MESA, Ariz. – Mark Krueger homered and Jackson Cofer pitched into the eighth inning as Utah Valley University held off New Mexico State, 3-2, on Thursday to move onto the WAC Tournament semifinal game. The Wolverines (35-21) have won a season high five straight and will face regular season champion Seattle University on Friday at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT at Hohokam Stadium.
 
Krueger hit a two-run home run in the fourth, his sixth of the season, and Cofer pitched 7.1 innings and allowed just one run on eight hits while striking out a season-high eight batters. It's the second straight season Cofer has put together a superb start for the Wolverines in the WAC Tournament. He lasted 7.1 innings last year without allowing an earned run in a win over Sacramento State.
 
"What a great job by Jackson Cofer. I thought our guys were tough throughout the day. We faced a good arm and they're a very good club," said UVU head coach Eric Madsen. "I'm really pleased with how we battled and are playing right now."
 
"I just went out there and competed like every other start and was fortunate to have the guys behind me," Cofer said. "We put enough runs on the board to come out with the 'W'. This was a really important game, all of them are, but it was good to get that second win out of the way."
 
Kyle Valgardson notched his ninth save of the season, retiring the side in order in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts. He got Jaron Balman swinging to end the game to defeat the No. 2 seed Aggies (32-22). NM State will face CSU Bakersfield on Friday at 11 a.m. PT in an elimination game.
 
Cofer escaped a jam in the first inning when New Mexico State had runners at first and third and nobody out. He got a shallow fly ball to right, a foul out, and a strikeout to keep the Aggies off the board.
 
The Wolverines looked poised to score in the third when Zac Willis drove the ball to deep right-center with Trevor Howell on first. Aggie centerfielder Daniel Johnson, the WAC Player of the Year, made a diving catch to rob Willis of extra bases and also doubled off Howell to end the inning.
 
With one out in the fourth, Craig Brinkerhoff walked before Krueger's home run gave the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. A two-out base hit by Jordan Schlehuber later in the inning scored Jake Atkinson and gave Utah Valley a 3-0 lead.
 
In the seventh, the Aggies put runners on the corners with no outs and for the second time, Cofer escaped unscathed. He struck out Joseph Koerper for the first out before Brent Sakurai hit into an inning-ending 6-5-3 double play. New Mexico State got on the board with two in the eighth, on base hits by Dan Hetzel and LJ Hatch but Jake Mayer struck out Trey Stine with the tying run on third.

Schlehuber had three hits and an RBI and has driven in three runs so far in the tournament. Krueger and Brinkerhoff both added two hits for UVU. Johnson led New Mexico State with three hits. Cofer moved to 6-4 on the season with the win with Marcel Renteria (5-4) taking the loss after allowing three runs in 3.2 innings.

Seattle U scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Sacramento State in Thursday's late game. In the first game of the day, CSU Bakersfield eliminated Northern Colorado and will face New Mexico State at 11 a.m. PT on Friday in an elimination game. The winner of that game will face Sacramento State at 3 p.m. PT.