SEATTLE – Jaxson Otis went the distance on the mound on his way to leading Utah Valley University baseball to a 1-0 seven-inning shutout victory over the University of Washington to split a Saturday doubleheader at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.
 
After dropping a 5-1 contest earlier in the day, the junior right-hander Otis helped the Wolverines (5-11) respond by allowing just three hits while striking out three and walking one to earn his first victory and first shutout in a UVU uniform. The transfer from Salt Lake Community College improved to 1-2 on the young season after helping UVU record its second shutout victory over the Pac-12 Huskies (8-6) on the weekend. The Wolverines will look to take the series over UW on Sunday.
 
Scoreless in the third, UVU would get a lead-off double from Mick Madsen but he would end up getting stranded at third base after a pair of flyouts.
 
Utah Valley would then push across the lone run of the game in the fourth. Mitch Moralez started the rally with a leadoff single. He would later steal second base with two outs in the frame and came around to score on a fielding error off of a hard-hit ball by Drew Sims to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
 
UW, who is currently receiving votes for the NCBWA top 30 poll, then got a one-out double from Will Simpson in the sixth but Otis did a nice job of pitching out of the jam by retiring the next two batters to keep it a 1-0 game. 
 
The Huskies then again got a runner on in the seventh thanks to a two-out error, but Otis completed the shutout by getting Braiden Ward to line out to right to end the seven-inning ballgame. 
 
Both teams only produced three hits apiece in the ballgame and the sophomore Madsen led the way for UVU by going 2-for-3 with a double. Moralez also reached base twice in the game with a single and a walk. 
 
Simpson paced the Huskies by going 1-for-3 with a double. 
 
UW starter Logan Gerling (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing the lone run of the game over 4.1 innings of work. 
 
The Wolverines and Huskies finish the four-game series on Sunday with a 2:05 p.m. MDT/1:05 p.m. PDT start. Mason Gray, who went 8.2 innings at San José State last weekend, will get the start for Utah Valley.