GREELEY, Colo. – Utah Valley baseball swept their second doubleheader in two weekends with 16-6 and 7-3 wins over Northern Colorado at Jackson Field on Saturday. The win secured the series for UVU (7-9).
Luke Iverson finished game one with four extra base hits in five at-bats and
Jacob Heppner pitched six strong innings in game two to help UVU sweep UNC (5-9).
"Awesome to see us come out offensively today and take some pressure off our staff. Anytime you win a doubleheader in Division 1 baseball you have to play tough and that's exactly what they did," said UVU head coach
Nate Rasmussen.
GAME ONE
A day after the pitching staff recorded the most strikeouts of the season, it was the offense's turn to have their day. They recorded a season-high 16 runs on 18 hits. Iverson led the way, going 4-for-5 with two triples, a home run, and a double while adding three RBIs.
Mason Strong,
Dominic Longo II,
CJ Colyer, and
DJ Massey added three hits in the game.
The Wolverines struck in the first inning on a ground out from
Jayden Smith, which was followed by a triple by Iverson. They added to their lead in the second inning with two extra base hits that started with a one-out double by Longo II before Colyer homered down the left field line to make it 3-0.
The tandem got things going again in the fourth inning with a double to left center before Colyer singled to right field to put runners on the corners. Massey drove home one with a single to third base to make it 4-1. Utah Valley added on with a second RBI from Smith, back-to-back RBIs from Frei, and a triple from Strong to put the Wolverines up 7-1.
Utah Valley pulled away in the fifth inning with three more extra base hits, as Colyer and Massey doubled before Iverson's second triple of the game made it 11-1.
The run support helped
Colton Kennedy through 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts but did not factor into the decision.
Jacob Beltran tossed 1 1/3 innings, and
Mario Bejarano finished the game going 3 1/3.
UVU continued to add runs in the sixth inning. Longo II singled to bring home one, and he scored later after swiping third base, and the throw went down the line to make it 13-4 in favor of the Wolverines. Iverson doubled home Massey after he singled and stole second base. Strong drove in his second run of the game with a sac fly to make it 15-6.
The scoring was capped in the ninth on a solo home run by Iverson and UVU picked up the 16-6 win.
GAME TWO
Utah Valley used a seven-run fourth inning to back
Jacob Heppner's six inning outing for the 7-3 win. In his first start of the season, Heppner only surrendered two hits through the first three innings and kept the Bears scoreless.
The UVU offense picked him up in the fourth inning, starting with Frei, who reached on a throwing error and advanced to third base. He scored to break the tie on a pop-up from Colyer and make it 1-0, Utah Valley. The lead was extended with an RBI single from
Jimmy De Anda before the Wolverines loaded the bases and scored a run after a fielding error to go up 3-0. The inning's big blow came from Smith with a triple to right center to clear the bases, with UVU taking a commanding lead 6-0. The scoring was capped with a single to score Smith from Frei.
Heppner came back out in the bottom of the fourth inning with a 7-0 lead and quickly retired the side in order in both the fourth and fifth innings. It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Bears scored their first run of the game on a sac fly to make it 7-1.
Northern Colorado tried to rally late and scored two runs in the seventh inning. Still, the combination of
Ray Hernandez,
Garrett Miller, and
Cooper Littledike held the game in UVU's favor. Miller finished with 1 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and one strikeout, and Littledike came in for 2/3 an inning.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley and Northern Colorado will play the fourth game of their five-game tomorrow (Mar. 9) at noon before wrapping up the series on Monday, Mar. 10, with a noon first pitch. The Wolverines are scheduled to return home to UCCU Ballpark for the NAIA's Embry-Riddle on Friday, Mar. 14.
