OREM, Utah— Utah Valley baseball swept a doubleheader on Friday afternoon from Bushnell University. UVU (10-13) scored 31 combined runs with a come-from-behind win in game one before scoring 19 runs in the nightcap to defeat the Beacons (16-11).
Jayden Smith finished the day 7-for-10, as
Daniel Dickinson,
Luke Iverson, and
Cole Jordan hit two homers.
GAME ONE
The Wolverines took an early 1-0 lead after a pitch hit Smith before
Calyn Halvorson reached on a rocket to third base.
Nate Bach singled and scored Smith. The Beacon bats got going as they took a 9-1 lead after scoring one in the first, two in the fourth, and six in the fifth.
Utah Valley quickly answered, starting in the fifth as
Matthew Schwarz singled and Dickinson walked. Smith singled through the left side to make it 9-2.
Burke Camper drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. The Wolverines pushed a run across on a groundout to make it 9-3. The damage wasn't done after Bach and
Garrett Broussard reached base before Iverson hit a three-run shot to center field to make it 9-7.
Utah Valley trailed 9-7 entering the bottom of the eighth before Jordan homered to left field to make it 9-8. They took their first lead since the first inning on a two-run homer from Dickinson to make it 10-9. The Wolverines added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly to go up 11-9.
Ethan Fowlks made the start for the Wolverines and went 4.0 innings but gave up six runs and struck out five.
Mitch Mueller (2-0) earned the win by going 5.0 innings on three strikeouts and limiting Bushnell to three runs.
Smith finished 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI in the opener. All nine starters reached base in the contest.
GAME TWO
The Wolverines hit six homers in the second game and took a 7-0 lead in the opening frame, highlighted by a three-run bomb by Bach. It was his ninth homer of the season, which leads UVU. Later in the inning, they added on when
Matt Olive drew a bases-loaded walk to go up 4-0. After a Bushnell pitching change, they added on three more runs, including a double to left center to bring home two more, and Smith capped the scoring with an RBI single.
After the Beacons scored two in the top half to make it 7-3, the Wolverines answered after Broussard and Iverson were both hit by pitches; it was
Isaac Lovings that sent a blast to left center field to make it 10-2.
In the fourth inning, Iverson hit his second of the day, a home run to left field, to make it 11-2. Dickinson joined the home run party in the fifth with a two-run homer to make it 13-2.
A five-run seventh inning put the game away after three extra-base hits, including
Joe McBride's first homer; he finished 3-for-3 in his UVU debut, adding a double and 2 RBIs. The Wolverines put runners on base after
Cougar Cooke walked, and Iverson was hit to put two runners on base before Jordan hit a three-run blast to make it 18-3.
Bushnell's bats got going in the eighth inning, as they scored seven runs against the UVU bullpen to make it 18-10. The Wolverines held on for a 19-11 win and scored their most runs this season.
41 players saw action in game two today.
Aaron Rice made his first career start for the Wolverines and went 3.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs and striking out two. Robby Butenscheon earned the win, going 1.0 innings while recording two of his three outs via punchouts.
The Wolverines and Beacons will wrap up their three-game series tomorrow at 11:05 a.m. MT. Utah Valley will play four road games next week, starting with BYU on Mar. 25 before heading to Abilene Christian for a three-game WAC series.
