RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Devin Smith tossed six shutout innings and the Utah Valley University offense scored early and often en route to leading UVU to a 10-2 victory in the series opener at California Baptist on Friday night at Totman Stadium.
Smith allowed just two hits while striking out six hitters on his way to recording the win. Utah Valley (15-23, 8-11 WAC) was led offensively by
Cole Jordan, who went 2-for-3 with a first-inning grand slam, as the second-place California Baptist Lancers (23-12, 9-7 WAC) could not overcome the early deficit.
"It was a great team effort. Our energy was great from the first pitch to the last.
Cole Jordan's first inning grand slam and
Devin Smith's ability to attack the zone for six innings really set the tone for us," said UVU head coach
Eddie Smith.
UVU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning as
Mitch Moralez reached on a base hit to center, and after walks to
Trey Cutchen and
Garrett Broussard, the bases were loaded for Jordan, who blasted out his second grand slam of the season to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead.
Connor Hall walked to start the second before
Kyle Coburn was hit-by-pitch to put runners at first and second. Cutchen hit a ground ball that went through the legs of the CBU second baseman to score Hall and Coburn to give UVU a 6-0 advantage after two.
Broussard took advantage of a free pass to start the third inning before Jordan singled to left field to put two runners on. Hall then hit an RBI double to left to increase the Wolverine lead to 7-0.
The Wolverine offense continued in the fourth, as
Mick Madsen reached on an infield single to third base.
Spencer Olsen and Jordan were both hit with a pitch to load the bases.
Copper Hansen drew a bases-loaded walk, to bring home Madsen and extend the game to 8-0 UVU.
The Wolverines scored another run in the fifth, with Moralez reaching third base on a leadoff triple that just missed getting out to right. Cutchen added a double down the left field line to bring home Moralez and extend UVU's advantage to 9-0.
The Wolverines added a run in the ninth when Coburn reached on a walk and moved up to second on a wild pitch.
Cole Yocum then drove home his first collegiate run with an RBI single to left field to score the sprinting Coburn from second.
CBU scored a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Josiah Chavez and added a run in the ninth on an RBI double from David Martin. The Lancers were led offensively by David Castillo who was 2-for-4 in the ballgame.
Smith (1-2) picked up the win for UVU, while Brandon Downer (4-1) took the loss for CBU. The UVU bullpen featured strong outings from Luke McCullough, who tossed a scoreless and hitless inning in relief.
Cameron Scudder and
Alex Karns also each went one inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Offensively, Moralez had two hits, and two scored runs. Broussard and Coburn added two runs scored each.
The Wolverines and the defending WAC champion Lancers will continue the series on Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. MT/ 5:00 p.m. PT start and finish the weekend series on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. MT/12:00 p.m. PT first pitch. Utah Valley returns to the state of Utah following the series for a UCCU Crosstown Clash at BYU on Tuesday, April 26 before welcoming Grand Canyon next weekend to UCCU Ballpark.
