NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Utah Valley University dropped its final contest at the CSUN Invitational, 6-4, to Gonzaga on Sunday at Matador Field.
Seth Rhineer drove in three of the four Wolverine runs on the day.
Both teams had errors come back to hurt. UVU (0-4) committed three errors that led to three of the six runs scoring unearned and the Bulldogs (2-1) had two errors, leading to all four Wolverine runs coming in unearned.
Gonzaga scored first getting two first-inning runs and one more in the third to lead 3-0. The Wolverines were without a baserunner until the fifth, when
Craig Brinkerhoff walked with one out and was followed by a
Jordan Schlehuber single. The Bulldogs added another single run in the top of the sixth, on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Frost, improving their lead to 4-0.
UVU got on the board in the bottom half of the inning, with
Cam Zollinger scoring on a Rhineer grounder. An error earlier in the inning allowed Zollinger to reach third.
It was another Gonzaga error that opened the door for the Wolverines to get back into the game in the seventh. With the bases full and two outs, an error at third pushed a run across and kept the inning alive. Rhineer then singled to right-center, scoring two more runs to tie the game at 4-4.
The Bulldog offense responded though, capitalizing on a UVU defensive miscue to plate two in the top of the eighth. A wild pitch later allowed the go-ahead run to score before Mitchell Gunsolus had a two-out RBI single to make it 6-4.
The Wolverines brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but David Bigelow came on with a runner on an nobody out and closed it out for Gonzaga.
Kyle Valgardson took the loss for the Wolverines, with both runs in the eighth against him unearned. Zach Abbruzza got the win for Gonzaga with Bigelow earning his second save in as many games against UVU. The Bulldogs edged the Wolverines 3-2 in Friday's season opener.
Utah Valley will travel to Long Beach State next weekend, a team that is coming off a trip to the NCAA Regionals in 2014. That postseason appearance included two wins over North Carolina in the Gainesville Regional.
