May 20, 2011
OREM, Utah - Utah Valley jumped out to a big early lead in taking the opening game of a doubleheader, 16-8, before Northern Colorado earned a split with a 4-3 win in the nightcap on Friday at Brent Brown Ballpark.
The Wolverines (29-22, 21-2) led 15-0 after just three innings in the opener before the Bears (22-29, 18-6) scored in the ninth inning of game two. and Jarod Berggren made a game-saving, diving catch in left with two runners on to hand UVU a rare loss in Great West Conference play.
"I was happy with how we came out of the chute but we had our big inning and then basically coasted the rest of the way and didn't get after it the way we were capable of," said head coach Eric Madsen. "They (Northern Colorado) are a good team and played well but I definitely feel like we let that game slip away from us. It's frustrating that we didn't win both."
Five different UVU players had multiple RBIs in the first game with Billy Burgess going 2-for-3 with a home run and five batted in. Goose Kallunki had three RBIs, two coming on a sac-fly to right center that scored Kirk Doxey from third and Chris Benson all the way from second.
Doxey homered, drove in two and scored three times while Benson also had two RBIs and three runs. Kai Hatch finished with three hits and two RBIs and Austin Haws also drove in two for UVU.
Utah Valley batted through its entire order in each of the first two innings before sending 11 hitters to the plate in the third. The Wolverines scored four in the first, three in the second and put eight on the board in the third.
In the third inning, Burgess and Haws had back-to-back two-out, two-run doubles before Doxey lined a shot over the wall in left for a two-run blast to put UVU in front 15-0.
Burgess' home run was a line shot to left center and came in the fifth before Northern Colorado put a dent in the score with a Berggren grand slam in the seventh inning.
Senior Zane Gray (4-1) lasted six-plus to win his fourth straight decision in his final start at home.
In the second game, Utah Valley scored all three of its run on solo home runs. Doxey - with his second home run of the twin bill - and Austin Heaps both hit solo shots in the first inning to make it 2-0 early.
Harrison Lambert had an infield single with the bases full and two outs in the second to get Northern Colorado on the board before Goose Kallunki blasted a home run to left in the fifth to give the Wolverines a 3-1 lead.
The Bears tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth when Tony Crudo and Lambert delivered consecutive two-out RBI singles.
In the ninth, Adam Hilker hit a one-out double and then scored the winning run on a base hit up the middle by Bret Fanning. The Wolverines had runners at first and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Heaps fly ball towards the line in left was grabbed by a diving Berggren to end the game.
The loss was just the fourth in 51 Great West Conference regular season games for Utah Valley, which clinched its second straight GWC regular season championship in a win on Thursday night. The Wolverines will go for the series win on Saturday at noon on Senior Day. Seniors Kyle Beecher, Benson, Gray and Brock Sargent will be honored prior to the game.
