March 8, 2014
LONG BEACH, Calif. --Â Utah Valley University led 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh but was bitten by six late Long Beach State runs to fall, 7-3, and drop its second straight game in the series.
The Dirtbags (8-6) scored four times in the seventh and twice more in the eighth after the Wolverines (3-11) led 3-0 early on. All three UVU runs came in the third inning.
The Wolverines got on the board in the three-run third with an RBI single from Jordy White to bring home Craig Brinkerhoff, who singled to lead off the inning. Zach Slesk scored in a passed ball to give UVU a 2-0 lead and the third run came across to score on a sacrifice fly from Mark Krueger.
Long Beach State got one run back in the fourth when Michael Hill tripled home Garrett Hamson.
The Dirtbags tied it in the seventh with a bases-loaded, two-run double by Alex Bishop before a sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt both added runs to give LBSU a 5-3 lead. Two insurance runs were added in the eighth and Tyler Provencher pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish of the game.
Provencher picked up a save after tossing two innings in relief of Andrew Rohrbach, who improved to 2-1. Utah Valley got a quality start from Ryan Evans, who pitched 6.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Kyle Valgardson (0-1) suffered the loss for the Wolverines.
Hart and Brinkerhoff led UVU with two hits apiece. The series concludes on Sunday with a 2 p.m. MT start. UVU will also play at Cal State Northridge on Monday afternoon before returning home for its first WAC series this week against North Dakota.
