Courtesy UVU Marketing

A five-run third inning was enough to give BYU baseball an 8-5 victory over visiting Utah Tech at Miller Park on Tuesday. Center fielder Cole Gambill had two home runs and three RBIs to pace BYU’s 10-hit evening.

Junior Peyton Cole started the game on the hill for the Cougars and earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. Ryan Hardman (0-6) took the loss for Utah Tech. BYU is now 12-19 on the year, while Utah Tech falls to 8-24.

“It was a great team effort tonight and it always feels good to win the in-state games,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “We pitched around some jams, our guys swung the bats well and we turned some double plays in key moments. Cougar Nation is awesome. We had a great crowd tonight and really appreciated our fans coming out to support us.”

Gambill finished the night with a game-high three hits and three runs. Austin Deming also had a two-run home run for the Cougars as part of the five-run third inning. Five different pitchers took the hill for BYU, while Utah Tech had seven take the mound

BYU struck first in the bottom the first with a two-run home run from Gambill to left field. His shot came on a full count with two outs and also scored Luke Anderson, who walked earlier in the frame.

Utah Tech had a home run of its own in the top of the second inning and added another run in the third to even the score, 2-2. The Cougars then responded in the bottom of the inning with five runs to regain the lead, 7-2.

A single from Anderson brought in Ozzie Pratt, who had doubled to right field. Austin Deming then connected on his eighth home run of the season to add two runs. Tuesday was his first game back after missing the previous 10 with an injury. Hits from Jacob Wilk and Chad Call finished the scoring for the Cougars after Gambill doubled and Cole Vest earned first base with a hit by pitch. Wilk nearly scored on Call’s double as well but was thrown out at home for the final out of the inning.

Utah Tech cut the lead to four in the fifth inning before Gambill’s second homer of the night restored BYU’s advantage to 8-3. The Cougar center fielder went opposite-field from his first shot with a ball over the right field fence for his seventh home run of the season.

The Trailblazers added a run in each of the seventh and eighth innings to cut the BYU lead to 8-5. Utah Tech then loaded the bases in the eighth after the home run, but a 4-6-3 double play got the Cougars out of the inning.

Boston Mabeus came in to close out the game for BYU in the top of the ninth. He struck out all three batters to earn his second save of the season and secure the 8-5 victory.

The Cougars next resume WCC play with a three-game series at Santa Clara, April 13-15. The series is scheduled to be played at Stephen Schott Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

BYU Softball blanks UVU

The Cougars defeated cross-town foe Utah Valley in a 9-0 run-rule win at Gail Miller Field on Tuesday night.

BYU (21-10, 3-0 WCC) scored in all but one of the innings they batted in, hitting two home runs, while also shutting out the Wolverines. First baseman Huntyr Ava’s first-career grand slam fueled a five-run second inning that helped lift BYU to victory.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, following a two-run RBI double from Ava. Two hits and a couple of walks helped propel BYU to a 2-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the second inning, a solo home run off the scoreboard for Hailey Morrow, and a grand slam from Ava gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead.

BYU continued to extend its lead in the bottom of the third inning, with a sacrifice fly from Morrow, and an RBI single from Ailana Agbayani to go ahead 9-0 after three innings.

Recording double plays in the top of both the fourth and fifth innings, the Cougars were able to close out their 9-0 shutout and run-rule victory

BYU will be back in action on Friday, April 14 as it gets back into WCC play with a three-game series against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

UVU men’s golf wins tourney title

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.–The Utah Valley men’s golf team claimed its third team title of the season with a first-place finish at the UC Santa Barbara Intercollegiate on Tuesday at Sandpiper Golf Club with a two-round score of 6-over-par 582 (292-290). The Wolverines win their third team title of the season with wins at the Pat Hicks Invitational, Loyola Intercollegiate, and now the Santa Barbara Intercollegiate. Utah Valley finished first ahead of 11 other teams. UVU won by four strokes over second place Cal State Northridge.

“It was a big day for our guys,” said Utah Valley head coach Chris Curran. “We kept the momentum from yesterday going coming down the stretch. Having already won this spring, the guys were in familiar territory. We didn’t have our best stuff but to have five guys finish in the top-15 is pretty amazing.”

Kai Iguchi shot a final-round even par 72 to lead the Wolverines with a third-place finish with a two-round 1-over-par 145 (73-72). The tie for third is the best finish of Iguchi’s career. The senior golfer carded four birdies in his final round to go along with 10 pars.

Brady McKinlay shot a final-round even par 72 to finish in a tie for seventh with a two-round score of 2-over-par 146 (74-72). McKinlay tallied three front-nine birdies in his final round. The seventh-place finish is the fifth top-10 finish of the season for McKinlay. Joseph Glenn carded a 2-over-par 74 in his final round on Tuesday to finish in a tie for ninth at 3-over-par 147 (73-74). Glenn recorded four birdies on Tuesday, including three on the back nine. The ninth-place finish is Glenn’s third top-10 finish of the season. Ethan Efford shot a final-round even-par 72 to tie for 12th with a two-round score of 4-over-par 148 (76-72). Efford had four birdies in his final round, including three on the front nine.

Caden Weber shot a 5-over-par 77 on Tuesday to finish tied for 15th with a two-round 5-over-par 149 (72-77). Evan Lawrence, who played individually, carded a final-round 5-over-par 77 to finish in a tie for 39th with a two-round 12-over-par 156 (79-77).

Utah Valley will have one final tune-up before the WAC Championship as the team will compete in the PING Cougar Classic, April 21-22, at Riverside Country Club in Provo. The Wolverines will then travel to Boulder City, Nevada for the WAC Championship, April 28-30, at Boulder Creek Golf Club.

UVU baseball evens series with Utah

Utah Valley won the second game of a three-game season series, 6-5, against the University of Utah on Tuesday evening.

Brandon Luna finished 3-for-4, including an eighth-inning single, before scoring the winning run lifting UVU (17-15) past Utah (12-19-1). The two will meet in the rubber match of the season series on May 16 in Orem.

“We did a nice job battling the last two nights. There were some big pitches made on the mound paired with timely hitting, and we were able to come out on top tonight,” said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.

Utah Valley was down to their final out in the eighth inning when Luna singled through the right side. Daniel Dickinson followed with a triple that scored Luna from first to give UVU a 6-5 edge heading into the ninth. Ethan Fowlks came in and retired the side to secure the win to earn his fourth save of the year. The Wolverines scored the first in the opening frame after loading the bases with a single from Dickinson, a walk issued to Mills, and Luke Iverson was hit-by-a-pitch. A double play scored the first run of the game to put UVU up 1-0.

The Utes came back to tie the game in the second inning on a fielder’s choice. The game remained tied until the fourth, when Utah took their first lead at 3-1 after a single and double brought home two.

UVU answered in the fourth inning after Matthew Schwarz started the inning with a triple to left center. Nate Bach drove home a run on an infield grounder that was misplayed by Utah. Later in the inning, Calyn Halvorson tied the game at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly.

The Wolverines saw themselves trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Patrick Mills tied the game on an opposite field home run to lead off the inning. UVU regained the lead later after Luke Iverson scored on a groundout by Matthew Schwarz.

Chase Hennessey (1-0) picked up the win tossing 3.0 innings of one-hit ball. Freshman Colton Kennedy got the start going 2.0 innings, allowing two hits. He gave way to fellow Freshman Austin Watson, who went a season-high 3.0 innings.

The Wolverines will play host this weekend to UT Rio Grande Valley in a three-game series beginning on Friday, Apr. 16 at 6:05 p.m. MT. The series continues on Apr. 17 at 2:05 p.m. MT and will wrap up on Sunday, Apr. 18 at 12:05 p.m. MT. Tickets for all games are still available.