OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University baseball team will continue non-conference play with a four-game series at Mountain West foe San José State this weekend in San José, California. 
 
The series will run Friday to Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1, at SJSU's Excite Ballpark in San José (Excite Ballpark doubles up as the home of the San José Giants, a Single A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants). Friday's opener is set for a 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT start, while Saturday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT. The series finale is then set for a 1 p.m. MT/noon PT start on Sunday. All four games will be streamed on the Mountain West Network as well as the Stadium App. 
 
UVU will enter the series with a 1-7 overall record after taking one of four at Portland of the West Coast Conference last weekend. The Wolverines won the opener, 6-2, before dropping the final three contests by respective scores of 6-5, 8-2 and 11-1. In Friday's first game of the doubleheader, the Wolverines held a 5-1 lead early in the ballgame, but the Pilots managed to reel off five late unanswered runs to compete a 6-5 come-from-behind victory. UVU then got outscored by a combined tally of 19-3 over the final two games of the weekend series.
 
In Thursday's win over Portland, senior Jesse Schmit pitched six scoreless innings and UVU jumped out to an early 6-0 lead en route to holding on for a 6-2 victory. The former closer and now right-hander starter Schmit allowed just three hits while strikeout out four and walking just one in another strong performance on the mound for the Wolverines. Junior second baseman Mitch Moralez led UVU on the day offensively by going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while sophomore third baseman Mick Madsen went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. 
 
In Friday's first game of the twin bill, UVU then scored three in the first and two more in the third to take an early 5-1 advantage. But UP responded with three runs of its own in the fifth, the tying run in the seventh and the go-ahead run in the eighth on its way to completing the come-from-behind win. Junior first baseman Pacen Hayes led Utah Valley in the game by going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored, while freshman shortstop Garrett Broussard went 2-for-4 with an RBI. 
 
Moralez led UVU in the Portland series by hitting .529 on the weekend (9-for-17) with three doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Senior outfielder Alexander Marco was next by batting .250 with three runs batted and a pair of walks. Schmit paced the pitching staff by going 1-0 after throwing six scoreless innings, while junior Pedro Perdomo and sophomore Logan Petet both also tossed a trio of scoreless innings of relief. 
 
On the season, Moralez leads the Wolverines at the plate with a .353 batting average, four doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored. Brossard is next with a .320 clip and three runs batted in. Schmit leads the Wolverine pitching staff with a 1-0 record, 1.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 12.0 innings of work. 
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
The right-hander Schmit is scheduled to start Friday's opener for UVU, junior righty Bobby Voortmeyer (0-1, 10.57 ERA) will then take the ball for UVU in Saturday's first game of the doubleheader. Junior right-hander Jaxson Otis (0-1, 7.56) is then scheduled to start Saturday's nightcap for UVU and sophomore righty Mason Gray (0-1, 11.37 ERA) will then start Sunday's finale for the Wolverines. SJSU's rotation will be announced at a later date.
 
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE
The Spartans (3-5) will enter the series off of a 13-10 four-hour midweek victory over San Francisco at home on Tuesday as well as off of a series win over the 2019 Big East champion Creighton Bluejays at Excite Ballpark last weekend. SJSU has won three straight after opening the 2020 season with five straight losses (four to Santa Clara and one to Creighton). San José State was picked to tie for sixth in the Mountain West this season after going 20-34 overall and taking sixth in the MW with a 13-17 clip a season ago. 
 
Ruben Ibarra leads SJSU offensively on the season with a .414 batting average, an impressive .724 slugging percentage, two home runs and five RBIs. Troy Viola is next with an even .300 clip, four doubles and three runs batted in. On the mound, Ben Polack is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 6.0 innings of work, while reliever Jonathan Clark is 1-1 with a 2.89 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SJSU
Friday's opener will mark just the second all-time meeting between UVU and SJSU. The Spartans will enter holding to a 1-0 series lead after pulling out a 6-5 come-from-behind win in the lone meeting on March 9, 2008 in Sacramento. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will next return to the state of Utah for a crosstown midweek matchup against neighboring rival BYU on Tuesday, March 3 at 5 p.m. at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo. UVU will then play four-game at Pac-12 foe Washington next weekend (March 6-8), before hosting Air Force for the 2020 home opening midweek set on March 10 and 11 at UCCU Ballpark.