MESA, Ariz. – Colton Kennedy and Cooper Littledike combined for the first combined no-hitter in the program's NCAA era on Friday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium. UVU (31-27) advances to their second WAC championship game in the last three seasons and will face either Abilene Christian, Sacramento State, or UT Arlington.
 
Kennedy started in a groove, recording six strikeouts in the first three innings of the game, including a stretch with four consecutive, starting with a swing and miss from All-WAC slugger JP Smith to end the first inning, and then struck out the side in the second inning. The Hornets worked a one-out walk in the third, but the momentum was quickly shut down with two more strikeouts.
 
The Wolverines broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brody Block singled to left field and moved to second on a walk to Jimmy De Anda. They loaded the bases on a hard liner off the wall from Luke Iverson, but the runners had to freeze in case of a catch. All-WAC First Team selection, Jayden Smith singled to left field to score two runs and take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Wolverines added base runners in the third inning on a single from Iverson and a double from Landon Frei to start the home half of the fourth inning. Sacramento State starter Ethan Lay came up with the outs needed to keep the game scoreless.
 
Utah Valley kept the pressure on, adding two more runs in the inning, starting with a double to left field by Mason Strong, before Lay recorded his final two outs of the day. The Sacramento State starter had a solid outing, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, three runs, and five strikeouts. The Wolverines tacked on against the bullpen, starting with an RBI triple from Block before yesterday's hero, CJ Colyer, singled to right field to make it 4-0.
 
Kennedy settled in and retired 15 consecutive hitters during the outing. Sacramento State's Cameron Sewell reached on a walk in the third inning, and their next base runner came in the eighth when Elie Kligman worked a walk. His day ended in the eighth inning as the Hornets looked to tie the game. His day ended with a standing ovation after 7 1/3 innings with one run, and he tied a career-high nine strikeouts.
 
Littledike earned his fifth save of the year, going 1 2/3 innings pitched. In the eighth, he allowed a walk before getting Matt Masciangelo to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the game at 4-1.
 
Utah Valley pulled away in the home half of the eighth inning, which started with a triple by Dominic Longo II that went off the batter's eye in center field. He scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1, and was upheld after the tag at the plate was challenged. The Wolverines kept adding on and took advantage of a couple of miscues by the Sacramento State infield as Nate Bach reached when a flyball was dropped after battling the sun. UVU moved a pair of base runners in scoring position when De Anda bunted down the third base line to plate a run and make it 6-1. The bases were loaded later in the inning as Jayden Smith knocked in his third run of the game on a sacrifice fly into shallow center that was caught by the second baseman, and the runner beat the throw from third base. The final two inning runs came in on a double by Strong to put the Wolverines in front 9-1.
 
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will advance to Saturday's championship game at 4:00 p.m. MT from Hohokam Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+ and can be heard on 103.9 FM and 98.3 FM ESPN The Fan in Utah, with Jordan Bianucci and Brice Larson on the call.