OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball fell, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon to UC Davis at UCCU Ballpark. UVU (4-8) was led by a 3-for-5 day from catcher Mason Strong and six innings from starting pitcher Wayland Crane, who struck out three hitters and allowed six hits in his home debut. UC Davis (8-4) rallied late for the win in the series finale.
 
UC Davis looked poised to score the game's first run in the top of the second inning after loading the bases with one out, but the UVU southpaw found a way out of it with a strikeout of Mark Wolbert and getting Ethan Kang to pop up a bunt. Utah Valley took advantage of the stranded base runners in the home half with a double from Strong to lead off. They had runners on the corners when Dominic Longo II reached a fielder's choice.
 
Crane navigated potential Aggie threats multiple times during the ball game and got some help from his offense in the third inning after UC Davis had tied it up at 1-1. DJ Massey led off the third inning and reached on an error before a pitch hit Jayden Smith to put two runners on base. Landon Frei singled home a run to make it 2-1 and pushed his hitting streak to 11 games and improved his reached base streak to 12. The next hitter, Strong, singled home a run to make it 3-1 and give Crane the run support he needed.
 
The Aggies successfully moved Ryan Lee into scoring position after a sac bunt in the top of the fourth and scored the run on a double to cut into the UVU lead, 3-2. The narrow lead did not bother Crane, who returned in the fifth and retired the first two hitters of the inning before getting Braydon Wooldridge down on strikes.
 
The UVU defense was sharp again on the day and turned a key double play in the sixth inning when Longo II moved up to the cut of the infield turf and quickly snagged a short hop by Joey Wright to go around the horn for the double play. It was the second of two double plays turned on the day for the Wolverines.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, UC Davis broke through on the UVU pitching staff, loading the bases and scoring four runs in the inning to take a 6-3 lead. The inning ended on a good throw by Strong to nail a potential base stealer. The defensive play may have helped get the bats going, as in the home half of the inning, Luke Iverson reached base for the 12^th straight and came with a walk before he scored from first base on a triple by Smith. They cut down the Aggie lead to 6-5 after a single by Frei. The Wolverines put the ball in play three more times in the inning, but Wolbert ran down all three hard-hit balls.
 
The best chance to tie the game late came in the eighth inning after Joe McBride worked a walk with a full count to put the tying run on base, and CJ Colyer had a pinch-hit single to put two runners on base with no outs. Iverson smacked a groundball that was turned into a double play, but it moved the tying run just 90 feet away. UC Davis' Carter Delaney kept the Wolverines off the board.
 
Eight of UVU's nine hits came from the 2-5 spots in the batting order with Smith finishing 2-for-3. He now has seven multi-hit games to lead the Wolverines. Frei added a 2-for-5 and Brody Block had the other hit with a single.
 
The Wolverines combined for six pitchers today with the home debuts of Mario Bejarano, Joey Harmon, Garrett Miller, and George Albrecht.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley travels to Greeley, Colo., for a five-game series with the Bears. The series starts on Friday, Mar. 7, at 2:00 p.m. MT and will air on Midco Sports Plus (subscription required). The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 8, before playing games on Sunday, Mar. 9, and Monday, Mar. 10.