OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball swept both ends of a Saturday doubleheader at UCCU Ballpark over UC Davis, 9-6 and 4-3. UVU (4-7) had great performances from pitchers, including Colton Kennedy going a career-high five innings and Ray Hernandez with three innings of no-hit ball in Game 2 against UC Davis (7-4).
 
"Great response by our team today. We bounced back with energy and a lot of grit. The pitchers set the tone all day long against a very good UC Davis team," said UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen.
 
GAME ONE
UVU junior pitcher Kennedy tossed a career-high 5 1/3 innings and tied his career-high with five strikeouts. UC Davis had a base runner erased off the basepaths when Kennedy struck out a hitter, and Joseph Barnhardt caught an Aggie runner trying to steal for the double play. Utah Valley got on the board in the home half with a solo homer from Brody Block to go up 1-0.
 
Kennedy remained dialed in despite allowing baserunners; he answered with three of his five strikeouts to end innings. In the fifth, with the tying run on second base, Joey Wright flied out to right field, and Luke Iverson threw a bullet to third base for an inning-ending double play.
 
The Aggies tied the game up in the sixth and took their first lead later in the inning on a bases-loaded walk issued by Carston Herman. The offense quickly picked him up after a one-out walk by Block to put a runner on base. Nate Bach launched his first home run of the year to make it 3-2.
 
The Wolverines found themselves down again, 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and they once again rallied, starting with Kevin Parker, Jr., who reached when a pitch hit him to start the inning. Iverson got down in the 1-2 when he lined a homer over the right field fence to make it 5-4.
 
Utah Valley's offense got them the final lead they needed and then some insurance runs in the eighth inning. Dominic Longo II doubled with two outs, and following a pitching change, he scored on a single from Joseph Barnhardt to go up 6-5. Joe McBride hit a pop-up that bounced on the outfield turf before they loaded the bases when Iverson drew a walk. Jayden Smith's single plated two runs and made it 8-5 before Landon Frei added his own single to make it 9-5.
 
UC Davis put a pair of base runners on base in the ninth inning with Jacob Heppner recording the first out and Cooper Littledike came in to close the game and earn his first save of the season.
 
GAME TWO
The Wolverines pitching staff limited the Aggies to just six hits in the second game of the doubleheader. UC Davis went up 3-0 heading the bottom of the third, and they were looking to add against Jacob Beltran, but he got Mark Wolbert to ground into a double play. The offense started to chip away, starting with a double by Mason Strong before Block walked to put a pair of runners on base. Bach picked up his third RBI combined between the two games with a single to make it 3-1. They added a second run on a sac fly later in the inning from Joe McBride.
 
Hernandez made his UCCU Ballpark debut and pitched a solid three innings of no-hit ball and only allowed a pair of base runners. He retired the final six hitters he faced and gave Utah Valley a chance to tie the game in the seventh. The Wolverines took advantage of a throwing error by UC Davis to get Smith into scoring position before he hustled home after a single from Strong.
 
Alan Huerta came in and recorded three outs on three hitters before continuing on the ninth inning, when he added two strikeouts and only allowed a single during his outing. The Wolverines got the leadoff hitter on base with a single from Smith on the first pitch he saw. Frei hit into a fielder's choice, but quickly moved to second on a wild pitch and he hustled home when Block hit a cutting liner away from the UC Davis left fielder for the win.
 
The doubleheader sweep is the first against a Division I opponent since February 2023 against UC Riverside.
 
UP NEXT
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 2 at 12:05 p.m. MT at UCCU Ballpark. The Wolverines are set to travel next week for a five-game series against Northern Colorado from Jackson Field.