Davis, Calif. – Utah Valley baseball defeated UC Davis 8-1 on Friday afternoon at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. UVU (1-0) used 5.0 innings from Logan Gerling and then 4.0 shutdown innings from newcomer Ethan Fowlks to beat the Aggies (0-1). Newcomers Matthew Schwarz and Weston Peninger had three RBIs in their Wolverine debuts.
 
"It was a great team effort today. Logan Gerling set the tone on the mound, and Ethan Fowlks followed behind him. Good pitching is always led by good catching, and Cameron Rowe was amazing in his college debut.  Offensively there were times we did a great job of forcing free 90s, and there was some timely hitting to secure the win," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
UVU took their first lead in the third inning with three straight hits with two outs. Trey Cutchen tripled to right on a ball that just missed clearing the right-center field fence. Calyn Halvorson put UVU up 1-0 with a double down the left line before scoring on a base hit from Patrick Mills to go up 2-0.
 
The Wolverines loaded the bases in the fifth inning after walks by Cutchen and Halvorson before Mills was hit by a pitch. Weston Peninger doubled down the left-field line to clear the bases and put UVU in control 5-1. Utah Valley added another run after Brandon Luna was hit by a pitch, and Schwarz singled to left to score Peninger to make it 6-1.
 
In the ninth, UVU took advantage of three two-out walks to add some insurance. Mills, Nate Bach, and Peninger all walked before Schwarz singled home Mills and Bach to put UVU up 8-1.
 
Mark Wolbert led UC Davis with two of the four Aggie hits in the contest. Gerling (1-0) picked up the win after he allowed singles in the first and third innings before retiring the final seven batters he faced before giving way to Fowlks, who came in and retired the first eight hitters faced. The two combined to get 15 straight outs and not allow a base hit in 19 consecutive hitters. Fowlks picks up the save in his UVU debut after transferring from Utah Tech. Nate Freeman (0-1) took the loss despite recording eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched.
 
Utah Valley and UC Davis will play a doubleheader on Feb. 18 starting at noon. The first game will only have live stats available. The second game of the doubleheader will be broadcast on ESPN+ and is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. MT.