OREM, Utah — Utah Valley baseball dropped the middle game of its weekend series to California Baptist, 14-8, on Saturday. Utah Valley (15-30) was led by
Hunter Katschke, who finished 3-for-5 with his 20th home run of the year while scoring three runs for the Wolverines.
Kaden Carpenter added three RBIs, while
Chipper Beck and
Derek Houston each recorded two. California Baptist (36-11) was led by Chris Ramirez, who went 6-for-6 with a home run and two doubles.
Brody Block, Beck and Houston all finished with two hits in the game.
Utah Valley was powered early by home runs to keep pace with the Lancers. Katschke hit his 20th home run of the year to lead off the bottom of the first. The Wolverines later trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning when
DJ Massey and Katschke singled and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Block. Carpenter then sent his 12th home run of the season over the wall to tie the game at 4-4.
The Lancers held the Wolverines scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Beck was hit by a pitch and
Mason Strong singled to left field, with the ball bouncing over the head of the left fielder to put runners in scoring position. Houston's two-run double plated both runs to cut the CBU advantage to 10-6.
Utah Valley looked to rally in the bottom of the seventh inning when Katschke and Block reached to start the inning and advanced on a wild pitch. Beck's two-run double scored both runners to make it 13-8.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley and California Baptist will wrap up their series on Sunday, May 3, at 12:05 p.m. MT. It will be the final meeting between the WAC foes before they move to The Big West on July 1, 2026.
