HILLSBORO, Ore. – Utah Valley University jumped out to a 6-0 lead and got six scoreless innings from starter Jesse Schmit on its way to pulling out a 6-2 win over the University of Portland in the series opener on Thursday afternoon at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon. 
 
The win marks UVU's first of the 2020 campaign, as the Wolverines improve to 1-4 on the young season. Portland, who swept Nevada last weekend, drops to 3-1 on the year with the loss.
 
"It was another good outing by Jesse today. He controlled the game for us and allowed us to score a few runs early," head coach Eric Madsen said. "I was also pleased with our offense for taking advantage of some scoring opportunities and doing a nice job for us at the plate."

After a scoreless first, the Wolverines were the first to get things going with a run in the second to take a 1-0 advantage. Pacen Hayes started the rally with a one-double double to center and later came around to score the first run of the game on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Mick Madsen. 
 
UVU then added two more runs in the third and three more in the fourth to take a comfortable 6-0 lead. After a leadoff single from Garrett Broussard and back-to-back bunt singles from Connor Hall and Mitch Moralez, Utah Valley quickly loaded the bases with nobody out in the third. Alexander Marco then drove home the first run of the frame with a sacrifice fly to right to right and Drew Sims promptly followed with an RBI groundout on the right side of the infield to make it 3-0. 
 
Jeff Arens then tripled to leadoff the fourth and Madsen reached on an error to drive him in and make it 4-0. Another error then allowed Andrew Hacker to reach and put two on with nobody out. Following a pair of strikeouts, the freshman Moralez delivered a two-out, two-run single to center to extend UVU's lead to 6-0. 
 
After striking out eight and taking a no decision in his first start of the season last week, the senior right-hander Schmit (1-0) was good again for the Wolverines on Thursday by tossing six scoreless innings to earn his first win of the year. Schmit surrendered just three hits on the day while striking out four and walking just one. The former UVU closer faced the minimum in both the second and the third innings and did a nice job of escaping jams in the first, fifth and sixth frames.  
 
Still 6-0 in the ninth, the Pilots managed to drive in a pair of late unearned runs, but it wasn't enough as UVU reliever Logan Petet did what he needed to do to escape the jam and help preserve the victory for the Wolverines. After an error and a fielder's choice put two on, Ethan Smith drove in UP's first run of the game with an RBI double to center to make it 6-1. With runners on second and third and one away, Henry Cheney then followed with a sac fly to bring home Portland's second run. With two away and a runner on third, Petet then got Jake Holcroft to flyout to center to end the ballgame. 
 
The southpaw reliever Petet was credited with his first save of the season for UVU after pitching the final three innings of the contest. After tossing scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, he then allowed a pair of unearned runs in the ninth on his way to earning the three-inning save. UP's Nate Packard (0-1) suffered the defeat on the mound after allowing four earned runs (six total) over 3.0 innings of work. 
 
Moralez led UVU offensively on the day by going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Madsen went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Marco and Sims both also drove in runs for UVU in the contest. 
 
The non-conference series is being contested at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, as UP's Joe Etzel Field is currently undergoing renovations.
 
The Wolverines and Pilots will continue the four-game weekend series with a doubleheader at Ron Tonkin Field on Friday beginning at noon MT/11 a.m. PT. The series finale will then be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT.