OREM, Utah — Utah Valley baseball rallied from an 11-3 deficit before coming up short in a 13-10 loss to Utah Tech at UCCU Ballpark. Hunter Katschke finished 4-for-6 with two home runs, six RBIs, and three runs scored for the Wolverines (15-24, 1-5). It was his third multi-homer game of the season while he tied a career-high with six RBIs. Utah Tech (26-14, 5-1) was led by Finnegan Stewart, who finished 4-for-5 and was a home run shy of the cycle.
 
Utah Valley finished with six doubles for the third time this season, led by Mason Hamlin, who went 4-for-5 with two doubles for the first time in his career.
 
Katschke answered his former squad in the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot on a 2-0 pitch that he sent 447 feet to center field to tie the game at 1. He came through again in the second inning when Mason Hamlin and Derek Houston scored on a well-placed single through the right side to make it 5-3.
 
Jimmy De Anda walked to start the fourth inning and then scored on a double to left field by Katschke for his fifth RBI in the first four innings of the game. Kaden Carpenter added an RBI single as he beat the shift with a base hit to right field to make it 11-5 Trailblazers.
 
The Wolverines looked to put up some zeros to give the offense a chance to chip away at the deficit. Brillion, Wis., native Aaron Rice entered the game and went 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing only four hits and one run. Utah Valley took advantage of the solid pitching and began to chip away, starting with an RBI pinch-hit double from Trenton Rowan to make it 11-6.
 
After a three-up, three-down sixth, Rice got Ryan Kroepel to hit into a double play before the offense struck again. This time, starting with a double from Hamlin to immediately be in scoring position, he scored when Massey bounced one down the left-field line to cut it to 11-7. Katschke added his fourth homer of the series against the Trailblazers with a two-run shot to cut the deficit to 11-9.
 
Utah Tech got two runs back in the eighth against freshman Cohen Baack on back-to-back triples from Andrew Pyle and Petey Soto Jr. Jacob Beltran pitched a hitless eighth inning and added a strikeout, with Maddax Peck pitching the ninth to give UVU one final chance.
 
Hamlin doubled for the second time to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, with Beck driving him home on a single with two outs. Carpenter then doubled to put runners on the corners and bring the tying run to the plate, but Strong grounded out to end the game.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley hits the road for a four-game stretch, starting with a trip to Salt Lake City on Tuesday night to play Utah before returning to WAC play next weekend at Tarleton State.