OREM, Utah – The bats were hot for the Utah Valley University baseball team as it scored runs in five of the eight innings it was at the plate, and defeated Texas Rio Grande Valley 10-1 on Friday night at UCCU Ballpark.
 
Utah Valley improved to 10-14 overall and 3-2 in WAC play with the victory. It also evened up the series with the Vaqueros 1-1. The Wolverines recorded 14 hits for the game including three triples which is the most in one game since the 2015 season. UVU's 10 runs came on nine RBI's.
 
"Our offense has really been working hard with coach (David) Carter and coach (Derek) Amicone and today it showed. We did a good job of sticking to a plan against a very talented pitcher," said UVU head coach Eric Madsen. "Walker did a good job and we had a couple great defensive plays. Now we just have to come out and take care of business tomorrow."
 
The UVU offense got off to a fast start as Trevor Howell jacked a leadoff triple on the first pitch he saw. David Modler brought him home on a sacrifice fly to the center-field wall in the next Utah Valley at bat. Howell again led off the third inning with a hit and Modler singled to advance him to third. Trevor Peterson then singled to left field to score the pair of runners, and after advancing to second base on an error, Ryan Eastburn grounded out to first but picked up the RBI as Peterson crossed home plate.
 
Utah Valley tacked on another run in the fourth as Howell singled to center field to bring home Drew Sims. The Wolverines then broke the game open as Peterson opened the fifth with a double and Jackson Overlund scored him with an RBI triple. A base knock from Eastburn brought Overlund home, and Pacen Hayes recorded a sacrifice fly a few batters later to make the score 8-0.
 
Walker Ramsey put in a quality start for Utah Valley as he went six innings and gave up only one earned run. The junior pitcher struck out five batters while only walking two on the way to earning the win on the night. Jake Carr came on in relief in the seventh inning to strike out seven batters of his own and record the three-inning save.
   
UTRGV finally put one run on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, but UVU responded with two more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
 
The series will conclude on Saturday, March 31. The first pitch is slated for 12 p.m. and the contest can be viewed via the WAC Digital Network. Live stats and updates can be followed at GoUVU.com.