OREM, Utah – Fresh off of winning three of its last four ballgames, the Utah Valley University baseball team will close its regular season by heading to Edinburg, Texas, for three league games at UT Rio Grande Valley in pursuit of locking up a spot for next week's WAC Baseball Tournament. 
 
The final series will run Thursday to Saturday, May 16-18, at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg. Games one and two will both begin at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT, while Saturday's regular season finale will take place at 11 a.m. MT/noon CT. All three games of the final series will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network 
 
UVU (14-36, 9-15 WAC) will enter the final series of the 2019 regular season with a magic number of one, as the Wolverines either need to win one game or have Seattle U lose one game in its final series at Northern Colorado to clinch a bid. The Wolverines will enter the final weekend tied for sixth in the WAC standings with CSU Bakersfield with identical 9-15 conference records, while UTRGV is currently tied for fourth with a 16-8 clip. The top six eligible teams will advance to the WAC Tournament (California Baptist is ineligible as it is currently in a four-year transitional period from Division II to Division I competition). To view the WAC Baseball standings, visit WACSports.com.
 
"These past few games have been great for our team as well as for the guys' confidence," head UVU coach Eric Madsen said. "We still have work to do, however, as we need to head to UTRGV and get some wins. We're looking forward to the challenge and I'm excited for our guys."
 
The Wolverines took a key series over then first-place Sacramento State last weekend and followed that up with a hard fought 20-13 come-from-behind non-conference victory over Pac-12 foe Washington State in UVU's home finale on Tuesday night. With Utah Valley trailing 13-5, senior Michael Beltran helped jumpstart UVU's offense with a three-run home run to left to in the sixth to make it 13-8. The Wolverines then followed that up with an eight-run seventh to take a 16-13 lead, and capped the scoring with four insurance runs in the eighth to claim the 20-13 win. In the late innings, UVU scored 15 unanswered runs en route to driving in a season-high 20 runs and recording its second win of the season over a Pac-12 opponent.
 
Freshman Mick Madsen led Utah Valley in Tuesday's contest by going 3-for-5 and driving home a season-high five runs, while Beltran followed by going 3-for-4 in his final home game with four RBIs and three runs scored. Fellow senior Trevor Howell – the reigning WAC Hitter of the Week – too had a big final home game by going 2-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI. Howell was named the WAC Hitter of the Week on Monday after going 7-for-14 in the series win over Sac State with two home runs, two doubles and three RBIs. 
 
Freshman reliever Logan Petet earned his first collegiate win on the mound against Washington State by pitching a pair of scoreless innings late in the ballgame. 
 
Senior Ryan Eastburn leads UVU offensively on the season with a .338 average and a .453 on-base percentage. Fellow senior Beltran is right behind him with a .337 clip and leading the way in runs scored (43), triples (4) and walks (30), while Alexander Marco paces the team in the power numbers with six homers, 13 doubles and 38 RBIs. Paxton Schultz has been UVU's top starting pitcher on the year with a 4.59 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched. His 84 strikeouts are good enough to rank him third in the WAC. 
 
Senior right-hander Jake Carr is scheduled to start on the mound for UVU on Thursday, while Schultz will get the ball in game two and senior righty Walker Ramsey in game three. 
 
ABOUT UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
UTRGV will enter the series with a 31-19 overall record and in a tie for fourth in the league standings with a 16-8 mark. The Vaqueros were in a three-way tie for first a week ago before dropping two of three at CSU Bakersfield to now sit two games back of New Mexico State for first as well as a game back of California Baptist and Grand Canyon for second. After going 8-16 to take seventh in the WAC a season ago, UTRGV has had a breakout season in 2019 by claiming league series over GCU, CBU, Seattle U, Northern Colorado and Chicago State. The Vaqueros were picked to tie for fifth in the WAC this season. 
 
Anthony Gomez leads UT Rio Grande Valley at the plate on the year with a .317 average and 46 RBIs. Conrado Diaz is right behind him with a .314 clip and a team-high 11 doubles, while Christian Sepulveda leads the way in homers with nine and runs scored with 42. Thursday's scheduled starter Trevelle Hill leads the team on the mound with a 7-4 win-loss record, a 3.56 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 83.1 innings of work. 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UTRGV
Thursday's opener will mark the 33rd all-time meeting between the Wolverines and the Vaqueros. UVU will enter play holding to a 23-9 all-time lead after taking two of three a season ago at home. Utah Valley has actually won seven of the last nine meetings between the two conference foes, which includes a three-game sweep in Edinburg in 2017. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
With at least one win over the weekend, the Wolverines will qualify for the 2019 WAC Baseball Tournament that will be held May 22-26 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. UVU will most likely enter as the fifth or sixth seed and will open play on Wednesday, May 22 at either 3 p.m. MDT/2 p.m. MST or 7 p.m. MDT/6 p.m. MST.