UVU struggles against No.22 UC Irvine

Photo by Michelle Rivas

The Wolverine baseball team welcomed UC Irvine over the weekend to UCCU Ballpark. Utah Valley struggled in the series going 0-3 and getting outscored 49-8 over the three games.

On Friday’s opening game, UVU did not play well as they allowed 14 hits and lost 15-0. The Anteaters pitchers controlled the game from start to finish as UVU was not able to get anything going at the plate and only managed one hit by freshman Ty Vargas. This was the first time since 2018 that UVU was shut out.

On Saturday junior Paxton Schultz pitched well striking out five and giving the Wolverines a lead of 2-1 going into the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, junior Alexander Marco started off a two-out rally with a double to left-center. Sophomore Drew Sims, then single to give UVU two runners on base and freshman Mick Madsen coming up to bat. Madsen delivered a huge two-out triple scoring both Marco and Sims giving the team a 4-1 lead.

It seemed as if UVU had control of the game, but the Anteaters answered back with two runs in the eighth making it a one-run lead for UVU at 4-3. UCI in the ninth was able to get a runner to third and drive him in on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brendan Brooks to tie the game. UVU freshman Romeo Carrillo got out of the inning with the score still tied. After a scoreless ninth inning for the Wolverines the game headed to extra inning.

Inning number 10 is where the game got away from UVU as they allowed 13 runs. Anteater junior Mikey Filia hit a grand slam while Brooks hit a three-run home run to break the game open and win 17-4. UVU did not help themselves in the frame as they allowed six walks and hit two batters.

UCI dominated the final game on Sunday, winning 17-4. UCI scored five runs in the second and fourth innings to make the score 11-1. The Anteaters added another six runs in the final innings to put the game away. UCI showed why they are a nationally ranked team pounding out 14 hits in the game and 45 for the series. Senior Michael Beltran was a bright spot for the Wolverines as he went 4-5 at the plate while also scoring a run.

With the loss, UVU has now lost four straight games moving there recorded to 3-16. The Wolverines will look to regroup as they take on BYU at UCCU ballpark in the crosstown clash Tuesday, March 19