STARKVILLE, Miss. – Utah Valley University and No. 21 Mississippi State split a Friday doubleheader with the Wolverines (5-8) winning the opener 2-1 in 11 innings. In the second game, the Bulldogs (9-6) scored three times in the eighth en route to a 4-2 win.
In the first game of the doubleheader, and the series, UVU tied the game in the ninth and then scored the game-winner in the 11th. Trailing 1-0 in the top of the ninth,
David Modler hit the second of two doubles in the game and later scored the tying run when
Callahan Moltzan drove him in on a fielder's choice.
In the 11th,
Trevor Howell walked to lead off and after a sacrifice by Modler and a wild pitch, stood at third with one out.
Trevor Peterson walked before
Jackson Overlund drove Howell in to give the Wolverines the 2-1 lead.
Josh Hatcher led off the bottom of the 11th with a base hit and moved to second on a sac bunt, but Drew Hill struck out the last two hitters, including Jake Mangum looking to end it, and picked up his third save.
The story early on was Bulldog starter Konnor Pilkington, who retired 16 straight batters to start the game, striking out 11 of the 16 including the side in both the second and fourth. Utah Valley got its first hit, and baserunner, with one out in the sixth when
Jake Berry singled into left-center.
Wolverine starter
Jake Mayer had another strong Friday start, lasting eight innings and striking out four while allowing one run on seven scattered hits.
Kaden Schmitt and Fabian Palacios combined to pitch two innings in relief of Mayer, with Palacios (1-0) picking up his first win in a Utah Valley uniform. Pilkington pitched seven shutout innings and finished with 12 strikeouts and surrendered just three hits.
In game two,
Jackson Cofer pitched seven solid innings and allowed just one run on three hits and left in line for the win. But Tanner Allen hit a game-tying double before a go-ahead, two-run home run from Luke Alexander to help Mississippi State picked up the split.
The Wolverines trailed 1-0 in the third when Howell delivered a two-out, RBI base hit up the middle to plate Berry and tie it at 1-1. Utah Valley took the lead in the sixth, rallying after there were two outs and nobody on behind another double from Modler and an RBI single from Peterson.
The teams will take Saturday off with heavy rain in the forecast and will play the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT/noon MT.
