SACRAMENTO – Utah Valley University fell late to Sacramento State in the series opener at John Smith Field in Sacramento, California on Friday night.
The Wolverines (16-33, 9-16 WAC) held the lead for most of the game until Sacramento State (26-23, 15-13 WAC) scored five runs in the eighth to pull out an 8-7 victory in game one of the weekend series.
Utah Valley jumped on the Hornets, scoring three runs in the top of the first.
Mitch Moralez led off and was hit by a pitch to reach first base and was later retired on a ground out by
Trey Cutchen. The Wolverines then got three straight base hits by
Spencer Olsen,
Mick Madsen, and
Paul Vossen to make it 1-0 Wolverines. UVU added two more runs when
Cole Jordan walked with the bases loaded, and
Brandon Luna grounded out to drive home a run.
Sac State rallied in the bottom of the first inning, capped off with an RBI double from Martin Vincelli-Simard and an RBI groundout from Steven Moretto to get the Hornets back to 3-2.
Devin Smith started for UVU taking a no-decision after allowing a pair of runs in the first. Smith did not allow a hit for the next 15 hitters after the double by Vincelli-Simard. The Hornets loaded the bases in the third, all on walks before Smith struck out Jeffrey Heard to end the threat.
Utah Valley increased its lead in the fourth. Luna reached on a walk after working a full count.
Kyle Coburn moved Luna to third a few pitches later, and after Luna had moved to second on a wild pitch,
Copper Hansen hit a line-drive home run to center field to put the Wolverines up 5-2.
Jorge Bojorquez reached base four times in the game for the Hornets and broke the 15 consecutive hitless streak with a solo home run to left to make the score 5-3 Wolverines.
UVU got two runs back in the sixth, with Jordan reaching first on a hit-by-pitch and then a walk to Luna to put runners on first and second. The runners advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Coburn, which set the stage for a two-run double by Hansen to plate both runners and give Utah Valley a comfortable 7-3 lead.
Sacramento State held the Wolverines scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings before the Hornets stormed back to score five runs in the eighth, capped off by a two-run single by Dawsen Bacho to give the Hornets an 8-7 lead going to the ninth.
The Wolverines would not go quietly against Sac State closer Jack Zalasky. Moralez led off the ninth with a base hit that rolled down the third-base line and stayed fair. The Wolverines were down to the final out when they got a base hit from Madsen through the right side to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Zalasky responded, however, by striking out Vossen to end the threat and the game.
Wesley Harper earned the win for Sacramento State, throwing 2.2 hitless innings out of the pen.
Josh Brown (0-3) was tagged with the loss for Utah Valley. Zalasky recorded his ninth save of the year.
Nick Sims went 3.2 innings in relief, allowing three hits. Smith got the start for UVU, going 4.2 innings, only giving up two hits on five strikeouts.
Hansen led the Wolverines offensively by going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs in the game. Madsen added a 2-for-5 night, and Luna went 0-for-1 with two walks and two runs scored.
The Wolverines and Hornets will continue the three-game series on Saturday with a 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT start before finishing the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. MT/noon PT.
