OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University baseball team will cap a five-game homestand by welcoming Washington State to town for a midweek matchup on Wednesday evening at dōTERRA Field at UCCU Ballpark. 
 
The non-conference contest will begin on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network as well as the GoUVU channel on YouTube. Live audio will also be available by visiting GoUVU.com/Watch, and fans can follow live stats via UVUStats.com.
 
UVU will enter the midweek ballgame with a 5-19 overall record and a 3-9 WAC clip after taking one of four from the preseason favorite Grand Canyon Lopes at UCCU Ballpark over the weekend. GCU took the first two games of the series, 8-2 and 4-1, before the Wolverines responded to take the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader by a score of 4-3. The Lopes then went on to take Saturday's finale, 7-2, to claim the WAC series. 
 
In UVU's 4-3 victory over the Lopes, junior right-hander Bobby Voortmeyer had a strong start for the Wolverines by allowing just one unearned run on four hits over 6.0 solid innings of work on his way to earning his second straight win. Voortmeyer also struck out four and exited the game with UVU holding to a 4-1 lead. Fellow junior righty Jaxson Otis then came on and pitched the final three innings to earn his first save of the year. GCU scored a pair of runs in the seventh to make things interesting, but Otis and the UVU defense responded with a big double play in the eighth along with a diving catch from Jake Plecas in center in the ninth to help preserve the victory.
 
Trey Newman and Kade Poulsen both homered for UVU in Friday's win, while Garrett Broussard posted a 2-for-4 outing.
 
Jeff Arens led UVU offensively in the GCU series by batting .333 with five walks, a homer, a double, an RBI and a run scored. Freshmen Kyle Coburn and Newman were next by batting .286 and .250, respectively, while Poulsen hit out two home runs and drove in four runs on the weekend.
 
Mitch Moralez leads the Wolverines offensively on the season with a .292 batting average, 28 total hits, 11 runs scored and three stolen bases. Alexander Marco is next with a .278 clip and also leads the squad and the WAC with 12 doubles. He also has three home runs, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored. Poulsen is tied for the team lead in homers with three and tops the squad in RBIs with 14. Voortmeyer is UVU's top starting pitcher with a 2-3 record and a 3.58 ERA, while Mason Gray leads the way in strikeouts with 34 k's in 30.1 innings. 
 
WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Sophomore southpaw Cole Yocum (0-0, 10.80 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for UVU on Wednesday, while RHP Duke Brotherton will get the nod for Washington State (0-0, 19.29 ERA). It will mark the first start of the season for both pitchers. 
 
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
The Pac-12 Cougars will come to town with a 13-10 overall record and a 2-7 clip in Pac-12 play after claiming an extra-inning win over No. 24 Stanford over the weekend. Washington State is led by former New Mexico State head coach Brian Green who is in his second season of coaching in Pullman. The Cougars also hold a conference win over No. 18 Oregon State on the season, as well as non-conference wins over Dixie State (four), UC Davis (three), Seattle U (two), Portland (one) and UNLV (one). WSU was picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll after going 9-7 last year and going 11-42 overall in 2019 and finishing 11th in the Pac-12 that season with a 3-26 league record. 
 
Kyle Manzardo leads Washington State offensively with a .356 average and team-leading tallies of seven home runs, 10 doubles, 27 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Collin Montez is next with a .337 clip, and five homers, six doubles and 18 RBIs. Zane Mills is WSU's top starting pitcher, as he holds a 3-1 record, a 3.55 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 38 innings. As a team, WSU is batting .290 on the season and the pitching staff holds a 6.90 team ERA.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WASHINGTON STATE
Wednesday's contest will mark the 23rd all-time meeting between UVU and WSU. The Cougars will enter play holding to a 15-7 series advantage, but the Wolverines won the last meeting—at 20-13 midweek slugfest on May 14, 2019 at home. Wednesday's ballgame will also mark just the second all-time meeting between the two schools at UCCU Ballpark in Orem. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will return to the road for a four-game WAC series at UT Rio Grande Valley this weekend at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg, Texas. The series will run Friday to Sunday, April 9-11 and will get underway on Friday at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT. Following the series, UVU will return to Orem for a four-game league series against WAC newcomer Tarleton April 16-18 at UCCU Ballpark.  
 
TICKET INFORMATION 
Fans will be allowed to attend Wednesday's ballgame and socially distanced reserved seats will be sold in pods of four for $5 per ticket ($20 total for the pod). General admission tickets will also be available for purchase in the grass berm for $5 per ticket. Concessions will be unavailable for purchase this weekend, but fans will be allowed to bring in outside drinks and/or snacks. To purchase reserved seats, please call 801-863-7468 or buy them at the gate. All grass berm tickets can be purchased online by clicking here.
 
Face coverings will be required, and fans must adhere to all state and local government guidelines.