Baseball: Beddes leads UVU over Chicago State in series opener

CHICAGO—Starting pitcher Danny Beddes recorded nine strikeouts and the bullpen added four more as the Utah Valley University baseball team defeated the Chicago State Cougars 8-3 Thursday night. Beddes (8-3) gave up three hits and two runs over 5.0 innings and picked up the win along the way.

UVU was active at the plate and the runs came in bunches for the Wolverines, who scored early and often on a night that saw five players record an RBI.

Spencer Gothberg got the Wolverines on the board in the second inning with an RBI-single to right field, which sparked a scoring run for UVU. One out later, Trevor Howell singled to third to score Mark Krueger, and next batter up Zac Willis logged an RBI on a groundout to third.

The Cougars got a little help from UVU’s Beddes in the third when he issued a base- loaded walk, which brought the score to 3-1. The two-run deficit was as close as the Cougars could get as the Wolverines tacked on two more runs in the next inning.

CSU returned the favor later in the game when relief pitcher Josh Perkins was cited for a balk with the bases loaded, Craig Brinkerhoff scored to increase the Wolverines lead to 7-2.

Chicago State has lost four-straight and seven of their last 10. With the defeat, the Cougars fall to 13-40 on the year and 6-19 in conference play as they sit two games above last place.

UVU (31-21, 16-9 WAC) has won three-straight conference series and looks to add to their streak when they take the field against CSU again on Friday at 2 p.m. MT.

The Wolverines look to stay in third place in the conference heading into next week’s WAC tournament in Mesa, Ariz. beginning May 25.