OREM, Utah – Fresh off of a midweek contest at in-state foe Utah on Tuesday, the Utah Valley University baseball team will return to UCCU Ballpark to welcome in the defending WAC Tournament champion New Mexico State Aggies for a three-game series this Thursday to Saturday (April 18-20). 
 
Thursday and Friday's games will both begin at 6 p.m. MT, while Saturday's finale will start at noon. Thursday's contest will be televised locally on UVU TV and all three games will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network. Live stats and live audio for the league series will also be available by visiting GoUVU.com.
 
UVU (8-28, 5-7 WAC) will enter the series having dropped three straight after falling in the first of two season meetings to the University of Utah on Tuesday night at Smith's Ballpark by a score of 11-5. The Wolverines also previously dropped the final two games of last weekend's conference series to Chicago State at home to enter a three-way tie for fifth place in the WAC standings with Grand Canyon and CSU with identical 5-7 records. Both GCU and Chicago State hold the tiebreaker over UVU, however, as the Wolverines dropped both series to the pair of WAC foes.  
 
New Mexico State will enter the weekend currently in a three-way tie for first in the WAC standings at 9-3 with Sacramento State and UT Rio Grande Valley. NM State has won four straight ballgames and won the WAC Tournament a season ago to advance to an NCAA Regional.
 
In Tuesday's midweek game at Utah, the Utes held a 7-0 lead before UVU countered back with a four-run sixth inning to make it a 7-4 game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Kade Poulsen worked a bases loaded walk for the first run of the frame. Jake Kirchhoff then followed with an RBI single to center while Trevor Howell capped the scoring in the inning with a two-run single through the left side to make it 7-4. 
 
The Utes then responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh to extend their lead to 11-4. UVU got a run back in the eighth on an RBI double to left from Kirchhoff, but it wasn't enough as Utah went on to pull out the in-state contest, 11-5. 
 
Kirchhoff and Howell led the way for the Wolverines offensively on Tuesday by each recording two hits and driving in a pair of runs apiece. Pacen Hayes too had a two-hit game for UVU by going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
 
Over the last five games, the senior shortstop Howell has been red hot at the plate for the Wolverines by hitting .650 during the stretch (13-for-20) with four doubles, a triple, a homer, nine RBIs and six runs scored. He has also recorded multiple hits in four of the five games, including a pair of 4-for-4 contests on April 9 at Air Force and April 13 versus Chicago State. Fellow senior Michael Beltran has also been consistent at the plate, as he will enter Thursday's series opener in the midst of the 10-game hitting streak. 
 
Ryan Eastburn fronts UVU on the season at the plate with a .351 average. Alexander Marco is next with a .338 clip and team-best tallies of 11 doubles, six homers and 28 RBIs. Beltran too holds a .329 batting average and leads the team in both runs scored (30) and triples (4). Paxton Schultz leads Utah Valley's starting rotation with a 1-4 record, a 4.80 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 60.0 innings of work. Jake Carr is right behind him in strikeouts with 51 over 48.1 innings.
 
A trio of right handers are scheduled to start on the mound this weekend for UVU. Carr, who earned the win in an 11-strikeout performance against CSU last weekend, will take the ball on Thursday, while Schultz will pitch game two and Walker Ramsey will start on Saturday.
 
ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
NM State is 26-9 overall and tied for first in the WAC standings with a 9-3 record. The Aggies have won four straight after sweeping Northern Colorado at home last weekend and topping in-state rival New Mexico in extra innings in Albuquerque on Tuesday. New Mexico State has won all four of its WAC series on the season by also taking two of three from CSU Bakersfield, Chicago State and Grand Canyon. The Aggies were picked to finish second in the league this season after going 40-22 and 17-7 in league play a year ago en route to winning the 2018 WAC Tournament title and heading to an NCAA Regional.
 
New Mexico State's prolific offense currently leads the nation in batting average (.365), hits (450), home runs (62), on-base percentage (.480), runs (404), scoring (11.5), slugging (.617), triples (23) and hit by pitch (83). The reigning WAC Freshman of the Year and Golden Spikes Award semifinalist Nick Gonzales leads the Aggies and the WAC with a .454 average. He also has 25 extra-base hits, 12 home runs, 58 RBIs and 55 runs scored. Joseph Ortiz is right behind him with a .433 clip and holds team-high tallies of 18 doubles and 63 RBIs. Tristan Peterson and Tristen Carranza lead the way in home runs with 14 apiece. Saturday's scheduled starter Chance Hroch is NMSU's top starting pitcher, as he is a perfect 7-0 and holds a team-best 2.90 ERA. 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NM STATE
Thursday's series opener will mark the 21st all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Aggies. NM State will enter play having won six straight to hold to an 11-9 advantage after sweeping the series in each of the past two seasons. The Aggies also hold a 4-2 all-time advantage in Orem. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the series, UVU will conclude a four-game homestand by welcoming Utah to town for the second and final season meeting on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. The Wolverines will then head to Bakersfield, California, next weekend (April 26-28) for a three-game WAC series at CSU Bakersfield.