courtesy of gouvu.com
EUGENE, Ore. – Utah Valley defeated No. 12 Oregon, 6-5, on Friday night at PK Park. The win is UVU (33-27) first over a ranked team since Apr. 30, 2022, over then No. 25 Grand Canyon. They also picked up their first NCAA Tournament victory behind a 2-for-4 night from Jimmy De Anda, who knocked in three runs in the victory.
The Wolverines scored four runs in the third inning after Brody Block led off with a walk before CJ Colyer singled to left field and De Anda gave UVU a 1-0 lead with a double down the left field line. The inning continued with a single by Luke Iverson to make it 2-0 before Oregon recorded the first out two outs of the inning before the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player made it 4-0 with a single to the field, and he advanced all the way to third on a fielding error.
The Ducks answered in the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back home runs by Drew Smith and Anson Aroz to make it 4-3. Corbin Kirk finished with four innings, allowing six hits and striking out three, but ended with a no-decision. He worked through a couple of jams with the Ducks having runners on base in the first, second, and fourth innings.
The Wolverines chased UO starter Jackson Reitz, who had a career day with six innings and 14 strikeouts. Utah Valley answered with Nate Bach working a leadoff walk and Brody Block being hit by a pitch. They moved up 90 feet on a failed pickoff attempt that went into centerfield. De Anda recorded his third RBI of the game with a single up the middle to put UVU up 6-3.
The Ducks got one back when Drew Smith homered for the second time in the game on a ball that just got out over left field. Oregon made it 6-5 on a sacrifice fly that was caught in left field. Aroz came crashing into Strong and was called out for malicious contact, resulting in no run.
Oregon brought the winning run to the plate in Jacob Walsh after the leadoff hitter, Carter Garate, worked a walk and Dominic Hellman singled to put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth inning. Walsh plated a run on a flyball to the warning track to cut the lead to 6-5 with two outs, and Cooper Littledike entered the game to face Smith and forced him to ground out to clinch the win to earn his sixth save of the season.
The Wolverines earned their first win over a ranked opponent on the road since 2019, when they defeated No. 21 Mississippi State 2-1 in 11 innings on the road in Starkville.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will advance to play the 2-seeded Arizona Wildcats on Saturday night with a 7:00 p.m. MT / 6:00 p.m. MT start. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 98.3 and 103.9 ESPN The Fan with Brice Larson and Jordan Bianucci on the call.