Baseball 4/9/2010 11:00:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Utah Valley deals Sioux a setback in Great West opener

Orem, Utah – Utah Valley dealt the University of North Dakota baseball team a 12-2 setback in its inaugural Great West Conference game on Friday at Brent Brown Ballpark.

Junior Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and senior Andrew Gudmunson (Minot, N.D.) each hit solo home runs for the Sioux (4-16, 0-1 GWC), but that would be all the scoring UND could muster off UVU starter Zane Gray.

“We just did not play well from the start tonight and it showed in the final score,” UND head coach Jeff Dodson. “We got those two solo home runs, but we had already dug ourselves too big of a hole to get back in it. The series is still winnable. We just have to come out and regroup for tomorrow's doubleheader.”

The Wolverine offense staked Gray to a 7-0 lead before Magner and Gudmunson hit solo shots in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. UVU (11-12, 1-0 GWC) pounded out 17 hits as shortstop Jake Rickenback led the attack with a 4-for-5 effort at the plate. Reigning Great West Player of the Week Jace Brinkerhoff added three hits for the Wolverines.

Gray gave up a single to freshman Ridge Halenar (Payson, Ariz.) in the first and did not give up another hit until Magner's fourth long ball of the season. Gudmunson's solo blast one inning later was his first of the season and 16th of his career.

The Wolverines scored their first run in the second on a balk off UND starter Travis Clifton (Monterey, Calif.) after the right hander retired the first two batters of the frame. UVU would tack on two more runs in the third on another balk and an error by the Sioux and that would be all the runs Gray would need.

Cole McWhorter, who also had three hits for the Wolverines, produced the first run for UVU on a clean hit when he singled home a run in the fifth.

UVU leftfielder Austin Heaps made up for the two solo shots by the Sioux when he delivered a two-run shot in the sixth. The Wolverines tacked on three more in the seventh to cap the scoring.

The Sioux will resume the four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader set to start at 1 p.m.

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