DAVIS, Calif. – Utah Valley University split a doubleheader with UC Davis on Saturday at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. UC Davis (1-2) won the first game of the day 4-2 before UVU (2-1) came back to win the nightcap by a 7-1 final.
 
"Our pitching and defense have been outstanding for three games. After a tough game to start the day at the plate, we were able to grind out a lot of great at-bats in the second game and score a lot of runs. It was a good bounce back for our offense," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
GAME ONE
Utah Valley got a lead-off single from Trey Cutchen before stranding him on the base paths, one of two hits against UC Davis starter Bryan Green. The Wolverines did not have another hit until a lead-off double from Garrett Broussard in the sixth.
 
In his UVU debut, Mitch Mueller answered his pitching counterpart by allowing two hits in his four innings. UC Davis took a 1-0 lead on a one-out home run from Nick Leehey. The Aggies added a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to go up 4-0.
 
The Wolverines were on the comeback trail in the seventh inning when they loaded the bases after walks to Patrick Mills and Lucas Piper, and a single by Parker Applegate. The Aggies got out of the jam with a groundball double play, ending the threat.
 
UVU broke through in the eighth with one run when Freshman Daniel Dickinson walked and advanced to third on the double from Cutchen. Nate Bach was at the plate when a passed ball scored Dickinson from third. Utah Valley had two outs to work with but stranded two runners on the base paths.
 
In the ninth, the Wolverines cut the lead down with a two-out rally. Calyn Halvorson had a triple before scoring on an RBI double from Garrett Broussard to make it 4-2.
 
Cutchen and Broussard both had two hits in game one. Green (1-0) got credit for the win after throwing six innings of shutout ball. In his UVU debut, Mueller (0-1) struck out six of the 14 hitters he faced in 4.0 innings. Casey Anderson went 2.2 innings allowing two hits and adding five punchouts.
 
GAME 2
Utah Valley did not waste any time scoring in game two. Cutchen reached to lead off the game for the second consecutive contest after being hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a walk from Bach before both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Brandon Luna delivered a two-out single to score Cutchen and put UVU up 1-0.
 
The inning ended on a ball in the dirt and skipped away from home plate. Luna beat the throw to second, but Bach was retired at home on the throw from second to the plate.  In the third inning, Bach put UVU up 2-0 with his first homer of the year.
 
The Wolverines loaded the bases in the fourth after singles from Luna and Broussard and a bunt single from Cole Jordan. UC Davis walked Trey Cutchen to force home Luna and make it 3-0 UVU. The fifth looked similar to the fourth for UVU, as they loaded the bases with walks to Bach, Luna, and Jordan before Broussard was hit by a pitch to score Bach and go up 4-0.
 
UVU added three late insurance runs in the ninth, following a lead-off double from Bach. He scored a couple of hitters late on a single from Luna. The Wolverines added another run on a triple from transfer Matthew Schwarz. UVU pulled off a double steal later in the inning with Broussard and Schwarz to cap the three-run ninth and hold on to a 7-1 win.
 
Luna was three-for-four in the contest with two RBIs as Bach, Jordan, and Schwarz all hit multi-hit performances for the Wolverines. Jayse Burkett was lights out in his UVU debut, picking up the win after 3.2 innings and one hit. Reece Rodabaugh went 1.1 innings of one-hit ball. Davis Spencer and Austin Watson both pitched two innings in their UVU debuts.
 
The Wolverines will go for the series win on Feb. 19 in the series finale scheduled for 2:00 p.m. MT from Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. UVU will be back in action next weekend for a four-game series at UC Riverside. The series starts on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. MT from Riverside Sports Complex.