OREM, Utah – Utah Valley baseball fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats, 11-1, on Monday night at UCCU Ballpark. The Utah Valley Wolverines (10-8) saw starting pitcher Colton Kennedy record a season-high eight strikeouts, one shy of his career high of nine, set twice last season. Cincinnati (16-6) took advantage of a pair of Wolverine errors to claim game one of the series.
 
Utah Valley had multiple opportunities with runners in scoring position, including in the first inning while trailing 1-0 after Mason Hamlin hit a sharp bouncer that deflected off the glove of the Cincinnati third baseman. The bottom of the order sparked a rally in the third inning when Jayden Smith and DJ Massey each worked deep counts to draw walks. The bases were loaded after Luke Iverson's ground ball found its way into the hole between shortstop and third base. The Wolverines looked poised to capitalize, but Hamlin lined out to third before Kaden Carpenter's sacrifice fly plated the lone run for UVU.
 
Kennedy finished with four innings pitched, and his eight strikeouts moved him past Jed Jensen for seventh all-time on the UVU strikeout list. He became just the seventh pitcher in the Division I era to reach 150 career strikeouts and now trails Jackson Cofer by nine for fifth on the list.
 
Cooper Littledike logged two innings in relief, entering with runners on base and no outs. He struck out Jack Natili before inducing a pair of groundouts to escape the inning. Littledike capped his outing with a strikeout of Conlan Daniel in the sixth.
 
Utah Valley had two players extend streaks with late-inning hits. Hunter Katschke was one of four Wolverines to record a hit, and his eighth-inning single extended his hitting streak to five games. Chipper Beck singled in the seventh inning to reach base for the 16th consecutive game.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will look to bounce back in the series finale against Cincinnati on Tuesday morning. First pitch is set for 11:05 a.m. MT at UCCU Ballpark. Fans can watch on ESPN+, listen on GoUVU.com, or tune in on 103.9 and 98.3 ESPN The Fan.