Benson and Goose Kallunki both added three hits for UVU.

"I was proud of what the guys did. We worked on some specific things on Monday. It was good to see the guys play better baseball and was pleased with how we went about it," said head coach Eric Madsen.

After Exon singled and later scored in the second, the Wolverines jumped out to a 6-0 lead with five in the third. Kirk Doxey tripled and scored on Austin Haws' sac-fly, before a two-out rally plated four more runs.

Austin Heaps and Kallunki both singled before Exon homered to left off of Nick Green. Court Zollinger then doubled to complete a team cycle in the third before Kai Hatch singled him home.

Benson drove home two during a three-run fourth with a double off the wall in left as Utah Valley stretched the lead to 8-0. After Utah got on the board in the fifth, Exon hit his second long ball in the bottom of the sixth inning, extending the lead to 12-1.

Utah got a pair of home runs late for the final 12-4 tally.

Preston Olson got the win on a night the Wolverines pitched by committee, using five pitchers in preparation for this weekend's Great West Conference action.

Olson (2-0) threw 3.0 scoreless innings, striking out four while allowing just two singles. Green (0-1) took the loss for Utah.

The six RBI ties the record set 10 times previously by a UVU player in NCAA Division I history. It's the team's first multi-homer game since Benson did it on May 1, 2010 against Texas-Pan American.

The Wolverines begin a four-game Great West series on Friday at North Dakota.