RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Utah Valley baseball picked up their first win of the 2025 season on Saturday afternoon, 11-6 over UC Riverside at the Riverside Sports Complex. UVU (1-1) was offensively dominated by their eight and nine hitters, Joe McBride, who finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs, and DJ Massey, who finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs. The win marked the first in UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen's career.
 
"Great to see the offense respond after last night. The pitchers set the tone again, and we continued to swing at strikes and take balls. Tomorrow will be a big test for us as we come to the field after a win," said Rasmussen.  
 
The Wolverines trailed twice in the early innings and used a pair of two-out rallies to tie the game. The first came in the second inning after McBride singled and Massey doubled to left field in his first plate appearance for UVU. In the third, Joseph Barnhardt started the action with a single before scoring on a double from CJ Colyer.
 
Utah Valley trailed 3-2 in the top of the fourth inning before they loaded the bases on free bases, starting with walks to Luke Iverson and Jimmy De Anda before a pitch hit Nate Bach. Dominic Longo II and Barnhardt worked walks to bring in two runs and put the Wolverines in front 4-3. The lead was extended with singles from McBride and Massey to make it 7-3 UVU.
 
In the fifth inning, they extended the lead out to 9-3 with the first three hitters reaching base. Landon Frei worked a full count before getting walked, and Bach singled to center. A pair of the Highlander errors helped plate the two runs, starting with Longo II reaching on an error by the third baseman to allow one to score. He later advanced to second on a failed pickoff throw that allowed Bach to score.
 
McBride was hit three times in a game for the second time in his career, and he would contribute to runs with both plate appearances. In the sixth inning, after being hit, he moved to third on a double by Massey before scoring on an error. In the seventh, he recorded an RBI when he was hit with the bases loaded to make it 11-4 UVU.
 
Herman was locked in during his debut and retired the last six hitters he faced over five total innings of work, before giving way to Joey Harmon in the eighth inning. He quickly struck out the first two hitters faced and returned for the ninth inning. He recorded two outs after UCR put a pair of runners on base. Mario Bejarano came in and struck out the game's final hitter.
 
Utah Valley was hit by a pitch seven times as a team, which is tied for the second all-time in school history. They were hit nine times against Tarleton State last season.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley and UC Riverside will play the third game of the weekend series tomorrow (Feb. 16) at 2:00 p.m. MT. Wayland Crane will make his UVU debut on the mound. The game will air on Gohighlanders.com, and live stats will also be available.