STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Utah Valley University defeated Tarleton State, 9-6 on Friday evening at the Tarleton Baseball Complex. UVU (26-24, 16-9) set a school record by being hit by nine pitches. Daniel Dickinson finished 3-for-5 with three RBI's and Calyn Halvorson homered in the game. Tarleton State (25-25, 15-10) was led by Mason Hammonds, who finished 3-for-5. The two teams fought through two long weather delays in the nine-inning contest.
 
The Wolverines have secured an over .500 finish in WAC play, marking the first time they have had back-to-back .500 conference finishes since the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
 
"That was a great testament to our team as we stuck together through unique conditions. We showed a lot of grit out there today, and it was great to see Mitch Mueller want the moment and slam the door shut," said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.
 
Tarleton State threatened with two outs in the opening frame and loaded the bases before Braden Boisvert came in and retired Kooper Snook to hit into a fielder's choice to keep the game scoreless. The Texans, however, quickly responded when Hammonds doubled to right field to make it 2-0. They added a run on an error to go up 3-0 after two innings.
 
The Wolverines answered the Tarleton State three-second inning with a trio of runs in the top of the third inning. It started with Dickinson being hit by a pitch before Burke Camper doubled to put two runners in scoring position. UVU loaded the bases later in the inning when Calyn Halvorson was hit and scored their first run of the game when Nate Bach was hit to make it 3-1 Tarleton State. They continued to chip away when Jayden Smith was drilled to cut the deficit to 3-2. The game was tied up at three after a sacrifice fly from Garrett Broussard.
 
Utah Valley took its first lead in the fifth inning after a double by Jayden Smith. Broussard singled to put runners on the corners with one out, and Isaac Lovings was hit to load the bases. Dickinson singled to right center field to score two runs and put UVU up 5-4. Tarleton State answered right back to regain the lead at 6-5 with a two-run homer from Mason Crews.
 
The Wolverines did not stay down long as Jordan started the sixth inning with a single before Halvorson homered to left field for his ninth home run of the season. UVU looked to add more when Bach reached after being hit by a pitch, but a double play emptied the bases.
 
The Texans looked to tie the game in the seventh inning and had two runners on base when the lightning returned, causing a two-hour delay. Mitch Mueller came in and replaced Eli Sundquist after the delay, and Mason Crews flew out to end the threat in the seventh.
 
Mueller gave up a pair of hits in the bottom of the eighth inning, a Hammonds single and a bunt single from Trace Morrison, but the threat ended after a flyout that put runners on the corners. A fly ball looked to tie the game, but Jordan came up throwing and got the runner at the plate to end the inning and keep UVU in front 7-6.
 
The Wolverines struck again with two outs in the ninth inning. Lovings reached base after becoming the ninth hitter to be hit in the game, and he hustled home from first on a triple by Schwarz to make it 8-6. UVU added to its lead with a single by Dickinson for his third RBI of the game, giving them a 9-6 advantage.
 
Boisvert earned his sixth victory of the season after tossing 4.1 innings in the game. Sundquist tallied 1.2 innings with one hit before Mueller finished the game with 2.1 innings on two hits and no runs.
 
It marks the third time this year that Dickinson has had three RBIs in a game and his 13^th multi-RBI game. He's now tied for the team lead with Broussard and Camper.
 
Utah Valley and Tarleton State will play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 11:05 a.m. MT. The games are scheduled to air on ESPN+. UVUstats.com will have live stats for both games.