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Show SPORTS B3 Road woes continue for baseball team By Jonathan Boldt UVU Correspondent Living on the road is unforgiving for anyone, including the Wolverine baseball team. The usual complaints include not sleeping in one's own bed, eating differently and jet lag. No matter the excuses, tough competition has been the thorn in their side during this first road trip of the year. The Wolverines had a 15-2 win sandwiched between an 8-2 and 9-7 loss against Seattle University, the same school that beat out UVU for entrance to the Western Athletic Conference. Following a 12-6 loss to Arizona, UVU traveled to Nevada to take on the Wolf Pack, one of the newest members of the WAC. After 6-4 and 9-1 losses, the Wolverines came together and managed a 6-1 win. Senior Goose Kallunki leads the team so far with a .385 batting average and seven runs and seven RBI. Fellow senior Jake Rickenbach may be the comeback player of the year for the Wolverines after redshirting last season due to injury. His .448 slugging percentage is second on the team and his home run has him tied with Court Zollinger for tops in that department. The road trip continues as UVU flies out to southern California to take on Cal State Fullerton beginning Friday March 2. The warm air and sunshine in the O.C. may be enough to break out of this late winter slump and contend against the Titans of Cal State. If it's not the more pleasant climate and the Wolverines need the home field advantage to break out this season, they will have to wait another three weeks. UVU does not have a game at Brent Brown Ballpark until March 22. The closest they will get to home is a three-game series against Southern Utah University. After the series against SUU, and games at Arizona State and Saint Mary's, the Wolverine's return to Orem could not come any quicker. The preseason schedule may prove to be a baptism by fire for the Wolverines, and that may just be what they need to refine their game prior to conference play. "It's not ideal [playing on the road]," said head coach Eric Madsen. "It's tough playing on the road for the first month. Obviously we would love to have a home game in there but to make postseason play we have to go out and play these tougher teams, and we have to go on the road to do that. I think it's good to test ourselves and push us to get better." NEXT UP... Against: SUU When: Mar 8-9 Where: Cedar City, UT PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS UVU senior Goose Kallunki readies for an at-bat during the Wolverines' road game at national ranked University of Arizona. SUU visit marks near-return to home By Alex Rivera Sports Writer There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home! Sort of. Utah Valley University will be coming back to Utah after an out-of-state road trip, and although they won't be playing in their own Brent Brown Ballpark, they will be closer to home than they have been since the season started. The Wolverines will play against the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University in a three-game set in Cedar City, 215 miles south of Orem. Since 2007, the Wolverines have posted a 12-8 record against the Thunderbirds. Last season they went 2-4 over six games, allowing a total of 40 runs in that span. They did shut out SUU in the first game they played, winning 5-0 behind Blake Krahenbuhl's eight-inning, one-hit effort. Krahenbuhl isn't the only player that they will be facing as Jeremy Glendlek looks to bounce back from a notso-stellar start to his season. Glendlek has allowed nine earned runs in 11 total innings pitched. After ending last season with an impressive 1.71 ERA, he has a 7.36 ERA this season. Jake Rickenbach is looking to have a stellar season himself as he is already bouncing back from an early-season slump. Although he's only sporting a .241 batting average, he has one of the best slugging percentages on his team with a .448. Rickenbach has always been a player with power and currently is the only one on the team with a home run. In 2010 he launched six over the fence and pushed across 39 runs. Although SUU has a losing record right now, they are not a team to sleep on. Southern Utah's pitching has been on top of their game this season, with their top three starters combining for a 1.28 ERA. Kelsey Outram has started both of the games he has appeared in and has only allowed three runs over 16 innings, with nine strikeouts. Since the Thunderbirds are not putting runs across (averaging two runs a game), Outram has two losses on his record. UVU seems to have the opposite problem. They look to keep their offense alive against Southern Utah as they have five starting fielders batting over .300. As a team however, their pitching staff has an unimpressive 7.07 ERA, allowing 28 runs in the final four innings of the game. Although the Wolverines have put up 41 runs in seven games (averaging 5.9 runs a game), UVU's pitching staff has allowed 47 runs in that same span. Utah Valley looks to turn their season around after a tough series with No. 17 Cal State Fullerton. After that it is back to the out-of-state road trip as they travel to Arizona to take on No. 11 Arizona State in a two-game set. Continuing their road trip, they travel to California to face conference rivals St. Mary's before having their first home series against Sacramento State on March 22. McDonald's® Real Fruit Smoothies awber banana ild berry Mang eapp The perfect blend of real fruit, like fresh strawberries and blackberries, with creamy low fat yogurt and ice. It's simply, sippably delicious. Try all three, Wild Berry, Mango Pineapple and Strawberry Banana. $2 29 small I'1 I'm lovin' it® |