OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University baseball rallied for two runs in the eighth but couldn't complete the comeback, as Sacramento State held on to take Sunday's finale, 5-3, and the series two games to one at UCCU Ballpark.
 
Down 5-1 in the last of the eighth inning, Mick Madsen got the Wolverines (9-19, 3-9 WAC) off to a nice start with a leadoff triple. Paul Vossen then followed with an infield single, and Cole Jordan drove Madsen home with an RBI single to center to make it 5-2. With runners on the corners and two away in the frame, Drew Sims then plated another run with an RBI single to left to pull UVU within two at 5-3. With two on and the go-ahead run at the plate, Sac State (13-14, 5-7 WAC) reliever Jack Zalasky then drew a fielder's choice off the bat of Olsen to end the threat. 
 
UVU then brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth following a one-out walk from Cutchen, but Sac State's Zalasky recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and the game.
 
"The fight is so encouraging. These guys haven't laid down in a game for most of the year and they showed that again today. When we get our backs against the wall, our guys find a way to stay in it right until the last pitch," head UVU coach Eddie Smith said. "We've just got to be a little bit better and come up with a hit with men in scoring position just a little bit earlier in the game next time."
 
Sacramento State scored a run in the first and another in the second to take an early 2-0 lead. Dawsen Bacho delivered a two-out first-inning RBI double for the first run and the Hornets then added a sac fly from Josh Rolling in the second. 
 
UVU then got back-to-back two-out hits from Mitch Moralez and Cutchen in the third and Moralez came in to score on a first-and-third double steal to make it 2-1. With Cutchen later leading from second, Sac State's Colin Hunter then responded to draw an inning-ending groundout to strand the runner.
 
The Hornets then got a leadoff solo homer from Jorge Bojorquez in the fifth to extend their lead to 3-1. 
 
The Wolverines got back-to-back one-out singles from Spencer Olsen and Moralez to threaten in the last of the fifth, but Sac State's Hunter pitched out of it by drawing consecutive outs to keep it a 3-1 contest. 
 
Martin Vincelli-Simard then blasted out a two-run shot to left center for Sac State in the sixth to extend the Hornets advantage to 5-1. 
 
In the seventh, Kayler Yates then moved from shortstop to the mound for UVU and was brilliant as he didn't give up a run over the final three innings. He retired the side in order in both the seventh and ninth frames and did a nice job of escaping a jam in the eighth to give the Wolvreines a chance.
 
"It's exciting to see isn't it (when asked about Kayler Yates' performance on the mound). Obviously, there's a lot of workload management when your shortstop is also one of your top pitchers. We've had this thought process to kind of build him up slowly on the season so he can really exhaust his pitching workload in conference play," Smith added. "You can see that happening right now and it's great to see. I think if you take out his first outing at Texas State, he hasn't given up an earned run and has been really good out on the mound for us. He's getting better each time he goes out there and is a big piece to anchoring down our pitching staff."
 
Sac State starter Hunter went 6.2 innings and surrendered just one run while striking out seven en route to improving to 2-2 on the season. UVU's Carson Brown was tagged with the loss after giving up just two runs on three hits while striking out four over 3.0 innings. Josh Brown then pitched three innings of relief for UVU followed by three scoreless frames from Yates in which he allowed just one hit while fanning two.
 
Offensively, UVU outhit Sac State 12 to seven on the afternoon and Moralez led the way by going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Jordan and Olsen followed by each going 2-for-4, while Vossen went 2-for-5. Vincelli-Simard went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk to pace Sac State followed by a 2-for-4 outing from Bacho. 
 
UVU will remain home and will host in-state and Pac-12 foe Utah on Tuesday evening at UCCU Ballpark. The contest will mark the first of two home games on the month between Wolverines and Utes and will begin at 6:05 p.m. Following Tuesday's non-conference midweek, the Wolverines will hit the road for a three-game WAC series at Seattle U April 8-10 followed by a midweek game at Pac-12 foe Washington on Monday, April 11.