BYU baseball: UVSC batters throttle Cougars

OREM — In Utah Valley's version of the subway series, the Utah Valley State Wolverines wanted nothing more than to send their beloved coach of 18 years — Steve Gardner — out with a win over the BYU Cougars in his final home game Monday night.

With 3,730 fans in attendance and Marcus Moore on the bump for the Wolverines, the outcome was favorable as Utah Valley State glided to the 12-4 victory.

The Wolverines (14-31-1) pounced on the Cougars (19-29) early riding the emotion of senior night with a double by Cole Anderson to lead off the bottom of the first inning. An infield single put runners on the corners, and a three-run rip by Jace Brinkerhoff gave UVSC the early 3-0 lead.

"Anytime we score early we're tough to beat," Gardner said. "If we can get in there early and get some runs we're pretty tough."

Two batters later, catcher Kevin Arendse's double down the third baseline brought in another Wolverine run. Not to be out done by the team from Orem, BYU cut the lead to 4-2 after an RBI double in the gap by Dan Vargas brought home first baseman Kasey Ko in the second, while left fielder Sean McNaughton had a solo blast in the third.

The hurlers from both teams, UVSC's Moore and BYU's Nelson Castleberry, settled in to retire the side through the sixth before the Wolverines had another offensive explosion. Consecutive singles by Brinkerhoff and Adam Openshaw started the Wolverine rally, and three consecutive RBI singles by Arendse, Josh Hinckley and Jake Rickenbach gave UVSC a 7-2 lead.

Moore continued to be nearly unhittable as he steadily worked his way through the Cougar lineup forcing the BYU batters into groundballs and harmless fly outs. The Cougars added two more runs, one in the eighth and one in the ninth, but would come no closer.

"I battled through some stuff, I left a lot pitches up," Moore said. "Overall it ended up working out for me."

As if Moore's dominance on the hill wasn't going to be enough, the Wolverines added two runs in the seventh, before Anderson tattooed a Kevin Sloan pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homerun. The blast by Anderson put the game out of reach for the Utes, while Moore's eight strikeouts assured the Wolverine win.

"It's been a great opportunity for me personally to be here," Gardner added ... "It was a special night for me."

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