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Show SPORTS WWW.UVUREVIEW.COM VOLUME 1.11 ISSUE 29 IN THE ZCNE with Man Mason APRIL 9, 2012 111111 stuns Arizona By ALEX RIVERA Sports Writer With two outs in the top of the ninth, 2,014 strong stood up as UVU was on the brink of pulling a huge upset against the No. 4 team in the nation, Arizona. It was not easy to get to that point. Goose Kallunki started the scoring in the game with a solo homerun in the bottom of the second. It was his third in the season and 20th RBI. Arizona got one back in the top of the sixth inning but by the bottom of the same inning, UVU was up by one again with Billy Burgess' RBI double. Jeremy Gendlek was the story on the mound as he went seven very strong innings, only giving up two runs and four hits. Head coach Eric Madsen couldn't say enough about his performance. "It was outstanding," Madsen said. "For a guy to beat two ranked teams in one season as a starting pitcher is unbelievable. He pitched the same here as he did down in Arizona State. Awesome to see that happen for him He held a club that's hitting .327 at bay." The Wolverines scratched across three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 5-1 going into Can't measure impact of wins over No. 11 ASU, No. 4 Arizona No. 11 Arizona State was the lion. No. 4 Arizona was Goliath. Meet Wolverines baseball, the new David of UVU athletics. Forget the fact that Utah Valley held a middling 14-11 record heading into the weekend. Last Wednesday's home win over the Wildcats was worth 10. That estimate may become more literal when head coach Eric Madsen starts scheduling games for next season. How many more quality games will these landmark wins earn him? UVU needed this. There had been little evidence in other sports that the Wolverines could compete with —much less beat — nationally ranked opponents, even when they deigned to come to Orem. Now the baseball team has two such victories in less than a month. Both teams hail from the new NCAA darling Pac-12 conference. You don't think UCLA, USC, Oregon and others noticed? Think again. "By the time I got to my phone, I had about 35 texts and another 10 or 15 phone calls," head coach Eric Madsen said. "Former players, staff at the university as well as coaches across the country that we know." Dozens of people — players, coaches, executives, etc. —deserve some amount of credit for what transpired last week. Here are a few of the notables: Eric Madsen, head coach —Madsen made it a point to never shy away from scheduling difficult games. It may have hurt their overall record in the short term, but big wins like the last two will more than make up for it. Jeremy Gendlek, pitcher —the senior hurler came into the season beset with lofty expectations after a stellar 2011 campaign. He struggled at the start of the season, but rose to the occasion when it mattered most. Make no mistake, his part in UVU's breakthrough will be remembered. Alex Exon, catcher — MSNBC.com recently ran a stellar piece on why the catcher position is "the toughest job in sports." When I asked Madsen which player had the most to do with Wednesday's win and got the least recognition for it, he didn't hesitate. "People probably wouldn't know what impact [Alex] had on that game just from watching that," Madsen said. "He called that whole game last night. Pitcher's gotta make pitchers, but you have to have someone on the other end." ZONE B4 CONTACT: ARIZONA B3 Baseball gets it done, warts and all By ALEX RIVERA Sports Writer The wrestling team had a NCAA Nationals qualifier in Josh Wilson. Allah LaryeaAkrong and Megan Burr set BASEBALL B3 PHOTO BY LANCE LARSEN/UVU REVIEW Three weeks after upsetting No. 11 Arizona State, the Wolverines notched an even bigger victory over No. 4 Arizona at home, winning 5-4 on Wednesday, April 4. UVU welcomes first women's lacrosse team By MELISSA LINDSEY Sports Writer Thanks to the determination of students, faculty and staff, UVU can check forming a women's lacrosse team off the to-do list. The season, which began in late October, has taught these athletes that hard work and perseverance really do pay off. As UVU's first women's lacrosse team, the players have faced many challenges they have overcome in order to become a Division II club sport. Kyrie Foster, a freshman at UVU, grew up playing lacrosse in Florida and was disappointed when she discovered the lack of a worn- en's team here at UVU. "When I decided to come to UVU, I knew I wanted to play lacrosse, so I started looking into forming a team in June [before the fall semester]," Foster said. There were many things to consider, and in Foster's case, a lot of hard work was required when it came to proposing the addition of a new athletic team or club. Foster sent countless emails to members in the Utah Lacrosse Association and various local high school coaches, looking for some guidance in forming a team. In order to become a club at UVU there must be a minimum of six students, the president of the club must be a full-time student and one full-time faculty or staff member must be the advisor. According to Foster, the biggest challenges she and her teammates faced were finding an advisor and recruiting enough players. In lacrosse, there are 12 players from each team on the field at all times, and the average team has between 20-30 players on their roster. Christy "Brown" Jones, one of two captains of the team, agreed that finding enough girls to play was a huge challenge. "It was hard spreading the word and making people aware," Jones said. LACROSSE B2 ..404401410110110- PHOTO BY KEVIN BRYAN/UVU REVIEW The women's lacrosse team advances the ball during their 14-12 victory over Utah State on Saturday, March 31. Online only at UVUREVIEW.COM Women's Lacrosse The first-year program will look to continue its good play against in-state opponents, facing Weber State on Saturday, April 7 and hosting BYU on Wednesday, April 10. Check out Melissa Lindsey's coverage online. Baseball After making their mark against nationally ranked, nonconference opponents, the Wolverines have begun Great West Conference play against North Dakota. Go online to get the latest from a bevy of student reporters. SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS DESIGNER petersensports@gmail.com gonzamatic@gmail.com MATT PETERSEN ERIC GONZALEZ Football Will the struggling Wolverines turn their forturnes around in time for a good playoff spot? Look for Sam Hancock's coverage from the first-year club team's game against the Kings on Saturday morning. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @UVU_SPORTSDESK |