UVSC baseball optimistic despite losses to SUU

OREM — The Utah Valley State baseball team opened its season over the weekend, losing three games to Southern Utah University in Mesquite, Nev. The series was originally set for four games, but bad weather in Cedar City and St. George moved the games to Nevada.

Utah Valley State competed well in the first two games, losing 4-2 Saturday night and in the final at-bat of Sunday's 7-6 loss. The T-Birds then shut out the Wolverines 9-0 in Sunday's finale.

Wolverine head coach Steve Gardner anticipated a little better start to the season.

"We'll be fine," he said. "We're going to be competitive. We've got to get our pitching staff in better shape, and we didn't swing the bats like I thought we should have. It's just going to take some time."

The Wolverines had better get used to spending time on the road, playing their first 24 games of the season and 41 of 56 overall games away from home. Utah Valley State will play its 15 home games in its brand new Parkway Crossing Stadium, which the school will share with the Orem Owlz.

"It's a dream come true for me," Gardner said. "The ballpark is outstanding. There aren't a lot of Division I programs with the facilities we have at this point. We're thrilled to death."

The stadium seats 2,500 with the capacity to seat another 2,500 on the grass berms outside the third baseline and outfield.

Gardner is in his 15th year as coach at Utah Valley State, but the Wolverines are just in their second year of Division I existence. Last season the team finished 19-17, including 10-9 over D-I teams.

The Wolverines' schedule this season features stiffer competition, including three series against top-ranked Pac-10 teams Washington, Arizona and Arizona State.

The tough schedule will be a more difficult challenge, but the players will grow from the experience of playing more-developed teams, Gardner said.

"We want the best experience possible for the players, so we like to play a good schedule," he said. "It's going to be tough, and if we can play .500 baseball, I"ll feel pretty good."

The Wolverines return seven starters to this year's team, including four players who received postseason honors last season. Canyon Vance and Reno Mendenhall were named to the All-Independent second team, while Jed Jensen and Brady Drake picked up honorable mention honors.

Transfer Kory Drew was named to the All-Mid Continent Conference second team while playing for Southern Utah last season.