Utah Valley University defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 6-4, in the rubber match of their three-game series at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg, Texas.

UVU (19-18, 10-5) exploded for four runs on the game’s first five hitters to put UTRGV (17-15, 7-8) in an early hole. Daniel Dickinson finished 4-for-4, including a solo home run in the win.

“That was a nice win with contributions from a lot of players. It was awesome to see the pitchers attack on the mound and the hitters finding their way on base, which added up to enough runs to win,” said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.

Utah Valley did not waste any time jumping on UTRGV starter Jacob Limas with the first five hitters safely reaching, starting with Daniel Dickinson being hit by a pitch before Burke Camper made it 2-0 with his 13th homer of the year. UVU immediately got more base runners on after a single from Calyn Halvorson and Cole Jordan. The Wolverines took a 3-0 lead on an RBI single from Nate Bach. They added the final run of the inning scored after Jayden Smith was caught stealing, but an alert Jordan sprinted home to make it 4-0.

Chase Hennessey pitched an effective first inning with a pair of strikeouts for the Wolverines. The bats applied more pressure in the second, getting a pair of base runners after singles from Lovings and Dickinson, but this time, the Vaqueros’ pitching staff pitched strong, getting a fielder’s choice and lineout to end the threat.

UTRGV plated a pair of runs in the second inning against UVU’s Jackson Thomas, but he quickly bounced back in the third inning, starting with a strikeout of Kade York and then getting the final two outs on a foul out and a pickoff at first base to end the inning.

In the fourth, the UVU offense looked to add to its 4-2 lead after Schwarz and Dickinson singled to put two runners on base before Halvorson drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Cole Jordan hit a high liner into center field, but the wind knocked it down to end the inning.

The Wolverines held a 4-3 lead into the sixth inning when Dickinson lined a home run to left field to make it 5-3. It was his team-high 14th of the year and 23rd of his career to move into a tie for fifth all-time with Chris Benson.

Thomas’ day came to an end in the eighth inning after he pitched six innings and gave up seven scattered hits and four runs. With the outing, he set new season and career highs after previously going 5.0 innings against Utah Tech last weekend. He moves to 3-0 on the season with the performance.

Ethan Fowlks earned his first save of the season after tossing 2.0 innings, including a pair of strikeouts to end the eighth inning before forcing three ground ball outs in the ninth to secure the win for Utah Valley.

UVU improved to 6-1 in their last seven series against teams from the state of Texas and has won three of their last four in the Lonestar State.

Utah Valley will play its next four in Utah, starting on Apr. 16 at 11 a.m. MT against (RV) Utah at Smith’s Ballpark. The Wolverines will host UT Arlington for a key WAC series beginning on Friday, Apr. 19, at 6:05 p.m. MT.

UVU track sets three school records

Utah Valley University saw three outdoor school records hit on the final day of the Beach Invitational and Bryan Clay Invitational on Saturday in Southern California.

The trio of records came at Long Beach State’s meet, where Quincy Bonds set at PR and took over UVU’s top spot in the 100-meter hurdles, Noah Peterson matched his pole vault record, and the men’s 4×100 also broke a record the same quartet set just two weeks ago at the home meet.

Caleb Furnell, Cameron Franklin, Kade Thompson, and Gabriel Remy finished second at the meet and set the program record with a time of 40.36 seconds in Saturday’s 4×100. Peterson equaled his personal best of 5.16 meters in the pole vault. Bonds’ new program record of 13.49 seconds was followed by Paige Young’s finish in 13.95 seconds, which puts her a No. 3 at Utah Valley.

Utah Valley is scheduled to send competitors to the Mt. Sac Relays (April 17-20) and the Southern Utah’s Coliseum Championships (April 20).

Wolverine softball loses pitcher’s duel at UT-Arlington

Payge Armendariz pitched a complete game, striking out five over 9.1 innings, as Utah Valley (16-21, 9-7 WAC) came out on the wrong end of a pitcher’s duel Saturday afternoon, falling 2-1 in 10 innings to the UT Arlington Mavericks (16-26, 8-8 WAC) at Allan Saxe Field.

Armendariz came two outs away from setting the program’s single-game record for most innings pitched, but UTA was able to put together a rally in the 10th to come away with the win.

Despite having 14 hits, the Mavericks struggled to convert with runners in scoring position. UTA left 16 runners on base, and recorded just two hits in 14 chances with runners in scoring position.

Utah Valley returns home for a five-game homestand starting on Tuesday against in-state rival Utah State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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