OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball heads back to the Golden State for this weekend's clash with Sacramento State. The Hornets and Wolverines will play three games from John Smith Field beginning on Apr. 6 with a 7:00 p.m. MT start. The two will continue the series on Apr. 7 with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch. The series finale is scheduled for Apr. 8 at 1:00 p.m. MT.
The series will be broadcast on ESPN+, with live stats on UVUStats.com
The Wolverines enter this weekend at 15-12 overall and 3-4 in the WAC. They finished 2-2 last week including, a dramatic come-from-behind victory over cross-county rival BYU. The Cougars led 8-4 heading into the ninth. The Wolverines scored five runs in the ninth inning for the win over the area rivals, capped by a two-run walk-off single by
Luke Iverson.
In WAC play, UVU dropped two out of three against Grand Canyon. In the series finale, a stellar pitching performance from
Casey Anderson lifted Utah Valley to the win. He threw five innings of hitless ball and earned TicketSmarter WAC Pitcher of the Week in the process. Iverson added a two-for-four ball game with a pair of triples.
Daniel Dickinson and
Brandon Luna added two RBI games for UVU.
LEADING THE COUNTRY
Iverson is currently among the national leaders in triples, with five on the season. He is now tied for third nationally. The leader is Austin Overn (Southern California), with ten. Brendan Ryan of Texas A&M Corpus Christi is second with seven. In the school record books, he is currently tied for second all-time for triples in a season. The current record leader is Chris Benson, with 11.
STREAKING WOLVERINES
Utah Valley has a pair of Wolverines with impressive streaks entering this weekend. Freshman
Daniel Dickinson currently has a 15-game reached base streak, which is the longest streak for any UVU hitter this season. Catcher
Burke Camper is right behind him, having reached base in 14 consecutive contests.
GOLDEN GLOVES
UVU is currently in second place with a fielding percentage of .981. Abilene Christian leads the conference on the year with a .986. The Wolverines have only committed 18 errors on the season. In conference play, Utah Valley has increased the fielding percentage to .992 and have only committed two errors.
ANDERSON NAMED TICKETSMARTER WAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
The UVU hurler made one appearance during the week, picking up a win in relief while holding Grand Canyon hitless over 5.0 innings. He tallied four strikeouts on the day and only allowed two base runners. Anderson is 1-0 on the season, leading UVU in ERA with a 2.84. He has limited opposing batters to a .196 batting average while striking out 36 hitters in 25.1 innings pitched.
KUKUK RETURNS TO SACRAMENTO STATE
UVU Pitching Coach
Grant Kukuk returns to his alma mater this weekend. The second year UVU pitching coach played two years for the Hornets, and was a 2016 Academic All-WAC selection.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will play at Utah on Apr. 10 in a game at Smith's Ballpark. The Wolverines will then return home to UCCU Ballpark for five straight home contests, starting with the Pac-12 Utes on Apr. 11 before hosting UT Rio Grande Valley Apr. 14-16, and they close out the home stand with a non-conference matchup with Utah Tech on Apr. 17.
