OREM, Utah – Fresh off a league series win over in-state foe Dixie State at home this past weekend, the Utah Valley University baseball team will head to Southern California this week to start a four-game road trip at UC Riverside on Wednesday, April 20.
 
The non-conference midweek contest will begin at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT at UCR's Riverside Sports Complex. Live audio and live stats will be available by visiting GoHighlanders.com. Unfortunately, the game will not be streamed. UVU will then continue the trip with a three-game WAC series at California Baptist Friday to Sunday, April 22-24, at CBU's Totman Stadium. 
 
UVU will enter Wednesday with a 14-22 overall record and a 7-10 WAC clip after taking two of three from Dixie State as part of the Old Hammer Rivalry over the weekend. The Wolverines have now won back-to-back WAC series for the first time since March of 2018, as they also took two of three at Seattle U April 7-9. This past weekend against the Trailblazers, UVU rallied to take games one and two by scores of 5-4 and 12-8, before DSU responded to salvage a game and claim Saturday's finale, 8-5. 
 
In Thursday's opener against Dixie State, UVU got 6.2-strong innings of work from Mason Gray along with home runs from Trey Cutchen, Copper Hansen, and Cole Jordan to take a 5-1 lead. The Blazers countered with three runs in the seventh to pull within a run, but Utah Valley got solid relief work from Nick Sims and Josh Brown down the stretch to hold on to the one-run contest.
 
Trailing 4-1 early in the game on Friday, the Wolverines managed to reel off 11 unanswered runs en route to securing the series with a 12-8 victory in game two. Kyle Coburn led the way by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Cutchen also drove in three runs in the contest by going 2-for-5 with a double. A total of 10 Wolverines recorded hits in the game, as UVU banged out a total of 16 hits on its way to earning the come-from-behind victory. 
 
Sophomore infielder Coburn paced UVU at the plate in last week's Dixie State series by hitting an even .500 with a homer, four RBIs, and four runs scored. Senior outfielder Mitch Moralez was next by batting .462 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored, while Jordan hit .417 with a homer, two RBIs, and three runs scored.
 
On the season, Moralez fronts Utah Valley with a .388 batting average, 11 doubles, five homers, 20 RBIs, a .565 slugging percentage, and a .427 on-base clip. He also ranks 16th in the nation in total hits with 56 base knocks on the season. Cutchen is next for UVU with a .306 average, 16 extra-base hits with 10 doubles, four homers, and two triples, and leads the way in runs scored with 27. Mick Madsen is right behind him with a .302 clip, nine extra-base knocks, 17 RBIs, 25 runs scored, and a team-high 18 walks. Menifee, California native Nick Sims paces the pitching staff with a 5-1 record, two saves, and a 1.98 ERA. Josh Brown follows with a team-high four saves and a 4.05 ERA, while Coop Rust is the team's top starter with a 2-4 record and 4.25 ERA.
 
Wednesday's midweek will mark Utah Valley's seventh midweek ballgame of the season. UVU will enter with a 3-3 record in midweek matchups on the season, with five more left to play.
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR WEDNESDAY
The right-hander and San Diego native Luke McCollough (2-1, 7.36 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start in a UVU uniform on Wednesday and will face a to-be-announced pitcher from UC Riverside.
 
ABOUT UC Riverside
The Big West Highlanders will enter Wednesday evening's ballgame with a 4-28 overall record and a 2-13 conference clip. UCR has dropped eight straight contests after getting swept by both Hawaii and CSUN as well as losses to UNLV and UC Davis. Prior to the streak, UC Riverside won its first series of the year by taking two of three from conference for UC Davis at home at the first of April. UCR also has wins over Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount. The Highlanders went 15-36 overall a season ago and took 10th in the Big West with a 12-28 league record. UCR was picked to finish 10th in the Big West in 2022.
 
Jacob Badawl fronts the Highlanders with a .301 batting average. Anthony Mata follows with a .247 average and a team-best 16 runs scored and is third on the squad in RBIs with 13. Dylan Orick paces the team in the power numbers with 11 doubles, two homers, two triples, and 15 RBIs. Reliever Sergio Ramirez is the team's top arm on the mound, as he'll enter Wednesday with a 2-2 record and a 1.11 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. Jeremiah Priddy and Tyler Frazier front the starting rotation with respective 0-1 and 0-4 records and 4.22 and 5.60 ERAs. 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES 
Wednesday's contest will mark just the second all-time meetings between the Wolverines and Highlanders and the first in Riverside. UCR holds a slight 1-0 series advantage after recording an 8-7 victory in neutral-site action at the Palm Springs Invitational in February of 2013. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will continue the trip with a three-game WAC series at second place California Baptist Friday to Sunday at CBU's Totman Stadium in Riverside. UVU dropped two of three to CBU in Orem last month. Following the weekend, UVU will return to the Beehive State for its second and final meeting of the year against neighboring rival BYU on Tuesday, April 26 in Provo.