OREM, Utah – Greyson Bogden went 4-for-5 with a double and three runs batted in as Utah Valley University beat the University of Utah for the second time in less than a week, 10-4, on Tuesday night in front of 3,722 fans at Brent Brown Ballpark.
Jordan Schlehuber added three hits and scored three runs and
Paul Estrada joined Bogden with three RBIs for the Wolverines (16-14), who clinched the season series against the Utes (10-15), who were coming off of a weekend sweep of Arizona and are tied for the Pac 12 lead with a 7-2 record. The win also moved Utah Valley to 6-2 against Pac 12 schools so far this season.
"We competed and came up with some big hits which we haven't been able to do lately," said UVU head coach
Eric Madsen. "Our pitchers did a good job today and the bullpen came in and shut the game down for us. When you pitch like that and play with a little passion things work out. To win the series against a good Utah team is very good and our guys should be commended for it."
Utah Valley trailed 4-1 midway through the contest before scoring two in the fifth, three in the sixth and four in the seventh.
Bogden singled home the first run of the game in the third, driving home Schlehuber on a single to left before Kellen Marruffo hit a tape measure, two-run home run in the fourth to put the Utes in front 2-1.
After Utah added two in the fifth to make it 4-1, Utah Valley got two back in the bottom of the inning.
Stone Ramsey scored on a balk before
Spencer Gothberg singled to score Bogden and get UVU within a run, 4-3.
The Wolverines took the lead in the sixth, scoring three times to go ahead 6-3.
Justin Erlandson doubled home
Jeff Arens, tying the game at 4-4. Estrada drove in the go-ahead RBI on a groundout to second and Bogden delivered a two-out single to score Schlehuber and make it 6-4.
Schlehuber's third hit of the day drove in Arens in the seventh, giving Utah Valley a 7-4 lead. Estrada followed with a two-run triple to right and Bogden doubled home another run for the final 10-4 tally.
Jake Mayer picked on the win on the mound after pitching 1.2 innings in relief and striking out three. It was the fifth straight scoreless appearance for Mayer, who improved to 2-1 on the season. Hunter Rodriguez (1-1) took the loss for Utah.
The Wolverines finished with 13 hits while five UVU pitchers limited Utah to six hits while striking out nine. Mayer,
Logan Hold,
Garrett Bowman and
Marco Briones combined to allow just two hits over the final 4.2 scoreless innings. The Utes used six pitchers on the night and had 10 strikeouts but also walked seven.
Utah Valley and Utah will play one more time this season, on April 19 in Salt Lake City.
The Wolverines will wrap up their current seven-game homestand this weekend when Northern Colorado comes to Brent Brown Ballpark for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. MT.
