OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball came from behind to win the series opener on Friday night against California Baptist, 18-14. UVU (26-17, 11-5) broke the school record for walks in a game with 16 and passed the previous record of 15 set on Apr. 8, 2019, at Air Force. Cooper Littledike pitched the final three innings and set a new career-high with four strikeouts of CBU (22-20, 5-8) hitters.
 
The Wolverines wasted no time jumping on the WAC strikeout leader, Cody New. They tagged him for six runs as they loaded the bases with walks to Luke Iverson and Landon Frei, with a double from Jayden Smith to set up the first two runs of the game. Strong's ground-rule double made it 2-0, and it was the first of his five RBIs in the contest and his second five-RBI game of the homestand.
 
Utah Valley added to their lead in the second inning after their second ground rule double of the night, this time from CJ Colyer. The Wolverines took advantage of defensive mistakes by the Lancers, first on a passed ball that allowed Colyer to move to second, and later with runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed Smith to sprint home from third for one of his four runs in the contest.
 
The CBU bats came alive in the second as they scored 11 runs and took a 12-4 lead. However, Utah Valley quickly answered in the third inning, taking advantage of four consecutive free passes to make it 12-5 after DJ Massey worked a walk with a full count. They pushed a second run across to make it 12-6 on a wild pitch.
 
Alan Huerta gave the Wolverines solid innings out of the bullpen, finishing the night with three innings pitched and only allowing two hits and one run. His three-up and three-down fourth inning and his solid fifth inning against the heart of the Lancer lineup set the stage for the five-run fifth inning to make it a one-run game.
 
Massey started with a one-out bunt that he hustled to beat the throw on. He then took off and recorded a stolen base with the top of the order at the plate. The throw from the CBU catcher kicked into the outfield, allowing Massey to reach third base. Smith knocked him in with a single to put two runners on base and cut the deficit to 13-8. UVU loaded the bases after Frei worked a seven-pitch walk after falling behind in the count 0-2. The Lancer lead was cut to 13-9 after a wild pitch plated a run, but the big blast came from Strong, who homered to left field to make it 13-12 in favor of the visitors.
 
California Baptist looked ready to pounce and open the game back up in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with no outs. Mapleton native, Littledike, came on in and struck out the next three hitters to strand the bases loaded. The Wolverines had the momentum on their side and loaded the bases after walks were issued to Strong and Dominic Longo II before Nate Bach beat out a bunt. Brody Block tied the game with a walk to score Strong before Massey's sac fly put the Wolverines in front for the first time since the first inning.
 
Utah Valley was not done yet. After a pitch hit Iverson to load the bases, Smith worked a walk to make it a two-run ballgame at 15-13. CBU made a pitching change and a new arm faced the WAC RBI leader, Frei, who lined a double to right field to clear the bases and put the Wolverines up 18-13.
 
The Lancers scored a run in the ninth inning, but the Wolverines held on for the win. UVU has now won eight weekend series openers in a row. They keep pace with Grand Canyon, which also won on Friday night, for a first-place tie in the WAC.
 
All ten of UVU's hitters recorded a walk in the contest on Friday night, with ten of the 16 walks coming in a full count. Iverson recorded a team-high three walks. He reached base for the program record 41^st time on Saturday, snapping Frei's record that was set on Monday against BYU.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will play the second game of the weekend series at UCCU Ballpark on Saturday, Apr. 26, at 4:00 p.m. MT. The series concludes on Sunday, Apr. 27, at noon MT.