OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball, fresh off its five-game sweep of Northern Colorado, returns home for a four-game series against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The series begins on Friday, Mar. 14 at 2:05 p.m. MT, and will continue with games on Saturday and Sunday, both with 2:05 p.m. MT starts, before wrapping up on Monday with a 12:05 p.m. MT start.
 
BROADCAST INFO
This week's series will air on ESPN+, with an audio-only broadcast available on GoUVU.com. Jordan Bianucci will be on the call for all four games of the series. Live stats will be available on GoUVU.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley is coming off a five-game sweep of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where they pounded out 59 runs, 29 extra base hits, and eight home runs over the five games. Dominic Longo II finished the weekend with ten hits, 11 runs scored, four doubles, two homers, and 9 RBIs to help pace the offense. Mason Strong played in four games and went 9-for-18. A total of four Wolverines finished with a .400 or better average, with DJ Massey (.429) and Luke Iverson (.400) joining Longo II and Strong. As a team, they hit .327 on the weekend.
 
On the mound, Jacob Heppner made his first start of the season and did not disappoint, going six innings and allowing three hits to earn a victory. Two other starters finished with outings that went into the fifth with Corbin Kirk going 5 1/3 while tallying a career-high eight strikeouts. Landon Zaborowski also tossed 5 1/3 innings. Cooper Littledike finished with two saves on the trip in the 1 2/3 of work on two strikeouts. The staff finished the five-game series with a 4.80 ERA, pitching at one of the highest elevations in the country.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Embry-Riddle is 6-15 this season and plays in the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) with a 2-0 record. They are in their fourth season of competition, led by Geoff Fox. Their leading hitter is Roberto Garza-Nunez, who in 20 games, is hitting .427 with one homer and 21 RBIs. Owen Cain and Blake Moore lead EMAU in home runs with two on the season.
 
Pitching has been a struggle this season, with a team ERA above 9.00. They are led by Jesse Kaphing, who has a 2-3 record and 6.19 ERA, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio has been great, at 34 strikeouts to only six walks.
 
LEADING TRIPLES
Utah Valley is amongst the national leaders in triples this year. They are tied for sixth with Louisville, Radford, Saint Louis, and Sam Houston, all with nine. WAC foe Tarleton State is the nation's leader with 13. Jayden Smith has three triples this season and is currently No. 8 in the country. Iverson and Strong each have two and are in the Top 40.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will travel for the first week of the WAC season with a three-game series at Seattle U at Bannerwood Ballpark in Bellevue. The team will travel for a nonconference matchup in Portland against the Portland Pilots on Monday, Mar. 24.