BELLEVUE, Wash. – Utah Valley University baseball dropped both games of a Friday afternoon doubleheader to WAC foe Seattle U by scores of 5-3 and 7-2 at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue. The Wolverines will now face a must-win situation in Saturday's regular-season finale in hopes of making next week's WAC Tournament.
 
UVU falls to 9-45 overall and 7-28 in league play with the setbacks, while SU improves to 16-30 overall and 10-21 in conference play with the doubleheader sweep. By securing the series victory, Seattle also locked up the No. 5 seed for next week's WAC Tournament. Thanks to Dixie State sweeping the twin bill over Northern Colorado on Friday in St. George, UVU still has a chance to make the WAC Baseball Tournament. The Wolverines must win Saturday's regular-season finale against Seattle while Northern Colorado must lose to Dixie State on Saturday for UVU to get in.
 
"We had a lot of opportunities to do some things at the plate. I thought that the Jeff Arens homer put us in a good spot in the first game, but it seemed like we just couldn't smoothly get through innings when we needed to," interim head coach David Carter said. "Ultimately, our guys need to come out tomorrow and play hard and compete. We've had to deal with a little bit of adversity – and maybe the guys need to handle some things a little bit better – but they are fighting and staying with it and I'm proud of them."
 
GAME ONE
Utah Valley got off to a strong start thanks to a three-run home run from Jeff Arens in the top of the first inning to give the Wolverines an early 3-0 lead. Mitch Moralez led off the game with a single and Alexander Marco later reached on a single of his own to put two runners aboard with two away. Arens then followed with the three-run big fly to left to give UVU the quick three-run cushion.
 
SU punched back with a run of its own in the bottom of the first to make it 3-1. Following a pair of walks and a stolen base, Gavin Rork came in to score via an RBI groundout off the bat of Connor O'Brien.
 
The score remained 3-1 until the third when the Redhawks managed to score two more runs to deadlock the score at 3-3. Following a leadoff walk and a single, Justin Mazzone doubled home Rork for the first run of the frame and O'Brien followed with a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game. 
 
With both starting pitchers throwing well, Seattle then managed to take its first lead of the game in the fifth by scoring two more runs to take a 5-3 advantage. Kyle Sherick took one for the team and stole second and Mazzone followed with a single to put runners on the corners with one away. O'Brien then drove in the first run of  the frame with an RBI single to center and Shane Jamison later followed with a two-out RBI single up the middle to give SU a two-run advantage. 
 
After a scoreless sixth, UVU then got two runners aboard with nobody out in the seventh to make things interesting after Marco reached on an error and Arens drew a walk. The SU defense then managed to turn a big double play on a groundball off the bat of Mick Madsen, however, and Drew Sims followed by grounding out to end the ballgame. 
 
SU's Peter Chronowski went the distance on the mound to earn the complete-game victory in the seven-inning affair in the first game of doubleheader. Chronowski surrendered just three runs on four hits while striking out six to improve to 3-3 on the year. Despite pitching well, UVU starter Mason Gray was tagged with the loss to drop to 3-7 on the year. 
 
Moralez led UVU at the plate in game one by going 2-for-3 with a run scored while Arens went 1-for-2 with the three-run home run and a walk. O'Brien drove in three runs in the game for SU while Mazzone went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
GAME TWO
UVU again took the upper hand in the nightcap of Friday's twin bill with a run in the third to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. Trey Newman started things off with a leadoff walk and he later moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Garrett Broussard. Tavyn Lords then pulled a ball down the rightfield line for an RBI double to drive in Newman and give the Wolverines the early 1-0 lead. 
 
With UVU starter Bobby Voortmeyer having allowed just two hits and no runs into the fifth, the Redhawks managed to get something going for the first time after loading the bases and going  on to post  a crooked number to take a 6-1 lead. After a walk, a single and an error loaded the bases with nobody out, Rork started the scoring with a hard-hit ball to first to tie the game. Mazzone and Julian Kodama followed with back-to-back RBI walks to make it 3-1, and following a pitching change, Jamison delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing double to left-center to make it 6-1. Four of SU's runs in the frame came in unearned, however, as UVU's defensive miscue proved to be costly. 
 
The Wolverines countered back with a run in the sixth to make it a 6-2 score. Lords started things off with a leadoff walk and he later moved to third on a single from Moralez. Madsen then plated Lords with an RBI single to center to make it a four-run game. 
 
The Redhawks then tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 7-2. 
 
UVU got a leadoff double from pinch-hitter Kase Ogata in the eighth and pinch-runner Kyle Coburn later looked to score on what would have been a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Moralez, but the umpires said that Coburn left third base early on a questionable call on appeal for an inning-ending double play.
 
The Wolverines got a two-out hit from pinch-hitter Ty Mead in the ninth, but SU's Ethan Brown got Marco to flyout to left to end the ballgame.
 
Seattle starter Alex Jemal allowed just two runs on three hits while striking out four over 5.1 innings to improve to 3-7 on the year. Despite surrendering just two earned runs on four hits over 4.2 innings, Voortmeyer was tagged with the loss for UVU to fall to 2-8. 
 
Lords and Moralez each drove in a run apiece for UVU in the nightcap and Lords led the group by going 1-for-1 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Ogata also had an extra-base hit for UVU with an eighth-inning double. Jamison paced Seattle in the contest by going 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines and Redhawks will close the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT at Bannerwood Park. The contest will mark the regular-season finale for both teams. The 2021 WAC Baseball Tournament will be held May 26-30 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.