OREM, Utah – With the weekend series all deadlocked at one game apiece, Utah Valley found itself of the wrong end of a 17-1 contest to the two-time defending WAC champion California Baptist Lancers on Sunday afternoon at UCCU Ballpark to drop the home-opening series. 
 
With the game tightly contested in the early stages, the Lancers (10-4, 2-4 WAC) would go on to score runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and six innings en route to taking the finale and the series. Despite the loss, UVU (6-10, 2-4 WAC) has won four of its last six contests. The Wolverines were led on the day by Connor Hall and Kayler Yates, who both went 2-for-3 in the ballgame.
 
"California Baptist did a nice job this afternoon and pretty much played better than us in every facet of the game. We've got a lot to learn from this one," head coach Eddie Smith said. "We'll come back and practice hard all week and be ready to go Friday night at GCU."
 
The Lancers struck first with two runs in the first and another in the second to take a 3-0 lead. After back-to-back hits, CBU scored its first run on an RBI groundout and the second came in on a double steal attempt. California Baptist then got a solo homer from Mitchel Simon in the second.
 
The Wolverines countered back with a run in the bottom of the second and looked for more but had a runner cut down at the plate to end the treat. With Yates on third after singling earlier in the frame, Drew Sims drove him in with an infield RBI single. Mitch Moralez then followed with a double off the wall in left, but Sims was cut down at the plate on a bang-bang play at the home to keep it a 3-1 score.
 
CBU then added two more runs in the top of the third to extend its lead to 5-1. Following a defensive miscue by the Wolverines, Jake Skipworth homered to left. California Baptist then tacked on two more runs in the fourth, four more in the fifth, and six more in the sixth to put the game away.
 
UVU got a two-out triple from Hall in the last of the fifth, but he was stranded as Paul Vossen flied out to end the threat.
 
Mason Gray started on the mound for UVU on the day and suffered his first loss on the season to drop to 0-1. CBU's Drew Necochea picked up the win for CBU to improve to 2-1 after scattering seven hits and allowing just one run over 4.0 innings. Utah Valley reliever Hunter Tueller had a nice outing on the day for the Wolverines by pitching a scoreless and hitless inning of work late in the game.
 
Moralez extended his hitting streak to 11 games and his reached base safely streak to 16 games after going 1-for-3 with a double. Sims also had a nice day offensively for the Wolverines by going 1-for-2 with an RBI. David Martin led CBU offensively by going 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a game-high four RBIs. 
 
On Saturday, UVU split a doubleheader thanks to claiming a 6-4 victory in the twin bill night cap. The Wolverines got strong pitching down the stretch in that one and a game-winning RBI double from Brody Ponti late in the contest to pull that one out.
 
After a busy stretch in the which the Wolverines played eight games over the past 10 days, UVU will take the next few days off and return to the road next weekend for a three-game league series at the defending WAC Tournament champion Grand Canyon Lopes. The series will run Friday to Sunday, March 18-20, at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark in Phoenix.