LOS ANGELES – A four-run seventh inning helped USC come from behind to edge Utah Valley University, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Dedeaux Field. The decision evened the three-game weekend series with the rubber match slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT.
 
The Wolverines (1-1) led 4-0 before the Trojans (1-1) used the long ball to notch their first win of the season. Lars Nootbaar hit a solo home run in the fifth before Matthew Acosta delivered the game-winning, three-run blast in the seventh.
 
Jackson Cofer pitched well, surrendering just one run on four hits and striking out a pair in 5.1 innings and was in line for the win when he left the game.
 
Utah Valley scored first for the second day in a row, pushing three runs across in the top of the second. The Wolverines had the bases full and one down when – like in Friday's opener -- Paul Estrada delivered the game's first RBI on a hit. After an RBI triple on Friday night, Estrada singled home Callahan Moltzan to make it 1-0. UVU scored two more when David Modler and Trevor Howell each worked back-to-back walks to force in two more runs and give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.
 
Trevor Peterson gave Utah Valley a 4-0 lead in the fourth on a chopper behind the mound with the bases loaded and two outs. Estrada, who singled with one out, came in on the infield single from Peterson.
 
Nootbaar got the Trojans in the scoring column with a solo home run in the fifth. That came one batter after Chase Bushor singled down the third-base line but was cut down at second by Jake Berry, when he tried to stretch it into a double.
 
Cofer was chased in the sixth with one down and two men aboard, but Jake Carr was able to strand both runners and keep it a 4-1 UVU lead. Paxton Schultz, who surrendered the home run as his only run allowed, suffered the loss in 2.0 innings of work.
 
In the seventh, USC took advantage of a hit batter and two walks to load the bases with nobody out. After a wild pitch allowed one run to score, Acosta delivered the three-run home run to right. It was the only hit of the inning for the Trojans.
 
John Beller pitched a scoreless seventh and picked up the win while Connor Lunn worked around a leadoff base hit by Michael Beltran in the ninth, striking out a pair to pick up the save.
 
Estrada and Trevor Howell had two hits apiece as Utah Valley finished with nine hits, out-hitting the Trojans for the second straight day. Blake Sabol had two hits for USC while Nootbaar finished 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.