RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Utah Valley baseball dropped Sunday's contest, 7-6 to UC Riverside on a walk-off single. Jayden Smith finished 3-for-3 at the plate and reached base for the 14th consecutive game dating back to last season. Mason Strong launched his first home run for UVU (1-2) in the contest. UCR (2-1) scored three in the ninth for the win.
 
"Our pitching staff did everything in their power to put us in a position to win the game. We need to play much better defense behind them to have a chance to win these types of games," said UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen.
 
Utah Valley trailed 1-0 in the top of the second inning when Mason Strong launched his first home run of the season to tie the game up at one. It was the first homer of the year for the UVU as a team and only the second of Strong's collegiate career.
 
Wayland Crane tossed five innings in his UVU debut while allowing seven scattered hits and one earned run. He added six strikeouts on the day.
 
The Wolverines threatened in the top of the fifth inning while trailing 4-1 with a one-out single from Kevin Parker before Smith doubled to the left field line. The inning ended on a pair of strikeouts. In the sixth, Landon Frei singled to third base before UVU loaded the bases after a pitch hit Brody Block, and Strong singled. The first two runs scored on a balk before Joe McBride had a sacrifice fly to cut into the deficit at 4-3.
 
Alan Huerta came in the sixth inning and held the Highlanders scoreless in his UVU debut that lasted three innings with six strikeouts.
 
Utah Valley was down to their final five outs when Dominic Longo II reached out on a fielding error and later stole second base with two outs. Smith singled to right field to tie the game up at four. In the home half of the eighth, UCR had the leading runner on second base with two outs, but Huerta got the strikeout to send the game to the ninth.
 
The Wolverines wasted no time with a four pitch walk to Luke Iverson followed by a double down the right field line to put two runners in scoring position with the heart of the order coming up. Frei popped out before Nate Bach's sacrifice fly put UVU in front 5-4. Block made it 6-4 on the first pitch he saw with a double to right field.
 
In the home half of the ninth inning, UC Riverside loaded the bases before scoring three runs for their second win of the series.
 
UP NEXT
The four-game series with UC Riverside will wrap up on Monday, Feb. 17, with a 1:00 p.m. MT first pitch from Riverside. UVU will then travel to San José State for a four-game series starting Thursday, Feb. 20.