OREM, Utah – Kaden Carpenter finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and a home run to lead Utah Valley to a 13-5 victory over UT Arlington on Thursday night at UCCU Ballpark. UVU (17-35, 3-13) recorded a season-high 18 hits to back a career outing from
Ray Hernandez, who tossed six innings, allowed three runs, and struck out three. UT Arlington (18-29, 7-9) was led by Xander McPhee, who drove in two runs for the Mavericks.
Hernandez worked a five-pitch, 1-2-3 third inning after stranding UTA runners in scoring position in both the first and second innings. That set the stage for the Wolverines' offense to break through against Maverick starter Caylon Dygert.
Jimmy De Anda and
Hunter Katschke opened the inning with singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out before
Brody Block lifted a sacrifice fly to give UVU a 1-0 lead.
Utah Valley finished with a season-high seven doubles in the game, including three from Carpenter. It marked the first time a Wolverine recorded three doubles in a game since
Garrett Broussard accomplished the feat against Utah Tech in 2024. Carpenter's second double of the night helped spark another scoring inning for UVU, as
Chipper Beck followed with one of his two doubles to extend the lead to 2-0 in the third. The BYU transfer tied a career high with two doubles.
Mason Strong later added an RBI, and
Mason Hamlin beat out a high chopper to first base to score another run and push the Wolverines in front 4-0.
Hernandez stayed in control on the mound, retiring seven straight hitters before Austin Phillips doubled and later scored for the Mavericks in the fifth inning. Utah Valley answered immediately in the bottom half of the frame when Beck singled through the right side before Strong drove in Block on a ground ball deep in the hole to make it 5-1.
The Wolverines responded to a two-run sixth inning by UTA with a run of their own after Katschke sent a ball into left-center field and advanced to second, allowing De Anda to race home from first and make it 6-3.
UTA trimmed the deficit to one in the seventh when McPhee lined a ball down the left-field line to score Hank Harp and Xavier Melendez. With the tying run in scoring position,
Garrett Miller recorded a strikeout and later ended the inning with another punchout to preserve the 6-5 lead.
Carpenter and the Wolverines continued to swing the bats against the UTA bullpen in the bottom of the seventh. The senior from American Fork opened the inning with a solo homer that cleared the yellow line in center field to give UVU a 7-5 advantage. After Beck drew a walk, Strong launched his first home run since the Cal State San Bernardino series to extend the lead to 9-5.
Cooper Brass also contributed defensively with seven assists at shortstop, the most by a Wolverine in a game this season. He later added an RBI single in the seventh to score Hamlin and make it 10-5. Utah Valley added three more runs in the eighth, beginning with back-to-back doubles from Block and Carpenter before an infield ball from Strong resulted in an errant throw that allowed Beck and Carpenter to score.
Miller finished the game and earned his first save of the year with three innings pitched allowing four hits, and had four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will look to secure the series win on Friday night at UCCU Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. MT. Utah Valley will close out the 2026 season on Saturday with a 12:05 p.m. MT start, followed by the program's Senior Day ceremony.
