ABILENE, Texas— Utah Valley University defeated Abilene Christian University 7-3 on Thursday night at Crutcher Scott Stadium. UVU (13-13, 5-2) has now won six straight and nine out of its last ten. Jayden Smith hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh, and Braden Boisvert picked up his third win of the year and quieted the ACU (15-11, 6-4) bats in the win.  
 
"That was an incredible effort by Braden Boisvert. We were able to stack enough good at-bats together at the plate to put some runs in the board to get him the win," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
Utah Valley scored in the first inning for the 12^th time this season after Daniel Dickinson was hit by a pitch to start the game for the Wolverines. Burke Camper launched a one-out homer over the left field fence to put UVU up 2-0. He finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs on the day. The Wildcats quickly answered in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead, including back-to-back home runs from Miller Ladusau and Gino D'Alessio.
 
Boisvert was tough all night on the ACU offense, but they still found ways to get runners on base in the second, third, and fourth innings. The strong arm of the UVU righty came up with two outs in each inning to end the threat. He finished with seven innings, allowing five hits and no runs.
 
ACU starter Austin Glaze was equally as challenging. Cole Jordan worked a free pass in the second before being stranded, and Broussard was hit in the fourth but was left on the bases. Glaze finished with five innings and seven strikeouts.
 
The Wildcats put together their best threat since the first inning in the sixth when they had runners on the corners, but Boisvert got Preseason All-WAC outfield Ladusau to ground out to end the inning.
 
In the seventh inning, the Wolverines struck on a two-out rally that started with a single from Jordan before walks to Matthew Schwarz and Daniel Dickinson loaded the bases. After ACU changed pitchers, Jaden Smith took a 3-2 pitch out of the ball park for a grand slam to the left field to put UVU up 6-3.
 
Utah Valley added an insurance run in the eighth inning after Nate Bach singled to lead off the inning, and Joe McBride singled after hitting for Luke Iverson. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Schwarz singled home a run to make it 7-3.
 
At 107 pitches on the night, Boisvert's night came to an end with two-outs in the eighth inning. UVU junior Jacob Beltran came in to get the final out of the eighth inning on a ground out before retiring the side in the ninth.
 
 
The Wolverines and Wildcats will play the second game tomorrow at 5:05 p.m. MT in Abilene before the series wraps up on Saturday at 11:05 a.m. MT. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.