PHOENIX – Utah Valley baseball defeated Arizona State, 7-5 on Wednesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. UVU (8-13) held ASU (10-11) hitless through seven innings in a combined effort of Chase Hennessey, Braden Boisvert, Eli Sundquist, and Gray Bailey.
 
"That was a great effort for our team. We battled the entire day and played together as a team. We look forward to building on this," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
Hennessey tossed a scoreless first inning including an inning-ending double play as Calyn Halvorson held his foot on the bag just as the ball hit the glove. The play went under video review and was upheld on review.
 
Utah Valley jumped on the scoreboard in the second inning when Nate Bach crushed a solo home run to center field. He has now homered in four of the last five games to help ignite the UVU offense. The Wolverines turned to Braden Boisvert in the second inning and he held Arizona State hitless for the next three innings and only allowed one base runner on a walk.
 
The Wolverines took advantage of the first of three Sun Devil errors in the contest. After Daniel Dickinson reached on a bunt single, he moved to third on a throwing error by the ASU pitcher on a failed pickoff attempt. Jayden Smith got the run home on a sac fly in the third to make it 2-0, Utah Valley.
 
They added on to the 2-0 lead with a run in the fourth after Halvorson singled to third base, and Bach drew a walk to put two runners on base. An attempted pickoff throw lobbed into centerfield, allowing both runners to move into scoring position. Matthew Schwarz made it 3-0 with a groundout that scored Halvorson.
 
UVU did not score again until the seventh inning when Dickinson reached on a throwing error and advanced to second on a passed ball. A groundout recorded the inning's first out and allowed Dickinson to move to third before Halvorson walked and stole second base. Bach singled with two runners in scoring position and made it 5-0 as both runners scored on the play.
 
The Sun Devils chipped back into the game in the seventh inning as they got the first hit on a double down the left field line and loaded the bases in the inning. They scored four runs in the inning, but UVU reliever Nick Sims struck out Harris Williams to keep it at 5-4.
 
The Wolverines looked to add insurance runs in the eighth inning when Schwarz walked and a single from Isaac Lovings put two runners on base. They loaded the bases after Smith was drilled with a pitch. ASU recorded an inning-ending strikeout to keep it 5-4.
 
ASU put the tying run on base in the eighth, but Sims came up with clutch strikeouts of Jacob Tobias and Brandon Compton.
 
The insurance runs came for Utah Valley in the ninth when Halvorson and Garrett Broussard each hit solo home runs to make it 7-4 heading to the ninth. ASU didn't go quietly as Isaiah Jackson homered in the ninth, but Sims held strong to get the next three hitters and secure his second save of the year.
 
Bach finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the contest, as Halvorson and Broussard each recorded a multi-hit game. Today's win marks the third time that UVU and ASU have split a two-game series in Arizona.
 
The Wolverines return home for NAIA's Bushnell this weekend at UCCU Ballpark. The Beacons this year are 16-9 this season and play in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Bushnell University is a private Christian University in Eugene, Ore. Utah Valley will travel on Monday, Mar. 25 to BYU for a 6:00 p.m. MT start. It will be the first of two matchups with the Cougars this season.