OREM, Utah – After recently returning home from a nine-game road trip, the Utah Valley University baseball team will close its 2022 regular season with a crucial league series against New Mexico State Thursday to Saturday, May 19-21, at UCCU Ballpark.
 
The three-game WAC series will consist of 6:05 p.m. starts on both Thursday and Friday night followed by the finale on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. Saturday will also mark Senior Day for Utah Valley, as five Wolverine seniors will be honored on the field following Saturday's finale. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ while live stats and live audio will also be available for each game by visiting GoUVU.com.
 
A spot to take part in next week's WAC Baseball Tournament will be up for grabs in the series, as UVU and NM State are currently battling it out for the final spot in the West Division. UVU will enter with a 9-18 league record and one game ahead of the Aggies (8-19). But whoever wins the series is guaranteed the final spot, as the WAC's first tiebreaker is head-to-head. So UVU needs to win either two-of-three on the weekend or sweep the series to get in. 
 
"We are excited for a great weekend of baseball here at home. There are so many teams in the country who have already had their postseason dreams eliminated so we feel very fortunate for the position we are in. When we play our best baseball, we are as good as anyone and that is exactly what we strive to do this weekend and every day," head UVU coach Eddie Smith said.
 
The Wolverines will enter Thursday's opener with a 17-35 official overall record and in sixth in the WAC West Division with a 9-18 conference clip. UVU last embarked in a nine-game in 11-day road trip that spanned over three different states. Utah Valley capped the trip with an 11-0 shutout victory over Pacific of the West Coast Conference on Monday. The Wolverines first dropped at trio of contests at Washington State of the Pac-12 Conference but then bounced back with a 5-2 victory over JUCO foe Lower Columbia College. The Wolverines then fell in a tightly contested 6-4 setback at Portland before dropping a trio of WAC games at Sacramento State last weekend. UVU then wrapped the trip with a 11-0 rout over the Tigers. 
 
In Monday's win at Pacific, six different Wolverine pitchers combined to record UVU's first shutout since March 7, 2020 (1-0 win at Washington). Southpaw Cameron Scudder started on the mound and surrendered just two hits while striking out two over 3.0 innings of work. The freshman Alex Karns was credited with his first collegiate victory (1-1) after allowing just one hit while striking out three over 2.0 innings. Andrew Hauck, Carson Brown, Nick Sims, and Josh Brown completed the shutout by each tossing a scoreless inning of work down the stretch.
 
The Wolverine offense also had a great team outing on Monday, as eight different players tallied hits in the game. Kyle Coburn led the way by going a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, while Copper Hansen went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs and Spencer Olsen belted out his team-leading eighth home run of the year late in the game. Brandon Luna and Paul Vossen also each recorded multiple hits on the day, as Luna went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Vossen 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. UVU broke the game open in the fourth, as the team scored eight runs that inning and then put the contest away with two more runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
 
In WAC play last week at Sac State, the Hornets rallied late to claim game one by a score of 8-7 and then went on to sweep the series with a 5-2 win on Saturday and a 7-2 victory on Sunday. Mick Madsen led UVU offensively in the series by batting .308 with a homer two RBIs and three runs scored, while Moralez and Olsen also each had multiple hits. Devin Smith had UVU's best start on the mound in the series by allowing just two earned runs on two hits while striking out five over 4.2 innings. Carson Brown, Josh Brown, and Bobby Voortmeyer all had scoreless relief outings. 
 
On the season, the senior Moralez leads UVU with a .354 batting average and 20 extra-base hits with a team-leading 13 doubles along with five homers and two triples. He also has 27 runs scored and 22 RBIs and ranks sixth in the WAC and 46th nationally in total hits with 74. Designated hitter Olsen is next for Utah Valley with a .327 average and leads the way in home runs with eight as well as slugging (.612) and on-base percentage (.400). He also ranks second in RBIs with 25. Trey Cutchen follows with a .290 average and fronts the squad in runs scored with 36 and is second on the team in homers with six and extra-base knocks with 19. Right-hander Coop Rust currently leads UVU's starting rotation with a 5.93 ERA and holds a 2-7 record, while Devin Smith leads the say in strikeouts with 42. Nick Sims is the team's top reliever with a 5-1 record, a 4.11 ERA and two saves. 
 
SATURDAY MARKS SENIOR DAY
Five UVU seniors will be honored following Saturday's regular-season finale in outfielder Mitch Moralez, catcher Drew Sims, RHP Bobby Voortmeyer, LHP Blake Zeleny and LHP Logan Petet. The catcher Sims and southpaw Zeleny are both five-year seniors for the Wolverines while Petet is a four-year senior, as the trio have spent their entire careers in a UVU uniform. Moralez and Voortmeyer are both finishing their third year at UVU after each previously played their first couple of seasons at the JUCO level.
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS
Right-hander Devin Smith (1-4, 6.26 ERA) is set to get the ball for UVU on Thursday and will face NM State RHP Ian Mejia (4-4, 4.41 ERA) in game one. Fellow RHP Coop Rust (2-7, 5.93 ERA) will then start for UVU on Friday and will meet NMSU southpaw Sammy Natera (1-1, 5.31 ERA). In Saturday finale, right-hander Mason Gray (2-5, 6.51 ERA) will take the hill for UVU and will face a to-be-determined starter for the Aggies. 
 
ABOUT NM STATE
The Aggies will come to Orem one game back of UVU in seventh place in the WAC West Division with an 18-31 overall record and an 8-19 league mark. NM State has dropped eight straight games, as it fell at in-state rival New Mexico in midweek action the last two weeks and was swept in conference play by both No. 25 Grand Canyon and California Baptist. New Mexico State's last win came on May 1 when it took two of three that weekend from Dixie State. The Aggies were picked to finish fourth in the WAC West Division this year after taking sixth in the WAC last season with a 16-20 league record. 
 
Having played about half of the games, Gunner Antillon leads NM State with a .412 batting average. Logan Gallina is next with a .337 clip and leads WAC in home runs with 18 and paces the Aggies in RBIs with 53. Kevin Jimenez is also batting .337 with team-leading tallies of 19 doubles and 43 runs scored. Ian Mejia paces NMSU's starting rotation with a 4-4 record, 4.41 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 79.2 innings pitched. 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Thursday's opener will mark the 29th all-time meeting between UVU and NM State. The Aggies will enter play holding to a slight 16-12 series advantage and an 8-5 record with games played at UCCU Ballpark Orem. The Wolverines and Aggies last split a four-game series at UCCU Ballpark last May in which UVU picked up a 4-2 victory on May 8, 2021 and a 7-5 win on May 9, 2021.  
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The 2022 WAC Baseball Tournament will be held May 25-28 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. UVU last won the WAC Tournament in 2016 to advance to the program's first NCAA Regional that season.