UPDATE: Sunday's (April 14) series finale this weekend between UVU and CSU has been moved up to a 10 a.m. MT start to accommodate Chicago State's flight home later that afternoon.
OREM, Utah – Fresh off of a five-game over five-day road trip in Colorado, the Utah Valley University baseball team returns home to host Chicago State for a three-game WAC series this weekend at UCCU Ballpark (April 12-14).
The series will begin with a Friday night contest at 6 p.m. Game two will then take place on Saturday at 2 p.m., and the weekend series will conclude on Sunday at 10 a.m.
All three games will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network. Live stats and live audio will also be available for all three contests by visiting GoUVU.com.
The Wolverines will enter the weekend with a 7-25 overall record and a 4-5 clip in WAC play after taking two of three at Northern Colorado last weekend. UVU won the first two games of the series, 9-6 & 5-4, before falling in game three, 11-10. Utah Valley then capped the trip by dropping a pair of midweek non-conference slugfests at Air Force by scores of 16-15 and 12-9.
In the WAC series at UNC, Utah Valley took the first two games behind strong outings on the mound from starters
Jake Carr and
Paxton Schultz. Carr struck out seven over a season-high 7.0 innings in game one, before Schultz fanned nine over 6.2 innings in game two.
Pacen Hayes also had a strong performance at the plate for UVU in Friday's series opener by going 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, while
Ryan Eastburn led the way in game two with a 3-for-4 outing and two runs batted in.
Despite holding a 10-8 lead in the eighth inning of Sunday's finale, Northern Colorado managed to score a trio of runs on the bottom of the eighth on its way to salvaging a game in the series. Eastburn continued his strong stretch at the plate by tying a UVU single-game school record with five hits in the game by going 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles, three runs batted in and a run scored.
In Monday's non-conference opener at Air Force, Utah Valley managed to overcome a 14-6 deficit and take a late 15-14 advantage behind a seven-run seventh along with a go-ahead two-run double from
Mick Madsen in the eighth. But in the end it wasn't enough, as AFA's Ashton Easley belted out a walk-off two-run homer in the last of the ninth to propel the Falcons to the game one victory. Air Force then followed that up by holding on to a 12-9 win on Tuesday to sweep the two-game midweek series.
There was no shortage of offense in the brief two-game set at Air Force, as UVU and AFA combined to score 52 runs and bang out 59 hits. Both teams also combined to draw a total of 42 free passes and strand a total of 43 runners on the base paths over the two games.
Eastburn led the Wolverines on the trip by posting a .571 average (12-for-21) with three doubles, five RBIs, five runs scored and five walks.
Michael Beltran too had a strong trip by hitting .409 with six runs scored, while Hayes hit .350 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
Eastburn will enter this weekend's series leading the way offensively for UVU on the season with a .414 average and a current 12-game hitting streak.
Alexander Marco is next with a .352 clip and team-high tallies of 11 doubles, six homers and 26 RBIs. Schultz paces the Wolverines on the mound with a 1-3 record, a 4.58 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 53.0 innings.
Carr is scheduled to start game one on the mound for UVU this weekend, while Schultz will get the ball in game two and fellow right-hander
Walker Ramsey in game three.
ABOUT CHICAGO STATE
The Cougars will come to Orem with an 8-21 overall record and a 3-6 mark in WAC play. After dropping the first two games at UT Rio Grande Valley last weekend, Chicago State responded to pull out a pitcher's duel in game three, 1-0. A trio of Cougar pitchers combined to allow just three hits en route to shutting out the Vaqueros. CSU has taken one of three in all three of its WAC series on the season with other league wins over Northern Colorado and the second-place New Mexico State Aggies. Chicago State was picked to finish 10th in the WAC this season after going 13-41 overall and 7-17 in conference play.
Matt Sullivan leads Chicago State offensively on the year with a .295 batting average, eight doubles and 19 RBIs. Gabriel Coburn is next with a .291 clip. Last Sunday's winning pitcher, Rodny Valdes, leads CSU's pitching staff with a 1-0 record and a 1.64 ERA in 11.0 innings of work. Left-hander Vinnie Venturi is scheduled to pitch game one, while right-hander Brett Gregory is slated to take the ball in game two, and Valdes will start game three.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CHICAGO STATE
Friday's opener will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Cougars. UVU holds a commanding a 30-5 all-time advantage, but CSU has won three of the last four games after taking two of three in Chicago a season ago. In Orem, UVU also holds a 14-2 all-time advantage at UCCU Ballpark.
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the series, the Wolverines will next head to Salt Lake City for the first of two season meetings against the University of Utah on Tuesday, April 16 at Smith's Ballpark. Following the midweek game at Utah, UVU will return home to open a four-game homestand April 18-20 when New Mexico State comes to town.
