SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Utah Valley baseball evened their series with Sacramento State with a 5-2 win on Saturday at John L. Smith Field. UVU (4-9, 1-1) was led by Daniel Dickinson, who went 4-for-5 in the contest. Senior Mitch Mueller pitched 3.2 innings in relief without allowing a hit to Sacramento State (6-8, 1-1) to help the Wolverines to the victory.
 
"That was a solid team effort. Mitch Mueller and Nick Sims wanted the ball in their hands in clutch situations and rose up for this team," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
Utah Valley struck early, loading the bases in the top of the first inning and scoring three runs on a fielding error by the Hornet shortstop that allowed one run to score and a single off the bat of Matthew Schwarz to score Calyn Halvorson and Burke Camper.
 
Leading 3-0 in the top of the second, Dickinson went deep with a home run that cleared the fence in center field and made it 4-0, UVU. The homer was his sixth of the season and his 15^th of his UVU career. He moves past teammate Cole Jordan and is now tied with Alexander Marco in the record book for 13^th place all-time.
 
UVU starter Ethan Fowlks pitched 4.1 innings, limiting Sacramento State to just five hits and striking out eight, which set a new season-high and tied a career-high. He previously set his career high with eight strikeouts against SFA last May. He did not factor in the decision.
 
Mueller was tough on the bats tonight, facing 12 Hornets, he struck out JP Smith and got Cesar Valero to foul out to hold the lead for the Wolverines in the fifth inning and the threat from Sacramento State. He finished up his outing by retiring the final eight hitters he faced to earn his first win of the season.
 
The Wolverines added an insurance run in the ninth inning after singles from Garrett Broussard and Dickinson they had two runners on when Camper was hit by a pitch to load the bases. They scored their run on a sac fly from Halvorson to make it 4-2. Utah Valley looked to add more, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.
 
Nick Sims came in for the ninth for his 56^th career appearance, which makes him 12^th all-time in appearances for a pitcher. He allowed the first two hitters to reach base before locking down his first save with a double play and a strikeout to secure the win. He earned his first save since 2022 with the performance.
 
Utah Valley will look to win the series tomorrow with a 1:00 p.m. MT first pitch. The game is set to air on WAC International. The Wolverines will play a pair of non-conference games to start next week with Big West foe UC Davis on Mar. 11 and Pacific on Mar. 12. They return home for a WAC series with Stephen F. Austin in Orem on Mar. 15-17.