SEATTLE – Senior right-hander
Jesse Schmit struck out eight over seven scoreless innings en route to leading Utah Valley University to a 7-0 shutout victory over the University of Washington in game one of a four-game weekend series at Husky Ballpark on Friday night in Seattle.
The seven-inning outing marked a season high for Schmit while the eight strikeouts tied a season high. The UVU offense also had a nice day at the plate by banging out a season-best 13 hits led by a 4-for-5 outing from
Mitch Moralez.
UVU improves to 4-10 on the year with the victory, while the Pac-12 Huskies – who are currently receiving votes for the NCBWA top 30 poll – drop to 7-5 with the loss.
"Jesse was great tonight. It was another really good performance from him on the mound," head UVU coach
Eric Madsen said. "
Mitch Moralez was good for us again offensively and it was nice to see us compete to get a win in the opener. We had a lot of guys step up tonight."
Scoreless in the third,
Garrett Broussard singled with one away and Moralez followed with a two-out single to right to bring Broussard all the way around to make it 1-0. After a
Kade Poulsen single and a
Drew Sims walk loaded the bases,
Pacen Hayes then worked an RBI walk to bring in Moralez and extend UVU's advantage to 2-0. With the bases still full of Wolverines,
Alexander Marco then delivered the big blow in the frame with a two-run double to left center to make it 4-0.
After previously retiring the side in order in the second, the starter Schmit continued to look strong on the mound for the Wolverines by facing the minimum in both the fourth and sixth frames to keep it 4-0.
With Schmit still dealing on the mound, the Huskies then looked to get something going in the seventh by collecting a trio of one-out singles to load the bases. The UVU right-hander responded, however, by recording back-to-back strikeouts to escape the jam and keep it a 4-0 ballgame.
In the top of the eighth, UVU managed to manufacture an insurance run to make it 5-0. Poulsen started the inning by getting hit by a pitch and Sims followed by dropping down a sacrifice bunt to move Poulsen into scoring position. With one out and a runner on second, Hayes then collected his second RBI of the contest by driving in Poulsen with a single to left to extend UVU's lead to 5-0.
After UVU reliever
Cole Yocum did a nice job of pitching out of trouble to keep the Huskies off of the board in the last of the eighth, the Wolverines looked for more runs in the ninth by loading the bases with just one away. Following consecutive one-out singles from Broussard,
Connor Hall and Moralez, Poulsen then worked a bases loaded walk to bring in Broussard and make it 6-0. Sims then added another insurance run by driving in Hall with a sacrifice fly to center to extend UVU's lead to 7-0.
Yocum then did a nice job of pitching around an error in the bottom of the ninth to preserve UVU's second shutout in its last three ballgames.
Schmit scattered six hits while striking out eight and walking just one over 7.0 innings to improve to 2-0 on the season with the victory, while UW's David Rhodes drops to 1-2. Schmit leads the Wolverines on the year in wins (2), ERA for a starting pitcher (1.08), innings pitched (25.0), strikeouts (27) and opponent batting average (.153).
Moralez recorded his first four-hit game in a UVU uniform to lead the way at the plate. He was one of five Wolverines to collect multiple hits on the day, as Poulsen went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, Hayes went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Marco went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Broussard finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Sims also drove in a run on the day for the Wolverines.
Seven different players tallied a hit apiece in the game to lead the way for UW.
The four-game weekend series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT at Husky Ballpark. The series will then conclude on Sunday at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT. The games will be streamed live on Pac-12.com (Washington Live Stream-2).
