OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University baseball team will continue its season by heading south on I-15 to open Western Athletic Conference play against in-state foe Dixie State in a three-game series this weekend at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George, Utah.
 
The Old Hammer Rivalry between the two foes will run Friday to Sunday and will begin on Friday evening with a 6 p.m. MT contest. The conference-opening series will continue on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT (it's been pushed back to a 4 p.m. start on Saturday due to rain in St. George) and will conclude on Sunday at noon MT. All three games of the series will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network and live stats will also be available throughout the series by visiting DixieStateAthletics.com.
 
"The first couple of weeks of the season have been great preparation for us as we enter WAC play this weekend. We have been preparing to play our best baseball during WAC play since August and are excited to get started Friday Night," head UVU coach Eddie Smith said.
 
The Wolverines will enter Friday's league opener with a 2-6 overall record after taking one of four at San Francisco last weekend. The Dons claimed the first two games of the series, 7-1 and 4-1, before UVU's bats came alive in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader en route to banging out a season-high 20 hits and a 12-5 victory. With the final game of the non-conference series all tied up at 3-3 midway through the contest, USF then managed to claim the series thanks to a trio of late run to take the finale, 6-3, and the series, three games to one. 
 
In Saturday's victory, junior infielder Mick Madsen led the way for UVU offensively by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored while junior catcher Copper Hansen drove in a game-high four runs after going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored. All nine starters recorded hits in the contest for Utah Valley and six Wolverines posted multiple-hit outings in Madsen (4), Hansen (3), Trey Cutchen (3), Mitch Moralez (3), Paul Vossen (2), and Cole Jordan (2). Mason Gray started on the mound for UVU and picked up a no decision after allowing just three runs on four hits in 4.0 innings of work. Blake Zeleny (1-0) earned his first win of the year after allowing just two runs on three hits over 2.0 innings, while Nick Sims came on to pitch a trio of scoreless innings on his way to picking up his second save of the young season.
 
For the series, senior outfielder Moralez led UVU at the plate by hitting .438 (7-for-16) with a pair of doubles, two RBIs, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base. Connor Hall was next by batting an even .400 with a double, a homer and two RBIs, while Madsen hit .357 with a double, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen bag, and Cutchen followed by batting .333 with two doubles, two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base. On the mound, Sims, Luke McCoullough, Josh Brown and Kayler Yates all had scoreless outings of relief and McCoullough led the staff with five strikeouts on the week over 4.0 innings of work.
 
Moralez leads the Wolverines on the season with an even .400 batting average. He also has three doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Hansen is next for UVU by hitting .308 with a team-best six RBIs, while Cutchen follows with a .286 clip. Vossen is next with a .280 average and a team-high four stolen bases (4-for-4). 
 
Junior RHP Mason Gray leads UVU's starting staff with a 0-0 win-loss record, a 3.00 ERA and team-high 9.0 innings pitched. Opponents are also batting just .161 off of the UVU right-hander. Relievers Josh Brown and Alex Karns are both yet to surrender a run on the season as they both hold perfect 0.00 ERAs, while closer Nick Sims has a team-best two saves as well as a 2.08 ERA over 4.1 innings of work.
 
This weekend's series will mark the first of two three-game series between UVU and DSU on the season, as the Blazers will later return the favor and come to UCCU Ballpark April 14-16. Friday's opener also marks UVU's first of 30 WAC games on the schedule in 2022. 
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR THIS WEEKEND
UVU will go with sophomore right-hander Devin Smith (0-1, 8.22 ERA) on the hill on Friday and he is scheduled to face Dixie State RHP Dillon Holliday (1-1, 2.38 ERA). Southpaw Cole Yocum (0-1, 11.57 ERA) will then get the ball for the Wolverines on Saturday and will face DSU's Brett Porthan (1-0, 5.56 ERA). On Sunday, Utah Valley will go with junior RHP Gray (0-0, 3.00 ERA) and he'll face RHP Jimmy Borzone (0-0, 1.29 ERA).
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
The Trailblazers will enter the conference-opening series with a 4-4 overall record after dropping a hard fought 10-inning midweek contest, 2-1, at No. 10 Arizona in Tucson on Tuesday night. Dixie State previously took three of four from North Dakota State in its home-opening series last weekend and also claimed one of three at Arizona State to open the 2022 campaign. The Trailblazers are coming off of a fourth-place conference finish in their first season in the WAC and at the Division I level a season ago in which they went 24-32 overall and 21-15 in league play. This season DSU has been picked to finish fifth in the WAC West Division. 
 
Chase Rodriguez leads Dixie State offensively on the year with a .417 average while Shane Taylor follows with an even .400 clip and team-high tallies of three doubles, three stolen bases and nine RBIs. Mathew Ivancich is next with a .391 average five runs scored and a trio of RBIs while Preseason All-WAC selection Kaden Hollow is batting .323 with a team-high two home runs. Reliever Jacob Taggart leads the Trailblazers in strikeouts on the young season with 12 in just 6.1 innings of work, while Borzone tops this weekend's scheduled starting rotation with a 0-0 win-loss record, a 1.29 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Friday's opener will mark the 13th all-time meeting between UVU and DSU. After having not faced each other since 2008, the two in-state foes renewed the Old Hammer Rivalry last season and Dixie State went on to sweep a four-game conference series in St. George, which included a pair of wild one-run contests and another two-run decision. Prior to that, the two foes had split eight games as DSU leads the all-time series at 8-4. The Blazers also hold a perfect 6-0 home record against the Wolverines in St. George, while UVU leads 4-2 with games played in Orem. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will continue the trip with a pair of non-conference midweek games at UNLV on Monday and Tuesday in Las Vegas. Monday's opener is set for a 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT start while the two teams will wrap the quick two-game set on Tuesday at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT at UNLV's Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UVU will then return home to open its home schedule March 11-13 with a WAC series against defending conference champion California Baptist at UCCU Ballpark.