Utah Valley defeated Utah 13-7 in the rubber match of the season series on Wednesday in front of crowd of 1,974 at UCCU Ballpark.

UVU (29-21) came from behind after trailing Utah (21-30-1) 5-2 in the early innings and pulled away with a grand slam from Calyn Halvorson in the eighth inning to cap a five-run inning.

“That was an exciting win with an electric atmosphere at the ballpark tonight, UVU head coach Eddie Smith said. “It was awesome to see the community come out to support this team on our final home game.”

The Utes jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Utah Valley responded after Cole Jordan was hit by a pitch. Luke Iverson had his first of four hits in the game with a two-run homer. It was Iverson’s third home run of the year to make it 3-2.

Utah responded with a run in the third and fourth to extend the lead to 5-2. Halvorson and Patrick Mills started the inning with back-to-back singles before Burke Camper launched his second big fly of the season to make it 5-4. Later in the inning, Iverson singled to center before Garrett Broussard walked to put two runners on base. UVU loaded the bases after Weston Peninger was hit. Brandon Luna then worked a walk to score a run and tie the game at 5.

Utah Valley took their first lead in the sixth when they tacked on three runs against Utah reliever Ernesto Lugo-Chancola. Halvorson singled to left, and later Camper walked to put two runners on base. Iverson drove home a pair of runs on his sixth triple. The triple moves him into second place all-time in triples in a season. Broussard added an RBI single to make it 8-5.

The Utes were able to chip away with a run in the seventh and eighth to make it 8-7. Iverson singled to right and moved to third base on a single from Broussard. Peninger extended the UVU lead to 9-7 when he singled up the middle. Luna then drew a walk to load the bases before Halvorson hit the grand slam to put the game out of reach.

The Wolverines used a combined seven pitchers in the contest. Drew Woody (3-0) picked up the win going 1.0 inning with two strikeouts, and Reece Rodabaugh earned his first save of the season after a 2.0 inning two-hit outing. Other Wolverines who saw time on the mound were Colton Kennedy, Jayse Burkett, Stryder Salas, Austin Watson, and Josh Brown.

Iverson finished the game 4-for-5 with four runs scored and four RBIs. Halvorson joined him, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and knocking in four. Peninger went 3-for-3 in the game.

Daniel Dickinson did not reach base, snapping his 36 consecutive reached base streak and his 22-game hitting streak. His hitting streak is now third all-time in school history, and the reached base streak is now second.

Utah Valley closes the regular season with a three-game WAC series against UT Arlington on May 18 at Clay Gould Stadium in Arlington. The first game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. MT start. Positioning for next week’s WAC Tournament will be on the line in the pivotal series for both teams.

Wolverines men’s hoops signs Dorius

Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips has announced that Utah State starting center Trevin Dorius has transferred to Utah Valley and will play for the Wolverines this next season.

“Trevin is a high character, high energy big who will make an immediate impact in the WAC,” said Phillips. “We expect Trevin to anchor our team on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. His shot blocking and athleticism will excite our fans and keep our track record of great bigs alive at Utah Valley.”

Dorius, a 7-foot-1, 240-pound center, started all 35 games for Utah State last season, averaging 5.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. He ranked eighth in the Mountain West Conference in blocks per game. He scored in double figures six times, including a career-high 17 points against Air Force on Feb. 14. He pulled down at least five rebounds 12 times and had a season-high nine boards against SMU on Dec. 23. He had multiple blocks in nine games.

During his four seasons with Utah State, Dorius played in 115 games, averaging 3.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.5 blocks. He shot nearly 56 percent from the field during his time with the Aggies.

The Heber City, Utah native prepped at Wasatch High School where he earned all-region accolades during his senior season after averaging nearly 10 points and eight rebounds per game.

Dorius will join the season for the 2023-24 season.

McKinlay finishes 17th at Las Vegas Regional

UVU’s Brady McKinlay had a tough final round at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional on Wednesday, finishing with a 3-over-par 75 at Bear’s Best Las Vegas golf course to end up in 17th place at -9.

McKinlay was tied for fifth overall on Day 2, shooting back-to-back 66s to stay in the hunt for a trip to the NCAA Tournament as the low individual from a team outside of the top five.

Arizona State (-59), Stanford (-57), Virginia (-49), San Francisco (-45), Northwestern (-43) and East Tennessee State (-43) took the top five spots, with ETSU claiming the last berth in the NCAA Tournament by winning the team playoff. The top individual from a team outside the top five went to Oklahoma State’s Jonas Baumgartner, who was fifth at -15.

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