OREM, Utah—Utah Valley baseball defeated Utah Tech 6-0 on Friday afternoon at UCCU Ballpark. It was UVU's (15-17, 7-4) first combined shutout since Mar. 4, 2023, at Portland. Mitch Mueller set a new career-high with 7.0 innings and struck out four Utah Tech hitters (8-20, 6-8).

"It was a great team effort again today. If we can play together in this way consistently we have the opportunity for a special back half of our season," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith. 
 
Utah Tech looked to break through in the second inning with a leadoff single, but Mueller and the UVU defense had other ideas. They quickly turned a double play for the two outs. The Trailblazers' inning ended when Isaac Lovings caught a runner trying to swipe second base.
 
The strong defense turned to offense in the second as Nate Bach went the other way for a solo home run to give UVU a 1-0 lead. It was his 11^th home run of the season which puts him atop the team leaderboard.
 
UVU added to its 1-0 lead in the fourth. After Burke Camper drew a walk, Calyn Halvorson hit a line-drive home run to make it 3-0 in the fourth inning. The Wolverines were not done yet. Jayden Smith and Cole Jordan both reached base before Isaac Lovings singled to left field on a blooper to score one and make it 4-0. The scoring was capped at five runs after Matthew Schwarz hit a grounder that was mishandled by the Trailblazers, allowing a run to score and made it 5-0.
 
Mueller was in a groove on his way to earning his third win of the season. He recorded 13 groundouts of 25 batters faced on the afternoon and his day ended with a strikeout in the top of the seventh inning. The Wolverine bats added to their lead in the home half as Schwarz singled on a bunt, Dickinson walked, and Camper loaded the bases. Halvorson drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right and put UVU in front 6-0.
 
Ethan Fowlks came in and pitched the eighth inning. The inning started with a walk to Ethan He before a 5-4-3 double play ended the inning with no damage done. In the ninth, Robby Butenschoen gave up a leadoff single from Hunter Katschke before UVU ended the game by turning their third double play.
 
The Wolverines and Trailblazers will wrap up the series on Sunday, Apr. 7, with a time to be announced. Please follow UVU Baseball's social media accounts for a game-time announcement.