OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University baseball team will take a break from conference play for the first of two season meetings against the University of Utah on Tuesday night (April 16) at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
 
The Wolverines and Utes will square off in an in-state midweek matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Salt Lake City. Utah will then return the favor next Tuesday, April 23 when it will come and face UVU at UCCU Ballpark in Orem. 
 
Tuesday's first meeting of the season between the two clubs will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network and will also be streamed live at Pac-12.com/live. Live stats will also be available at UtahUtes.com com while live audio can be found at GoUVU.com.
 
UVU will enter Tuesday's contest with an 8-27 overall record and a 5-7 clip in WAC play after dropping two of three to Chicago State at home over the weekend. Behind an career-high 11-strikeout performance from Jake Carr and a seven-run eighth-inning, UVU went on to take the opener, 16-6 in eight innings, before dropping a pair of tightly contested games, 7-6 and 5-3 in 13 innings. 
 
In the series opener against CSU, the Wolverines held to a 9-6 lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning before they went on to put the game away via the run rule. Trevor Howell started the scoring in the big inning with a two-run triple while Ryan Eastburn and Mick Madsen followed with RBI hits. With one out and runners on second and third, Pacen Hayes then helped end the game with a walk-off run-rule RBI single to left to propel the Wolverines to the 16-6 win. 
 
Michael Beltran helped lead UVU in the victory with a 3-for-6 outing with a homer, a triple, three RBIs and four runs scored. Trevor Howell too had a three-hit game by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Carr earned his second win of the year after going a season-high 7.1 innings and striking out 11. 
 
After having a comeback fall just short in a 7-6 setback on Saturday, UVU then found itself deadlocked in a hard fought extra-inning contest in rubber match on Sunday. Entering the 13th-inning all tied up at 3-3, the Cougars then managed to manufacture a pair of runs to take a 5-3 lead. UVU then loaded the bases with two outs in the last of the 13th and had the tying run on second base, when CSU's Joe Baier came on and managed to get Drew Sims to pop-out to end the rally and the ballgame. 
 
Despite dropping the series, Howell had a big weekend by hitting .583 (7-for-12) with four extra-base hits, four RBIs and four runs scored. Alexander Marco was next by hitting .333 with a pair of RBIs while Beltran drove in four on the weekend with a homer and a triple. 
 
Eastburn leads UVU on the season with a .352 batting average, while Marco is right behind him with a .351 clip, and team-leading tallies of 11 doubles, six home runs and 28 RBIs. Paxton Schultz is Utah Valley's top pitcher with a 1-4 record, a 4.80 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 60.0 innings of work. 
 
Freshman left-hander Cole Yocum (1-0, 7.94) is slated to make his first career start for the Wolverines on Tuesday, while righty David Watson (0-0, 9.50 ERA) is scheduled to get the ball for the Utes. 
 
ABOUT UTAH
The Utes will enter the contest with a 10-19 overall record and a 3-12 mark in Pac-12 play. After dropping 12 conference games in a row, Utah responded by winning its first league series of the season at home against USC over the weekend. After falling 6-0 in the series opener, the Utes then responded by winning games two and three by identical scores of 5-4 to claim the series over the Trojans. Utah was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 this year after going 16-39 a season ago and 8-22 in conference play.
 
Oliver Dunn leads the Utes offensively on the season with a .353 batting average, 14 doubles, three triples and 31 runs scored. Erick Migueles and Zack Moeller pace the team in the power numbers with identical tallies of three home runs and 25 RBIs apiece. Reliever Jack Liffrig has the best pitching numbers with a 0-0 record and a 0.90 ERA in 10.0 innings of work while Kyle Robeniol fronts the starting staff with a 1-4 record and a 4.91 ERA. 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UTAH
Tuesday's game will mark the 54th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Utes. Utah will enter play holding to a slight 30-23 all-time advantage and a 16-10 mark in Salt Lake City. The Utes have also won each of the last three ballgames, which includes a two-game season sweep last year. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following Tuesday's game, UVU will return to Orem to host a three-game WAC series against the first-place New Mexico State Aggies this weekend at UCCU Ballpark (April 18-20). The series, which will begin on Thursday, will feature games on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. as well as the series finale on Saturday at noon.