OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University used a bases-loaded hit batter to walk off in a 15-14 slugfest against Northern Colorado in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader at UCCU Ballpark.
Skyler Davis was hit by the first pitch he saw with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, forcing in
Jackson Overlund to end the four-hour and nine-minute marathon. Davis reached base five times, finishing 2-for-3 and driving in three runs and scoring twice.
The 15 runs on 21 hits were both season highs for the Wolverines (8-12, 1-1), who had eight of the nine starters all with at least one hit and seven of those with multi-hit games. The top five hitters in the lineup combined to go 16-for-25 (.640) in the game with
Trevor Howell collecting four hits.
David Modler,
Trevor Peterson, Overlund, and
Ryan Eastburn all had three-hit games.
The Bears (15-9, 1-1) finished with 17 hits with Jack Pauley and Dean Lawson both finishing with three hits. Lawson homered, as did Cole Maltese, while Pauley finished with three RBIs.
Utah Valley trailed 5-2 in the second before a 10-run inning made it 12-5. In the inning, the Wolverines sent 14 hitters to the plate with both Davis and Modler collecting two hits apiece during a nine-hit frame. Modler had two RBIs, one on each base hit with Davis driving home two runs on a double in his second at-bat of the inning. Peterson had an RBI double, Overlund drove in two runs with a base hit, while
Kade Poulsen and
Michael Beltran also had RBI base hits.
Maltese hit a two-run home run as part of a three-run fourth for Northern Colorado before Howell singled home a run in the bottom of the fourth, plating Beltran and giving UVU a 13-8 lead. Eastburn later drove in his third run of the game with a base hit that brought home Modler in the seventh inning.
Northern Colorado used a big rally in the eighth, tying the game with six runs in the inning. 12 hitters stepped up to the plate in the inning with Matt Zoba's infield single eventually tying the game with two outs.
Jake Carr (2-1) got the win after 1.2 scoreless innings in relief while Anthony Brady (0-2) took the loss.
