OREM—­Utah Valley fell behind early and could never recover in a 5-3 loss to Pac-12 foe Washington State in a midweek game on Wednesday night at UCCU Ballpark.
 
Washington State (14-10) took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Jack Smith singled through the right side after the Cougars had loaded the bases. Smith's single gave WSU a pair of runs before it loaded the bases again and then scored another run on a balk as the Cougars ended the first inning with a 3-0 advantage.
 
Utah Valley (5-20) responded in the bottom of the second inning with two outs as Pacen Hayes walked and then advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Kyle Coburn then walked to put UVU runners on first and second. Tavyn Lords tripled to left field, scoring both Hayes and Coburn to cut the WSU lead to just a 3-2 advantage after two complete innings.
 
The Cougars got two runs back in the top of the sixth after Kyle Manzardo homered to right field with a runner on first. The home run extended WSU's lead back to three runs, 5-2.
 
Kade Poulsen reached on a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs, Drew Sims then singled to the right center gap to score Poulsen. The run cut the WSU lead to two runs, 5-3.
 
Garrett Broussard led the Wolverines at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a walk. Hayes went 1-for-3 with a run scored.  Sims and Lords each went 1-for-4. Lords had a pair of RBI.
 
Utah Valley used seven different pitchers, none of whom worked more than two innings. Tyler Hoeft picked up the win for WSU on the mound, while Will Sierra recorded the save.
 
Utah Valley now heads out on the road to continue WAC play as the Wolverines travel to Texas to take on UT Rio Grande Valley for a four-game set, April 9-11.