BOXSCORE: Game 1 at Utah Valley
BOXSCORE: Game 2 at Utah Valley

OREM, Utah - Amidst cold conditions, the Northern Colorado baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to Utah Valley, 9-4 and 14-7 to fall to 4-6 on the season.

Offensively, redshirt freshman Adam Hilker continued to shine, going 5-for-8 in the two games, while seniors Erik Hegstad and Andy Mees each hit one home run as Mees led the team with four RBI on the afternoon.

"We couldn't stop Utah Valley from scoring today," said Head Coach Kevin Smallcomb. "We need to learn to hit better, pitch better and play catch better. It will come in time, as we are a very young team."

In the first game, Northern Colorado scored four runs on nine hits with two errors, while Utah Valley tallied nine runs on 16 hits and committed one error.

Both starting pitchers worked with traffic on the base paths, but the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Utah Valley scored one. With one out in the top of the fifth, Ty Jacobs and Jarod Berggren singled and Hilker loaded the bases with a walk. Mike Raudenbush hit a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 1-1 and then a single to centerfield by Mees gave the Bears two more and a 3-1 advantage.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Ryan Jones doubled to lead off the inning for the Wolverines, then scored on a single by Jace Brinkerhoff, who scored on a single by Chris Benson to tie the score at 3-3. The Bears then turned a double play, second-short stop-first, to end the inning.

Hegstad immediately gave the Bears the lead back, hitting a leadoff homerun in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, UV tacked on three runs to regain the lead and added another three in the eighth for the 9-4 final score.

Joe Sawicki pitched 6.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs (four total) on 11 hits, striking out five and walking two. James Quisenberry pitched just 0.1 innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on three hits with one strike out and one walk. Forbes Scott came on in relief, pitching the final 1.1 frames, allowing three runs - all earned - on two hits and he walked two.

Cameron Tallman got his first career start on the hill in game two for the Bears. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing 10 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits, walking four and striking out five. Tony Crudo pitched the remaining 3.1 frames, giving up four runs on four hits and struck out three.

The Bears scored their seven runs on 12 hits and committed one error, while the Wolverines notched 14 runs on 15 hits and tallied two errors.

Utah Valley jumped on the scoreboard first with one run in the first inning. Cole Anderson tripled to start the game and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brinkerhoff. The Wolverines added three more runs in the second inning for the 4-0 lead.

Mees hit a two-run homerun after Hilker had doubled to cut the lead in half, 4-2, in the top of the third.

The Wolverines scored two in the fourth inning and exploded for sixth in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 12-2. In the top of the sixth, the Bears strung together four singles and scored three runs to pull within seven, 12-5. After holding UV scoreless in the bottom half, the Bears got an RBI single from Seth Budde to again cut the score in half, 12-6.

Utah Valley again answered the Bears' offense, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth. NC attempted a rally in the ninth, but scored just one for the 14-7 final score.

The two teams meet two more times in the series, with one game scheduled for tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. and the final on Saturday at noon.