ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Utah Valley University for five runs in the top of the ninth but came up just short, 7-6, to the University of San Francisco on Sunday at the Lobo Invite. The Wolverines will close out the weekend against host New Mexico on Sunday afternoon.

UVU (2-7) trailed 7-1 entering its final at-bat and scored five times before the Dons (1-10) escaped with their first win of the season. In the five-run ninth, Spencer Gothberg had an RBI triple, Seth Rhineer a two-run double and both Jordan Schlehuber and Tate Harding walked with the bases loaded .

Rhineer was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and reached base four times while Mark Krueger also had a pair of hits for Utah Valley. The Wolverines stranded 10 baserunners in the game including the bases loaded on three different occasions including to end the game.

UVU had the bases full and no outs in the first but were unable to get on the board. In the second, San Francisco struck first when Matt Sinatro singled home Dominic Miroglio with two outs. The Wolverines tied it in the third, getting a two-out RBI hit of their own from Jake Atkinson, scoring Rhineer.
 
UVU had another chance to put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but again could not scratch a run across.

With the score still tied 1-1 in the seventh, Manny Ramirez Jr. delivered a pinch-hit, go-ahead RBI single, plating Michael Eaton and giving the Dons a 2-1 lead. An error allowed another USF run to come in and extend it to a two-run lead. San Francisco – out of the West Coast Conference -- scored four times in the eighth with the big blow a Ryan Mantranga two-run home run.

Wolverine starter Jackson Cofer struck out a career-best nine in 6.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs (three total) on six hits.

UVU and USF split two games at the Lobo Invite, which faced several schedule changes due to a big snowstorm. The Wolverines won 3-1 on Friday to open the weekend.