April 26, 2011
OREM, Utah - Utah Valley fell behind early and couldn't recover, dropping a 15-8 contest to Utah on a cold and windy Tuesday night at Brent Brown Ballpark.
The Utes (19-15) scored five times in the top of the first, with the big blow a three-run home run to right off the bat of Trey Nielsen, and added four more in the third to lead 9-2 early.
The Wolverines (15-19) closed within three in the sixth but Utah was able to push across some insurance runs late to take a 2-1 lead in the season series with the teams set for one more game on May 17 in Salt Lake City.
Both teams got big production out of their leadoff spots; Kirk Doxey had three hits - including a pair of doubles - and scored three times for UVU while James Brooks had a rare 6-for-6 night with six RBI and two runs for the Utes.
Chris Benson, Goose Kallunki and Kai Hatch all had two hits for Utah Valley with Kallunki driving home a pair. After going 2-for-4, Hatch is 14-for-19 in his last five games.
UVU scored three times in the sixth to make it 10-7; Doxey drove one run home with a single down the left field line and Kallunki lined a bases-loaded single into right to score two more.
Utah would answer with two in the seventh - including an RBI double from Brooks - to take back momentum and go on to the win.
Utah Valley now begins a four-game Great West Conference series on Thursday against NYIT at 6 p.m. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. with Saturday's finale scheduled for 1 p.m.
