MESA, Ariz. – Utah Valley University's baseball season ended on Thursday at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. UVU (29-29) fell in their morning contest to Abilene Christian (33-23) 16-7 before dropping their evening contest to California Baptist (35-23) by a 9-3 final score.
 
Utah Valley threatened in the top of the first inning against WAC Pitcher of the Year Brett Lanham, who walked Burke Camper and Cole Jordan before getting a strikeout to end the threat. UVU starter Braden Boisvert struck out three despite giving a pair of hits and the game's first run on an RBI single by Benjamin Greer to provide ACU with a 1-0 lead.
 
The Wolverines answered back in the second inning with a double from Garrett Broussard before Matthew Schwarz before Dickinson homered to left field to give UVU a 3-1 lead. Schwarz made his presence felt defensively in the bottom of the half with a leaping catch to end the ACU half.
 
ACU continued to apply pressure and put up four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-3 lead. In the UVU fourth inning, UVU chipped away at the deficit with a leadoff double from Jayden Smith before Broussard snuck a ball up the middle to score Smith and cut the Wildcat lead to 5-4.
 
Trailing 6-4 in the top of the fifth inning, Utah Valley loaded the bases after Camper drew a walk before Blaine Palmer hit the next two hitters to load the bases for Nate Bach, who popped out for an infield fly before retiring the next two batters to keep the Wolverines off the scoreboard. It was a different story in the sixth, as UVU used three consecutive hits to tie the ballgame. It started with a homer from Matthew Schwarz before Dickinson reached on a bunt single, and Camper drove him home with a triple-to-deep left center. Jordan gave the Wolverines as he beat the throw from third on a bunt attempt to make it 7-6.
 
The Wildcats' bats came alive, scoring ten runs over the next two innings to win the game 16-7. The win moved UVU to the one-loss bracket, where they played California Baptist in an elimination game.
 
GAME TWO
 
The Wolverines took an early 1-0 lead after Dickinson was trying to steal a third base when a throw went past the covering third baseman. California Baptist answered in the top of the second to tie the game on a bases-loaded walk to Conor McGuire. Jackson Thomas then came into the game and retired the next hitters to keep the game tied at 1-1.
 
Utah Valley looked to regain the lead in the third inning after Schwarz led off with a single before advancing to second and then third on wild pitches. CBU starter Brandon Downer ended the threat for the Wolverines and held them scoreless.
 
In the top of the fourth inning, the Lancers added two runs to take a 3-1 lead into the half of the inning. CBU held UVU off the board in the home half, but the Wolverines chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning. Smith started the inning with a walk before Broussard singled to put a pair of runners on base for Lovings, who walked to load the bases. Schwarz made it 3-2 on a sacrifice fly.
Dickinson loaded the bases again with a single to third base before the threat ended with one run across. However, the Lancers broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning and added a run in the eighth to take a commanding 8-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, a pair of high-flying balls were hit to right field and lost in the sky, allowing Jordan to hustle to third base before Bach doubled to right to make it 8-3, Lancers.
 
The Wolverines season ends with 29-29 and 18-12 WAC records. The 18 wins were tied for the most in WAC history, and UVU finished .500 or better in back-to-back years for the first time since 2011-2012. They set several team records, including a new home run, stolen bases, and hit by pitch.