OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball will officially open the 2023 season this week when the Wolverines hit the road for Davis, Calif. UVU will be on the road for the first eight games of the season, all being played against Big West schools.
 
The opener will be on Friday, Feb. 17, at 3:00 p.m. MT with a four-game series against the UC Davis Aggies. The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at Noon MT. The series will wrap up on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. MT. All games will be played at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats on UVUstats.com.
 
Utah Valley added 23 newcomers to the 2023 squad from various spots in the United States as UVU combed through each region during the recruiting cycle. Arizona and Washington led the way with five newcomers, followed by Utah (4), California (3), Indiana (2), Texas (2), and one each from Colorado, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
 
STARTING ROTATION
UVU will turn to three newcomers in the starting rotation on opening weekend. Washington transfer Logan Gerling will get the ball on opening day. Gerling went 2-6 in 2021 at Washington with a 4.13 ERA. He struck out 67 hitters in 76.1 innings. Juniors Mitch Mueller and Jayse Burkett will start during the Saturday doubleheader. They were strikeout machines in their last stops before Orem. Mueller recorded 88 strikeouts in 50. 1 innings, while Burkett is right behind him with 87 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched. Luke McCullough makes the transition from reliever to starter this season. He made two starts last season but saw his other 15 appearances from the pen.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS
The Aggies went 6-35 a season ago and were selected to finish ninth out of the 11-team Big West Conference this year. UC Davis earned 28 points in the poll and finished ahead of old WAC-foe CSU Bakersfield and UVU's second-weekend opponent UC Riverside. UCD finished 2022 at 6-35 last season. Outfielder Mark Wolbert was named to the All-Big West team. The sophomore hit .353 a year ago to pace the offense for UC Davis. On the mound, UC Davis will look to improve from a 7.52 ERA a year ago.
 
WOLVERINES ON OPENING DAY                                                      
The Wolverines are 2-4 in the last six opening days, and two of those victories have come in the Golden State. The Wolverines beat Saint Mary's 2-1 in 2021 and USC 5-1 in 2018.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
UC Davis leads the all-time series 10-4. The Wolverines lost three-out-of-four in 2019 in Davis. UVU came away with an extra inning 11-9 win in the series finale. All meetings have taken place in Northern California, and the Aggies have never made a trip east to Orem.
 
PERFECT GAME NAMES THREE TO TOP DRAFT PROSPECTS
Perfect Game recently named three Wolverines to the WAC Draft Prospects rankings. Logan Gerling at #16, right-handed pitcher Mitch Mueller being ranked #18, and incoming catcher Burke Camper at #28. All three are in their first year at UVU.
 
ON DECK
UVU will head south to play UC Riverside for a four-game series Feb. 24-26. It will mark the second year Utah Valley will meet the Highlanders, with the Wolverines picking up a victory last year in Riverside. The home opener is slated for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch on Feb. 28 against BYU.