• Utah Valley University wraps up its slate of 18 straight road contests to start the season this weekend with a three-game series at UC Irvine. The series begins Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MT and can be heard live on GoUVU.com.
• The Wolverines dropped their first midweek game of the year on Tuesday at BYU. UVU led 3-2 in the sixth but the Cougars scored four in the sixth, two in the seventh and one more in the eighth to win 9-3. Jackson Overlund had two of UVU's three hits including a double, an RBI and a run scored. Pacen Hayes also doubled home a run for the Wolverines.
• Last week, UVU won the opener of a three-game series at No. 21 Mississippi State over the weekend. The Bulldogs took the last two games however, by narrow scores of 4-2 and 5-3.
• In the Wolverine win, a ninth-inning run forced extra innings before a run in the top of the 11th helped propel UVU to a 2-1 win in just the second game all-time against an SEC program. The Bulldogs moved up to No. 19 in this week's D1Baseball poll.
• The series at Mississippi State marked just the second time a Utah Valley team will play an SEC program. The first was at LSU in the 2016 Baton Rouge Regional. It was also the first time UVU will play a series against an SEC school.
• David Modler was named the WAC Hitter of the Week, a first for Utah Valley this season and the first since the 2016 season. Modler hit .455 with four doubles and four runs scored in the series at Mississippi State.
• Jake Mayer logged his fourth straight quality start to begin the season, lasting 8.0 innings and allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out four. So far, Mayer has recorded 26 strikeouts in 29 innings and limited batter to just a .181 average, giving up only 19 hits so far.

ON DECK
UVU opens WAC play next  Friday, March 23 against Northern Colorado. It's also the home opener for the Wolverines at UCCU Ballpark.  


ABOUT THE 'EATERS
UC Irvine enters the weekend at 9-6 following a split of four games at Portland over the weekend. Sophomore right-hander -- and Friday night starter -- Andrew Pallante earned his second Big West Pitcher of the Week honor after tossing eight innings in a 3-0 shutout of Portland. Palllante is currently 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA and ranks in the Top 30 nationally with 35 strikeouts while limiting batters to a .172 batting average against. 

Offensively, Brendan Brooks and Ryan Fitzpatrrick are both batting a team-best .340. Fitzpatrick also has five doubles and 13 RBIs, also both team-highs. The series marks the first all-time meeting between UVU and UC Irvine.