Wolverines crush Cougs

OREM — Sometimes all you need to know about a baseball game can be found in the two numbers that comprise the final score.

Such was the case Tuesday in Utah Valley's 13-6 victory over BYU.

The Wolverine offense mauled a revolving door of Cougar pitchers with a strikingly balanced attack — all nine Utah Valley hitters collected at least one hit, eight scored one or more runs, and eight had at least one RBI.

Meanwhile, UVSC starter Kam Mickolio kept the Cougars (22-23) at bay for six-plus innings with his low-90s fastball and nasty slider.

"I got in a comfort zone," Mickolio said. "I feel like I was throwing pretty good velocity-wise. I had everything working for me — my slider was on-point, and my changeup was there when I needed it."

After Cougar clean-up man Jeff Hiestand tied the score at 2-2 with a home run in the top of the fourth, the Wolverines (15-32) exploded for six runs in the home half of the fourth and five more in the fifth to build a 13-2 lead that proved insurmountable.

In both the fourth and fifth, UVSC freshman third baseman Chris Benson led off the home half of the inning with a hit and subsequently scored.

He hit a seeing-eye double down the left field line and scored on Canyon Vance's home run in the fourth, while in the fifth he singled before crossing the plate on a double by catcher Cory Newton. Benson finished the game 4-for-5.

"It was pretty sweet," Benson said. "Even though neither of those hits (in the fourth or fifth) was very hard, at least it set the tone. We just got some momentum and kept on rolling."

Mickolio ran out of gas in the top of the seventh. After he walked the bases loaded, Mickolio surrendered a bases-clearing double to BYU shortstop Marco Villezcas.

Brett Guerrero relieved Mickolio and gave up only one hit over the last 2 1/3 innings.

Cougar relievers James Platt and Justin Su'a combined to hold the Wolverines scoreless for the final 3 2/3 innings after a trio of BYU pitchers allowed 13 runs in the first five innings.