PORTLAND, Ore. – Utah Valley University defeated the University of Portland on Monday afternoon 11-2 at Joe Etzel Field. Luke Iverson finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored, including his team-high eighth home run of the season to put UVU (16-9, 2-1) over the top of Portland (9-16, 3-0).
 
The Wolverines loaded the bases in the first inning after Iverson doubled to start the game before Jayden Smith and Mason Strong drew walks. Landon Frei worked a four-pitch walk to give UVU a 1-0 lead. Frei has now reached base in all his 24 games played this season; it's a streak he shares with Iverson. UVU worked four walks against Portland starter Kaden Starr, and three of the four came in the first inning.
 
They continued to take advantage of Pilot miscues free bases as DJ Massey worked a walk and Iverson was hit by a pitch. Dominic Longo II hit a grounder to short that looked like a routine double play, but the ball was bounced off the glove of the shortstop to load the bases. UVU scored on a wild pitch that allowed Massey to hustle home.
 
UVU starting pitcher Aaron Rice tossed a career-high 4 1/3 innings and kept the Portland hitters off balance. Tyler Howard recorded the Pilot's first hit of the game, but Rice responded with a double play to end any threat. In the outing, eight of the Portland hitters were retired on ground balls while he added a career-high four strikeouts.
 
The Pilots pushed a run across in the fifth inning to make it 2-1 when they loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jacob Beltran's wild pitch allowed a run to score, but he quickly settled down and ended the fifth with a 6-4-3 double play.
 
Utah Valley scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning when they loaded the bases for the third time, with Nate Bach and Jimmy De Anda hit by pitches and Brody Block adding a single. Massey plated a run for the Wolverines to make it 3-1, but the Pilots traded the run for a double play. The Pilots hit UVU hitters six times in the inning, including later in the inning with the bases loaded when Longo II was hit to put the Wolverines in front 4-1. The big play in the inning was a single from Strong, which scored Iverson and Smith, who reached after being victims of pitches hitting them.
 
Beltran (3-0) earned the win after going 2 2/3, allowing only one hit and striking out three hitters on the day.
 
Utah Valley added insurance runs in the ninth inning when they put runners on all bases for Block, who plated his second RBI of the game with a sac fly, and Massey picked up a sac fly to make it 8-2. Iverson's homer made it 11-2 and gave UVU a solid cushion going into the home half of the ninth. In the contest, the UVU junior extended his hitting streak to 12 games, which is tied for the longest of the team this season.
 
Sawyer Wickstrom pitched the eighth for UVU, picked up a no-decision, and recorded a strikeout, with Garrett Miller pitching the ninth with a three-up, three-down inning.
 
The Wolverines have now won 12 of their last 14 games and return home for a crucial WAC series this weekend with Abilene Christian. The first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. MT on Friday, Mar. 28.