OREM, Utah – Utah Valley defeated Sacramento State, 14-2, in a seven-inning contest on Friday night at UCCU Ballpark. A career-high four hits from Brody Block led UVU (28-21, 13-9) as the entire lineup reached base in the win for UVU, which won their ninth series opener of the season.
 
The Wolverines jumped on Sacramento State (28-22, 12-7) starter Evan Gibbons in the bottom of the first inning, starting with a leadoff home run from Luke Iverson that cleared the centerfield wall to put them up 1-0. A pitch hit Jayden Smith before Gibbons recorded the next two outs, before UVU opened the game up early with a single from Block, before Dominic Longo II tripled to right center to make it 3-0.  
 
The offense continued with the three consecutive singles from the bottom of the order, including RBI singles from Nate Bach and DJ Massey, to help the Wolverines to a 5-0 lead after the first inning.
 
Utah Valley added two more runs in the second inning as Landon Frei was hit by a pitch and stole second, and when the pitch came home, it was wild, allowing him to advance to third base. He scored on a single from Mason Strong before the Wolverines loaded the bases later in the inning and went up 7-0 when a pitch with the bases loaded hit Massey.
 
Corbin Kirk had his best outing since pitching at Grand Canyon and finished with six innings, allowing seven hits, which were scattered throughout the contest. Kirk worked out of trouble in the first after a pair of Hornet hits started the contest, but the UVU infield turned a double play to end the inning. He left runners stranded in both the second and third innings with strikeouts.
 
Utah Valley pulled away with a seven-run sixth inning that started with a double by Mason Strong before Block chipped in one of his four hits with a single to center field to plate a run and make it 8-2. The Wolverines loaded the bases after singles from Longo II and Bach to force a Sacramento State pitching change, and UVU quickly added on, scoring two more runs after a sacrifice fly and a groundout to make it 10-2 to set up Frei for a grand slam to centerfield for RBI No. 65 on the season, which places him in a tied with Derrick Thomas (2005) and Goose Kallunki (2010) for the most in a single-season.
 
Iverson's first inning home run was No. 15 this season, which moves into a tie with Thomas (2007) and Dan Bulow (2005) for the most home runs in a season. He would need to reach 19 to break the record held by Kallunki (2012), Daniel Dickinson (2024), and Burke Camper (2024)
 
UP NEXT
The Wolverines and Hornets will play the second game of the weekend tilt on Saturday, May 10 at 4:00 p.m. MT. Colton Kennedy will take the hill for UVU and will be opposed by Sacramento State's Ethan Lay.