OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University baseball found itself on the wrong end of an 11-4 contest to neighboring rival BYU in the UCCU Crosstown Clash in front of a season-high 2,053 fans on Tuesday evening at UCCU Ballpark.
 
Despite suffering the non-conference setback, Kade Poulsen homered in the game and finished with a 2-for-3 outing with two runs scored and an RBI to lead the way for the Wolverines (7-36). Four players tallied multiple hits to pace the Cougars (17-23), led by a 2-for-4 showing with three RBIs from Cole Gambill.
 
In the bottom of the first, Poulsen got UVU off to a strong start with an opposite field solo home run to give the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead. Poulsen's round tripper, which was well placed down the rightfield line, marked his fourth homer of the season.
 
The Cougars later struck back with four runs in the third and three more in the fourth to take a 7-1 advantage. Mitch McIntyre started the scoring for BYU with an RBI double and Peyton Cole followed with an RBI single to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. Joshua Cowden later drove home a run with an RBI single and Gambill scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1. In the fourth, Andrew Pintar and Gambill both recorded two-out RBI hits to give BYU the six-run advantage. 
 
The Wolverines then got three runs back in the bottom of the fourth to make it 7-4. Garrett Broussard and Poulsen led off the frame with back-to-back walks and Alexander Marco doubled home Broussard for the first run of the frame with an RBI double down the leftfield line. Pacen Hayes then brought in Poulsen by reaching on an error and Mick Madsen capped the scoring the inning with a sacrifice fly to right. Jeff Arens was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with two away, but BYU reliever Ayden Callahan managed to limit the damage by getting Mitch Moralez to flyout to deep right to end the frame. 
 
The Cougars then tacked on a run in the sixth and added three more insurance runs in the ninth to put the game away. 
 
UVU got the leadoff man aboard in both the fifth and eighth frames but couldn't manage to score either time. Broussard led off the fifth with a walk but was stranded and Poulsen led off the eighth with a single but too was left stranded out the basepaths. 
 
In a predetermined staff day for both teams, BYU starter Cy Nielson was credited with the win after allowing just one hit and three runs over three-plus innings to improve to 3-2 on the year. UVU's Devin Smith was tagged with the loss despite allowing just two runs on three hits over two-plus innings to fall to 0-3. A total of 12 pitchers appeared on the mound for the two teams on the night.   
 
The Wolverines will cap their 2021 home season by hosting WAC foe New Mexico State for a four-game league series this weekend at UCCU Ballpark, May 7-9. The series will open Friday at noon and Senior Day will take place in between games during Saturday's scheduled doubleheader.