SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Valley University baseball found itself on the wrong end of an 11-5 midweek contest to in-state foe University of Utah on Tuesday night at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
 
The contest marked the first of two season meetings between the in-state foes, as the Pac-12 Utes (11-19) will come to UCCU Ballpark to face the Wolverines (8-28) in Orem next Tuesday.
 
UVU loaded the bases in the top of the second with one away and looked to get on the board first but Utah's David Watson managed to pitch out of the jam to keep it scoreless. The Utes' offense then responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-0 advantage. 
 
The Wolverines then had another opportunity to score in the third with two on and two out, but Utah's Briley Knight made a great play on a deep flyball up against the wall in left off the bat of Alexander Marco to keep it a 2-0 game. The Utes then got a leadoff double from Zack Moeller followed by a two-run homer down the rightfield line off the bat of Erick Migueles to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the third. 
 
Utah then tacked on three more runs in the last of the fifth to extend its lead to 7-0. Shea Kramer, Chandler Anderson and Matt Richardson all recorded RBIs in the inning for the Utes. 
 
The Wolverines then loaded the bases with two away in the sixth following a trio of walks and Kade Poulsen managed to work the fourth walk of the frame for UVU to score Michael Beltran and make it 7-1. Jake Kirchhoff then delivered a two-out RBI single to center and Howell promptly followed with a two-run single through the left side to make it a 7-4 contest. Utah reliever Austin Moore then managed to record a strikeout to send it to the last of the sixth. 
 
The Utes didn't waste any time answering, however, as they countered right back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh to extend their advantage to 11-4. 
 
Pacen Hayes then reached with a leadoff single to right in the eighth and later came around to score on an RBI double down the leftfield line from Kirchhoff to make it 11-5. 
 
In all, UVU stranded a total of nine runners on the base paths in the ballgame. 
 
Kirchhoff and Howell led the way for the Wolverines offensively on the night by each recording two hits and driving in a pair of runs apiece. Hayes too had a two-hit game for UVU by going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Migueles paced the Utes with a 2-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs.
 
UVU used a total of six pitchers in the game and Cole Yocum (1-1) was tagged with his first defeat of the year after allowing two runs over 2.0 innings of work. Spenser Triplett, Travis Parker, Blake Zeleny, Kohl Hostert and Kevin McConnell also all saw action on the mound for the Wolverines. Watson (1-0) earned the win for Utah after pitching 4.0 scoreless innings of work. 
 
The ballgame marked the fourth straight win for Utah against Utah Valley as well as the Utes' third consecutive victory on the season after taking the series over USC last weekend. 
 
The contest marked the first of two season meetings between the Wolverines and Utes. UVU and Utah will play again next Tuesday, April 23 at UCCU Ballpark in Orem.  
 
The Wolverines will now return home for a three-game WAC series against New Mexico State beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. at UCCU Ballpark. The Aggies are currently tied for first in the conference standings. Thursday's opener will mark the first of a four straight home games for Utah Valley.