OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball will open the 2025 season this weekend with a four-game series in Southern California against UC Riverside. The series begins on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m. MT and will continue with games on Saturday, Feb. 15 and Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2:00 p.m. MT and conclude on Monday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 p.m. MT.
 
BROADCAST INFO
There will be no live broadcast this weekend, but live stats will be available online via Gohighlanders.com.
 
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Fri – LHP Corbin Kirk (UVU) vs. RHP Kurt Marton (UCR)
Sat – RHP Colton Kennedy (UVU) vs. LHP Matthew O'Brien
Sun – LHP Wayland Crane (UVU) vs. RHP Matthew Flores
Mon – RHP Aaron Rice (UVU) vs. TBD
 
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside finished last season 16-36 and 6-24 in the Big West Conference. They had a big roster turnover, and their highest returning hitter is Andrew Rivas, who finished last year with a .228 average. Head Coach Justin Johnson is in his fifth year at the helm of UCR and continues to build the program.
 
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders hold a narrow 4-3 edge in the all-time series, and this is the fourth consecutive season the two teams have played. All the matchups have been in Riverside, outside of two games that were moved to Mesa, Ariz., due to weather back in 2023.
 
PRESEASON ALL-WAC
Utah Valley outfielder Nate Bach was selected to the Preseason All-WAC team by fellow WAC Coaches. He hit .287 last year and took a big jump with the power numbers by launching 14 homers and knocking home 53 runs. He will start the year tied for 13^th all-time in home runs and will likely climb up the leaderboard.
 
Utah transfer Landon Frei was named Preseason All-WAC by Perfect Game. Frei will be one of the pillars of the offense. He earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors as a freshman in 2022 and will look to get back to all-conference form this season.
 
UTAH VALLEY PICKED SIXTH
The Wolverines were picked to finish sixth with 34 points, which was only two behind fifth-place Sacramento State. Grand Canyon was selected to win the conference and received eight of the nine first-place votes. Abilene Christian came in second while receiving one first-place vote.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will travel to San Jose State for a four-game series starting on Feb. 20-23. The Spartans play their home games at Excite Ballpark, the home of the San Jose Giants, who are an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.