SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Jake Mayer lasted 7.2 innings and Utah Valley University had a trio of players hit solo home runs in the sixth inning in a 3-2 win over Sacramento State for a key WAC series win on Sunday at John Smith Field. The win ties the Wolverines (28-19, 13-8) with the Hornets (26-21, 13-8) for third in the WAC standings with six games to go and assures UVU of a berth in the WAC Tournament in Mesa, Arizona.
 
Mayer, starting in place of Jackson Cofer, moved to 7-1 on the season while Kyle Valgardson go the final four outs to pick up his seventh save.
 
"For Jake to come in in a spot start for us and pitch the way he did was awesome. And Kyle's always good for us in the big situations. Our pitching was good all weekend," said UVU head coach Eric Madsen.
 
Down 1-0 in the sixth, Zac Willis tied the game with a solo home run to left. Greyson Bogden gave the Wolverines the lead on the next pitch, with a no-doubter to left for the back-to-back round trippers. The home runs tied Willis and Bogden for the team lead with six, but two batters later Craig Brinkerhoff would reclaim team-high honors with a shot just left of center for his seventh of the season, giving UVU a 3-1 lead.
 
The Hornets got a run back in the eighth when Andrew McWilliam hit his fifth home run of the season. The home run chased Mayer, who allowed two runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Valgardson came on and, after a walk, got Matt Smith to fly out to left center to end the eighth before pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.                                      
 
The Wolverines will now play their final four home contests of the season beginning with the series finale and rubber match against BYU on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT. UVU then hosts the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in a WAC series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. MT.