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Show MONDAY • MARCH 20 • 2006 WWW.NETXNEWS.NET AIO n r :;';^v^ Baseball Davis with UVSC baseball records much needed win in California Morgan Vance Sports Editor U The sweet music and of the NCAA tournament Holy March Madness, the most exhilarating slash intriguing sporting event in the world is swirling through every television set in America. Cinderellas, Billy Packer and office pools, the Dance is here with music once again prime to perform on the NCAA's biggest stage. But why such anticipation, and why all the insanity? Tickets for the first round regional in Salt Lake have been sold out for a year, and the brokers offering the last few tickets still remaining were asking anywhere between $175 and $200 for upper level Huntsman Center seats. But the real insanity evolves around the hoards of printable brackets filling office meeting room walls and tack boards in every state in the union. The answer boils right down.to the unique opportunity that fans have with personally interacting with the tournament. Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, UConn and Kentucky are all there as usual, but who's ever heard of Kent State, Bucknell or Iona? Belmont, Monmonth or Davidson? Fans love it because everybody y > VSC baseball won once, choked defensively in another, and was forced out of playing a third game at UC Davis due to weather. Kam Mickolio finally recorded his first win of the year in the series opener by allowing just two runs over eight innings, propelling UV to the 4-2 victory. "He got a lot of ground balls, and that's what he's got to do," said UV head coach Steve Gardner about his senior. "He took command and worked ahead to a lot of hitters." After giving up a run in the second inning, Mickolio settled down and got some help offensively. The Wolverines picked up a tying run in the third and three more in the fourth after Dan Bulow knocked in a tworun single to record his 11th and 12thRBI'sof the season. Said Mickolio, "I felt a lot more comfortable than I have. I didn't try to do too much and just control what I could control." Riding their first two-game winning streak of the year, the Wolverines started off in good shape against the Aggies by scoring seven unanswered runs between the sixth and seventh innings to lead Davis 7-2. But after that, the home squad managed their own monster run of six unanswered to rally late for an 8-7 win. Nick Conner started things off for Utah Valley with a double off the wall that scored Keiki Albino, cutting Davis' lead to 2-1. The Wolverines took advantage of a series of walks by the Aggie's bullpen and an infield single off the bat of Canyon Vance eventually bumped UV's advantage all the way up to 7-2. But then UC Davis took control for good when third baseman Daniel DeScalso hit a three-run homerun. f&' Ben Webster Sports Writer • • J * - ' ' - " • • , • ' " " • ' " • • "" ;;. i • • Softball vs, Nevada (DH) @ 1 p.m. 3/21 • Lacrosse vs. Montana @ 12 p.m. 3 / 2 5 • Baseball vs. NW Nazarene (DH) @ 12 p.m. 3/28 „ . i ' • $ & ' • ' " P ' ' " ' • • • ' - • • ' • • Softball vs. Harvard (DH) @ 1 p.m. 3/29 • Baseball vs. SUU @ 7 p.m. 3/30-31 i^iM^#^ Cory Newton defends the Wolverines with a .346 batting average. Davis then tacked on three more in the eighth due to a crucial Adam Openshaw error. A routine groundball got by the sophomore first baseman for what would have been an inning-ending double play. Reliever Tyler LaTorre made the first appearance of his career, and allowed just two Wolverines hits over the final three innings for the Aggies. Davis jumped back up to .500 (9-9) with the win, while UV fell to 4-11. Lacrosse tops Montana State See RANT A8 r,*."1 Courtesy photo/Ed MtCulloch Junior attacker Brian Larson's huge six-goal performance lifted the fifth-ranked UVSC lacrosse team to an 18-15 win over fellow Division B opponent Montana State. Larson scored the first goal of the game, and continued to dominate from close range the rest of the way to help UVSC even their record at 2-2 early in the season. The Wolverines jumped ahead quickly with three straight goals. Larson took an early assist from fellow attacker Walker Bateman to go up 1-0 with less than three minutes off the clock, a lead that would never be given away. "Larson played well," said UV coach Kevin Perkins. "He was a mid-fielder most of last year, and the move to attack has been good for him. I expect him to do well this season." When UVSC needed a goal, the junior from Colorado Springs was there to give them one. Four of Lar- son's six goals came after a Montana State score. Bateman scored goal number two for the Wolverines, and Larson's second put UVSC on top 3-0 with 7:27 in the first Quarter, forcing Montana State into a much needed time out. "We're known for our quick starts," coach Perkins said. "And usually teams have a hard time coming back." Montana State got on the board shortly after the timeout when Ryan Franke managed to get one past UV goalie Cory Heward. Franke carried the Bobcats with seven goals, but they weren't enough to get MSU over the early hump. UVSC Midfielder Brodie Simmons added two goals in the first and the Wolverines were up 5-2 after one quarter. The second quarter was back and -forth as Montana State wouldn't go away. Seven Bobcat goals in the quarter allowed MSU to keep within reach. UVSC was on their heels when defenseman (and a guy with a great sports name) Spike Kramer, dropped a short shot with only :25 remaining in the half. That score brought the Bobcats to within just a point (10-9) going into the break. The Wolverines took command in the second11 stanza, scoring four times in less than four minutes. Simmons capped the 4-0 run with his third goal of the game when Larson found him in front of an open net. That was UVSC's biggest lead of the game at 15-10 with 7:33 remaining in the quarter. Montana State answered when Franke took a lose ball down the left side of the field, avoided a defender, and cut to the middle drilling his fifth goal of the game. Two more Bobcat follow-up goals in the quarter closed the gap to just 1513. But Larson came up big when he had to, putting the game out of reach in the fourth with three more goals. With Utah Valley in control of the ball, Simmons found Larson cutSee LACROSSE *A9 |