OREM, Utah – Utah Valley's late rally fell short on Saturday afternoon to Grand Canyon in a 6-5 loss. UVU (14-12, 2-4) in the eighth and ninth innings had the tying and winning runs on base, but GCU (17-9, 8-3) closed the door on the UVU rally. Patrick Mills finished with four hits to lead the UVU offensive attack.
 
Grand Canyon scored one in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Wolverines answered right back in the home half after Mills had his first of two triples on the day. He scored on a ground out by Daniel Dickinson to tie the game at 1.
 
The Wolverines took their first lead in the second inning after singles from Matthew Schwarz and Cole Jordan. Garrett Broussard knocked home one on a single to make it 2-1, UVU. In the fourth, the Wolverines put someone in a scoring position immediately after a leadoff ground-rule double by Schwarz. They went up 3-1 in the inning after Jordan grounded out to bring home a run.
 
Trailing 3-1 entering the sixth inning, GCU rallied to score four runs to retake the lead 5-3. UVU starter Logan Gerling was tough on the Lopes' bats and held them in check for four innings. He finished going 5.2 innings on two strikeouts. Ethan Fowlks went the final 3.2 innings allowing two hits and one run.  
 
UVU went to rally in the eighth inning after a lead-off single from Mills and Trey Cutchen walked. The Wolverines loaded the bases with a single from Brandon Luna, and Jordan provided a two-out single to bring home two runs to make it 6-5.
 
In the ninth, the Wolverines were down to the final out when Mills hit a second triple to left center, and Dickinson walked to put two runners on base. GCU reliever Brodie Cooper-Vassalaakis was able to secure the final out for GCU.
 
The Wolverines and Lopes will play the series' final game tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. MT at UCCU Ballpark. Utah Valley will head to Sacramento State for a three-game series Apr. 6-8.